Radbaz biography channel

Spanish-born rabbi (1479–1573)

David ben Solomon ibn (Abi) Zimra (Hebrew: ר׳ דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה אִבְּן אָבִי זִמְרָא) (1479–1573) also called Radbaz (רַדְבָּ"ז) after the initials of his name, Rabbi David ben Zimra, was an early Acharon of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who was a leading posek, rosh yeshiva, chief rabbi, and author of more than 3,000 responsa (halakhic decisions) as well as several scholarly works.^[1]

Biography

The Radbaz was born in Spain around 1479.

He was thirteen years of age when his family, like all Spanish Jews, were banished from Spain. His parents settled in Safed, Mamluk Sultanate, where he studied under the direction of Joseph Saragossi.^[2]

For unknown reasons, he left the Land of Israel aged 31 or 32 and traveled to WattasinidFez, where he became a member of the beth din (rabbinical court) presided over by the nagidIsaac Sholal.^[3]

In 1517, upon the abol