Rabbenu Tam (R. Yaakov ben Meir)

Historical and Cultural Context: The Tosafist Movement and the Jewry of Ashkenaz and France

The twelfth century in northern France and Germany was marked by an extraordinary spiritual flourishing and by the immense devotion of the Jewish communities to the study of Torah ^{[cite: 1]}. While the Christian population in those lands was overwhelmingly illiterate, and only priests and monks could read and write, among the Jewish communities – which were relatively sparsely populated – nearly all the men and even many women could read and write and were deeply committed to understanding the Torah ^{[cite: 1]}. The love of Torah permeated everyday life from the earliest stages of infancy ^{[cite: 1]}. Contemporary testimonies, as preserved in the Mahzor Vitry, describe ceremonial customs such as placing a Pentateuch on an infant's cradle on the day of his circumcision, and even placing an inkwell and a quill in his hand, as an auspicious sign and as a wish that he merit to become a swift scribe and an expert in the Torah of the Lord ^{[cite: 1]}.

In this vibrant cultural space the study halls of Troyes, Ramerupt, Worms and Mainz arose as centers of higher learning, even before the spread of university institutions in the Christian world ^{[cite: 1, 2, 3]}. In these study halls the work of the Tosafists developed – hundreds of Torah scholars who were active throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and devoted their efforts to writing glosses, novellae and commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud and on Rashi's commentary ^{[cite: 4]}. The Tosafists began with Rashi's direct disciples, who recorded for themselves notes on the halakhic discussion conducted in the yeshivot ^{[cite: 4]}. In time these notes expanded and became comprehensive collections covering some thirty of the tractates of the Talmud, alongside exegetical works on Scripture such as "Da'at Zekenim," "Hadar Zekenim" and "Moshav Zekenim" ^{[cite: 4]}.

Personal and Family Biography of Rabbenu Tam

Rabbi Yaakov ben Rabbi Meir, known as Rabbenu Tam (abbreviated R"T), was born in the year 4860 (about 1100) in the town of Ramerupt in northern France, and died on the 4th of Tammuz 4931 (1171) in Troyes ^{[cite: 2, 5, 6]}. He lived some 71 years and became the most dominant figure among the sages of Ashkenaz and France of his generation ^{[cite: 2, 5, 6]}. His family lineage connected him directly to the central scholarly dynasty of French Jewry: he was the grandson of Rashi on his mother's side, Yocheved, who was married to Rabbi Meir ben Shmuel of Ramerupt ^{[cite: 2, 6]}.

Rabbenu Tam was the youngest of four brothers who became among the first of the Tosafists: his eldest brother was Rabbi Shmuel (the Rashbam), the second was Rabbi Yitzhak (the Ribam, who died young), and the fourth was Rabbi Shlomo ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. He first acquired his Torah from his father, Rabbi Meir, and afterwards studied with his elder brother the Rashbam and with Rabbi Yaakov ben Shimshon ^{[cite: 2]}. In his second marriage he married Miriam, the sister of Rabbi Shimshon the Elder of Falaise ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. Rabbenu Tam had five sons – Yosef, Moshe, Shlomo (who engaged in copying his father's books), Yitzhak (who composed Tosafot to Sefer ha-Yashar), and Shmuel (who wrote some of the sections of Sefer ha-Yashar) – and one daughter ^{[cite: 2]}.

Rabbenu Tam was a very wealthy man, who earned his living from lending at interest and from wine production, and he even maintained fruitful ties of friendship with Henry I, Count of Champagne ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. Despite his wealth and standing, the trials of the times befell him ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. During the Second Crusade, on the second day of the festival of Shavuot in 1146, crusader rioters burst into his home in Ramerupt, looted his property, tore a Torah scroll before his eyes, and wounded him with five sword wounds to his head ^{[cite: 2]}. He was saved from certain death thanks to his resourcefulness, when he bribed a local nobleman with a valuable horse worth five zekukim ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. The nobleman persuaded the mob to leave Rabbenu Tam with him that day on the pretext that he would try to convert him, and so the danger passed ^{[cite: 2, 6]}.

In 1171, following a severe blood libel in the city of Blois in which some 30 Jews were burned at the stake, Rabbenu Tam used his country-wide authority and fixed the 20th of Sivan as a fast day for all generations for all the communities of France, England and Ashkenaz ^{[cite: 2]}. In that very year he died and was buried in Ramerupt ^{[cite: 2, 6]}.

The Sefer ha-Yashar Enterprise and the Critique of Textual Versions

Rabbenu Tam's main and most famous work is "Sefer ha-Yashar," which embodies the essence of his exegetical and halakhic method ^{[cite: 7]}. The book consists of two distinct parts: the part of novellae on the Babylonian Talmud and the part of questions and answers (responsa) ^{[cite: 7]}. The main thrust of the novellae part is the defense of the existing, original versions of the Babylonian Talmud, together with an obstinate struggle against the tendency of the scholars of the generation to emend, delete or alter the text of the Gemara on the basis of logical conjectures or by comparison with parallel sources ^{[cite: 7]}. Rabbenu Tam gave his book this name out of a clear methodological declaration: "I have named the book Sefer ha-Yashar ('The Book of the Upright'), because in it I have set straight all my charges – the earliest traditions and the versions of the books from of old" ^{[cite: 7]}.

Under this philosophy of preservation, Rabbenu Tam demonstrated that textual difficulties and logical contradictions can be resolved through deepening and casuistic reasoning, without any need to lay a hand on deleting words from the page ^{[cite: 7]}. His exegetical contribution was characterized by an objective and distant style; in contrast to the responsa of his grandfather Rashi, which reveal a glimpse of his personal life and his tender-heartedness, Rabbenu Tam remained in his responsa an authoritative and awe-inspiring figure, in whom the halakhic argument is formulated in a cold and precise manner ^{[cite: 8]}.

The textual history of "Sefer ha-Yashar" is fraught with challenges: the part of the novellae was first printed in Vienna in 5577 (1817) in a corrupt and defective form ^{[cite: 9]}. Only in the twentieth century was it edited anew on the basis of accurate manuscripts by Rabbi Shimon Shlomo Schlesinger in Jerusalem (1959–1985) ^{[cite: 7, 9]}. The part of questions and answers was published in Berlin in 5658 (1898) by Rabbi Sraga Feish Rosenthal within the framework of the "Mekitzei Nirdamim" society, and in recent times Rabbi David Deblitzky has edited both parts anew in scholarly and accurate editions ^{[cite: 7, 9]}.

The Polemic with Rabbi Meshullam of Melun and the Limits of Halakhic Authority

One of the central polemics that shaped the boundaries of halakhic ruling and authority in northern France was the sharp struggle that Rabbenu Tam waged against Rabbi Meshullam ben Natan of Melun ^{[cite: 2, 10]}. Rabbi Meshullam, one of the sages of Narbonne in Provence, moved to northern France and brought with him exegetical traditions, varied Talmudic versions and halakhic rulings that were accepted in the south ^{[cite: 10]}. His independent activity and his inclination to be lenient regarding customs accepted in the north aroused the wrath of Rabbenu Tam, who launched a wide-ranging attack against him and assailed his scholarly and public path ^{[cite: 10]}. Rabbi Meshullam found himself on the defensive, compelled to explain his positions and to deny serious accusations, while Rabbenu Tam even threatened to impose a ban on anyone who would act in accordance with his leniencies ^{[cite: 2, 10]}.

In the course of repelling Rabbenu Tam's claims, Rabbi Meshullam chose to rely repeatedly on the commentaries of the Rashbam (Rabbenu Tam's brother), identifying the Rashbam as a "weak link" in the northern French school ^{[cite: 10]}. The Rashbam was greatly influenced by the literary and scholarly traditions of the south (Provence and Spain), and devoted considerable effort to establishing the standing of Sefer ha-Rif in northern France ^{[cite: 10]}. The Rashbam's intellectual independence was so great that he did not hesitate to reject explicitly and sharply the views of his grandfather Rashi, for example in the matter of writing a bill of manumission for a slave belonging to a minor, where he declared of his grandfather's interpretation: "It is a great error on his part" ^{[cite: 10]}.

Rabbi Meshullam showed how the Rashbam's own emendations sometimes led to the omission of entire Talmudic passages from the "new books" in France, thereby attempting to blunt Rabbenu Tam's criticism of the emendation of textual versions ^{[cite: 10]}. Rabbi Meshullam also argued that, as a communal rabbi, he is the "master of the place" (mara de-atra) and entitled to rule according to his own understanding ^{[cite: 10]}. Rabbenu Tam firmly rejected this claim, determining that there is an essential difference between a local halakhic ruling in special cases and the public alteration of famous and accepted customs that are held by the masses, which may lead to a fragmentation of authority and to the disintegration of the unified communal structure ^{[cite: 10]}.

His Halakhic Thought: Definitions of Time, Tefillin and Liturgy

Rabbenu Tam's halakhic thought left an indelible mark on Jewish life, as some of his rulings became a cornerstone of practical halakha ^{[cite: 2, 11, 12]}.

The Polemic over the Order of the Tefillin Passages and Its Halakhic Status

The dispute between Rashi and Rabbenu Tam over the order of the passages in the head tefillin and the arm tefillin is among the best known in the halakhic world ^{[cite: 2, 12]}. Whereas according to Rashi and the Rambam the order is chronological, as it appears in the Torah (Kadesh, Ve-hayah ki yevi'akha, Shema, Ve-hayah im shamo'a), according to Rabbenu Tam the order of the passages in the compartments is: Kadesh, Ve-hayah ki yevi'akha, Ve-hayah im shamo'a, Shema ^{[cite: 2, 12, 13]}. According to Rabbenu Tam, this method places the two "ve-hayah" passages (Ve-hayah ki yevi'akha, Ve-hayah im shamo'a) side by side in the center of the compartments ^{[cite: 13]}.

Rabbenu Tam did not originate this method on his own, but based it on ancient sources, among them the view of Rabbenu Hananel, the rulings of Rav Hai Gaon, and the responsa of the Geonim brought by Rabbi Yosef Tov Elem ^{[cite: 13]}. Although the custom of the world was accepted in accordance with Rashi's view, the Shulchan Arukh rules that it is fitting for every God-fearing person to put on both pairs of tefillin in order to fulfill the obligation according to both methods ^{[cite: 12, 13]}. In Chabad Hasidism, following the call of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 5736 (1976), the putting on of Rabbenu Tam's tefillin became a widespread custom, practiced immediately when a boy reaches bar mitzvah age (and even two months before), contrary to the custom of the past of waiting to put them on only after marriage ^{[cite: 12]}.

To understand the force of Rabbenu Tam's method regarding times, one should examine a practical case that combines his system of times with the laws of tefillin ^{[cite: 14]}. A person who did not put on tefillin all day, and the time of the visible sunset arrived (for example, at 20:00), when the emergence of the stars according to Rabbenu Tam occurs only at 20:31 ^{[cite: 14]}. According to the halakhic ruling, at 20:14 (that is, after the astronomical sunset but before Rabbenu Tam's emergence of the stars) that person may put on tefillin without a blessing ^{[cite: 14]}. This is possible because according to Rabbenu Tam's view this time is still considered full day ^{[cite: 14]}. Moreover, night is not forbidden for tefillin by the essential law but only out of concern that one might fall asleep in them, and therefore in a time of need it is preferable to put them on without a blessing in order to fulfill the commandment according to those who hold like Rabbenu Tam, although according to the Geonim and the Vilna Gaon the time has already passed and he has neglected a positive commandment of the Torah ^{[cite: 14]}.

Rabbenu Tam's Method on Twilight and the Close of the Sabbath

The question of fixing the moment of transition between day and night rests on a contradiction between the passage in tractate Shabbat (which determines that twilight lasts three-quarters of a mil after sunset) and the passage in tractate Pesachim (which determines that the time from sunset to the emergence of the stars is four mil, which translate to 72 minutes) ^{[cite: 11, 15]}. Rabbenu Tam resolved this contradiction by means of the theory of the "two sunsets" ^{[cite: 11, 16]}. According to him, the first sunset is the moment at which the sun disappears beyond the visible horizon ^{[cite: 11, 16]}. From this moment begins a stretch of 58.5 minutes (the measure of three and a quarter mil) during which the sun still illuminates the sky of the land ^{[cite: 11, 15]}. Only at the end of this time gap does the "second sunset" begin, which is the moment the halakhic "twilight" (bein ha-shemashot) begins, lasting three-quarters of a mil ^{[cite: 11, 15]}. Full night (the emergence of the stars) occurs exactly 72 plain minutes after the first sunset ^{[cite: 11, 17]}.

The measure of a mil's walking time is the subject of a dispute among the halakhic authorities: some calculate a mil as about 18 minutes (and accordingly three-quarters of a mil is 13.5 minutes), and some calculate it as about 22.5 minutes (and accordingly three-quarters of a mil is 16.5 minutes) ^{[cite: 15]}. This dispute affects the calculation of the exact times ^{[cite: 15]}. At the close of the Sabbath, because of the obligation of adding to the Sabbath, the Shulchan Arukh rules that one must wait until three small, adjacent stars appear ^{[cite: 11]}.

Various customs took shape around this ruling: in the Land of Israel the custom of the Geonim and the Vilna Gaon was accepted (about 18 minutes after sunset, and in practice about 40 minutes at the close of the Sabbath) ^{[cite: 11]}. Those who follow the Chazon Ish wait 45 minutes ^{[cite: 11]}. By contrast, many Hasidim and communities abroad take care to wait 72 minutes (Rabbenu Tam's plain method), and there are those who are stringent to wait 90 and even 120 minutes according to different methods of calculating a mil ^{[cite: 11, 17]}.

In practical terms, one who has taken it upon himself to act like Rabbenu Tam only as a stringency (and not as a matter of strict law), is permitted at the close of the Sabbath – within the 72-minute range – to ask his fellow (who does not follow Rabbenu Tam and for whom the Sabbath has already ended) to perform a labor for him, such as to drive him home ^{[cite: 15]}. By contrast, one who follows Rabbenu Tam as a matter of strict law is absolutely forbidden to do so ^{[cite: 15]}.

Additional Works, Liturgical Poems and Linguistic Research

Besides his engagement with the Talmud, Rabbenu Tam was a profound linguist and a prolific liturgical poet ^{[cite: 2]}. He composed "Sefer ha-Hakhra'ah," in which he decided in a scientific and systematic manner the grammatical disputes between Menachem ben Saruq and Dunash ben Labrat ^{[cite: 2, 9]}. He also composed "Tikkun Sefer Torah," dealing with the laws of writing sacred scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot (STaM), and "Seder ha-Get," which details meticulously the manner of writing a get and its conditions, in order to prevent future challenges to its validity ^{[cite: 2, 6, 9]}. He interpreted the Book of Job, and composed a prayer book (mahzor) which also contained rulings on the laws of prayer and blessings ^{[cite: 2, 6, 9]}.

In the field of liturgy, 31 liturgical poems he composed are known today, and he also engaged in the emendation of ancient liturgical poems and relied on them in ruling on halakha ^{[cite: 2]}. Among his poems the "Ma'aravit" poem that he wrote for Shemini Atzeret stands out, lines of which the Tosafists after him quoted as proof in their halakhic discussions ^{[cite: 2]}. In addition, Rabbenu Tam inclined toward a distinctive division of the thirteen attributes of mercy mentioned in the Book of Exodus, in agreement with the Ramban, Ibn Ezra and the Avudraham, which begins already from the first word "the Lord" ^{[cite: 19]}.

His historical fame went beyond the boundaries of the study hall and reached modern popular culture; the poet Itzik Manger composed in Yiddish a famous poem called "Rabbenu Tam," which describes, in a satirical, Enlightenment-inspired manner, a supposed love letter that the queen of Turkey sent to Rabbenu Tam, a poem that was translated into Hebrew and performed in the show "Ish Hasid Haya" ^{[cite: 20, 21]}.

Public Leadership and Social Ordinances

Rabbenu Tam did not confine himself to the four cubits of halakha, but acted as a social leader and legislator who adapted the law of the Torah to the changing living conditions of European Jewry ^{[cite: 2, 6]}. He headed major rabbinic assemblies in the city of Troyes, in which important communal ordinances were formulated, and worked to strengthen and extend the ordinances of Rabbenu Gershom, Light of the Exile (such as the prohibition of polygamy and the prohibition of divorcing a woman against her will) ^{[cite: 2, 6, 22, 23]}. Two of his social ordinances left a deep mark for generations:

The Dowry Ordinance

According to the original law of the Torah, when a married woman dies, her husband inherits all her property and the dowry she brought with her from her father's house ^{[cite: 22, 23]}. In the medieval reality, in which the mortality rate of young women in childbirth was high, a situation arose in which the families of brides lost their daughters shortly after the marriage, and all the large dowry money remained in the hands of the groom ^{[cite: 23]}. This reality caused many fathers to refrain from giving a proper dowry to their daughters, which delayed and halted many marriages in the communities ^{[cite: 23]}.

To prevent this harm, Rabbenu Tam enacted at the Troyes assemblies a dramatic ordinance: a husband whose wife died within the first year of her marriage without viable offspring is obligated to return all the dowry money and the gifts that he received to the house of the deceased woman's father or to her heirs ^{[cite: 2, 23]}. This pioneering ordinance fortified the economic security of the brides' families and eased the distress surrounding marriage in the communities ^{[cite: 23]}.

The Distancings of Rabbenu Tam against Get Refusal

One of the most difficult problems in the laws of marriage and divorce is dealing with husbands who refuse to grant their wives a get ^{[cite: 24]}. On the one hand, direct physical or governmental coercion by the court of the husband to give a get, other than on the most restricted grounds permitted by law, invalidates the get and turns it into a "coerced get" (get me'useh) ^{[cite: 24]}. On the other hand, leaving women as agunot, trapped under abusive husbands, constituted a grave social and moral injustice ^{[cite: 24]}.

To solve this distress, Rabbenu Tam developed a sophisticated legal mechanism known as the "Distancings of Rabbenu Tam" (Harchakot de-Rabbenu Tam) ^{[cite: 24]}. The foundation of the ordinance lies in the distinction that coercion directed straight at the husband's body invalidates the get, whereas a social decision of the community to distance itself from the husband and to deny him public services is not considered direct coercion, since the husband remains free to decide, and it is society that chooses not to maintain contact with him ^{[cite: 24]}.

Within the framework of these social sanctions, described for the first time in "Sefer ha-Yashar," the public was forbidden:

• To conduct any commercial or financial transaction with him ^{[cite: 24]}.
• To host him, feed him or give him drink ^{[cite: 24]}.
• To visit him in his illness ^{[cite: 24]}.
• To seat him in the synagogue, to call him up to the Torah, or to allow him to serve as cantor or to recite Kaddish ^{[cite: 24]}.
• To circumcise his sons or to bury his relatives in a Jewish grave ^{[cite: 24]}.

These comprehensive sanctions, which the Rema ruled as halakha, create unbearably heavy social and economic pressure on the recalcitrant husband ^{[cite: 24]}. Since they are directed at the public and not at the husband directly, the get is ultimately not considered a "coerced get" and is entirely valid ^{[cite: 24]}. To this day this legal and social tool serves as the central and most effective instrument of the rabbinical courts in their struggle against get refusal.

Summary

The work, leadership and thought of Rabbenu Tam represent the golden age of scholarly creativity in Ashkenaz and France ^{[cite: 1, 2]}. As the undisputed leader of his generation and as the foremost of the Tosafists, he succeeded in creating a magnificent synthesis between the strict preservation of the Talmud's text and its versions and the development of a groundbreaking analytic and dialectical thinking that changed the face of Gemara study for generations ^{[cite: 4, 7]}. His halakhic rulings on matters of tefillin and the times of the day continue to be pillars of Jewish life, while his public daring and his social legislation – first and foremost the dowry ordinance and the mechanism of distancing get-refusers – attest to his profound moral sensitivity and to his ability to adapt the law of the Torah to the needs of the hour without deviating from the rigid laws of halakha ^{[cite: 2, 23, 24]}. His multidimensional figure as commentator, halakhic decisor, grammarian, liturgical poet and communal leader left an eternal mark that redefined the character of the Oral Torah and continues to illuminate the Jewish world of learning and halakhic decision to this very day ^{[cite: 2, 6]}.