Isaac Aboab I
14th century Spanish Talmudic scholar
Rabbi Isaac ben Abraham Aboab (Hebrew: רבי יצחק בן אברהם אבוהב; fl. 1300), commonly known in connection with his magnum opus Menorat ha-Maor (Hebrew: מנורת המאור; "Candlestick of Light"), was a Spanish Talmudic scholar, Kabbalist, and Jewish rabbinic writer. He belonged to a prominent Sephardic family that produced several distinguished scholars. He is known for his intellectual approach to rabbinic literature, which he juxtaposed with contemporary Spanish Kabbalah.
Aboab's principal work, Menorat ha-Maor, became widely popular and was composed "for the ignorant and the learned, the foolish and the wise, the young and the old, for men and for women". Taking the seven-branched candlestick as its organizing image, Aboab employed traditional aggadic material to illustrate seven themes: guarding against evil feelings; guarding against evil speech; observing mitzvot; studying the Torah; repentance; cultivating shālōm; and humility. He drew upon a wide range of aggadic sources and quoted passages from numerous works that are now lost.
Biography
Probably born in Aragon, his father Rav Abraham Aboab, had a close relationship with the Crown of Aragon, being gifted land and a heraldic achievement by James I of Aragon in 1263. In his early years Rabbi Isaac worked as a merchant, later moving to Toledo, Castile around 1300. In Toledo, he headed his own yeshiva, and amongst his pupils was Jacob Berab.
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