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[German Version] (c. 1200, Gerona, Spain – November 1263, Toledo, Spain), rabbinic mystic, headed Talmudic academies in Barcelona and Toledo. His books on ethics pioneered the antirationalist school of Jewish ethical literature (Sifrut musar). Gerondi endeavored to systematize and spiritualize the regulations of the Talmud. In his concern for social ethics, he was influenced by the asceticism of Judah ha-Nasi. According to legend, he prompted the burning of the philosophical works of M. Maimonides (1235), an act for which he later offered a public apology. Carsten Wilke Bibliograp…

[German Version] I. Terminology The Hebrew title רַבִּי/ rabbî is derived from the nominalized adjective רַב/ rab, “great, of high rank,” which in postbiblical Hebrew took on the meaning “master” (Rav) in contrast to a slave or student/disciple ( m. Sukk. 2:9; m. Giṭ. 4:4; m. ʾAbot 1:3). The honorific rabbi (“my master/teacher”) became a title, associated with the names of Palestinian men of learning (e.g. Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph), while Rav was used for Babylonian rabbis. Rabbi is also found as a name for Judah ha-Nasi. The Aramaic form rabban (“our master”) is associated with some…