Person · 4920–4998 AM · 1160 CE — 1238 CE
Rabbi Azriel of Gerona רבי עזריאל בן מנחם מגירונה
he brought Ein Sof into Kabbalah and taught the Ramban
He studied under Isaac the Blind in Provence and brought his teaching to Gerona. Perush Eser Sefirot is written in questions and answers: the questioner objects, the answerer explains—so books of instruction were built in those days.
The Jewish Encyclopedia calls him the founder of the speculative Kabbalah: before him it was a handing on of hints, after him a teaching with terms and an order. He wrote also on the aggadah, on Sefer Yetzirah and on the Song of Songs.
On the timeline
3897 · 137 CERabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Cave and the Zohar5023 · 1263 CENachmanides and the Disputation of Barcelona
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- Perush Eser Sefirot (Sha'ar ha-Sho'el) — the ten sefirot in question and answer
Scholarship
- The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) — the years, the teacher, the student Ramban, and the term Ein Sof
Basis: documents and evidence.