Girona ג׳ירונה
A small Catalan town out of which came the first school of kabbalah to write openly in Hebrew—and the Ramban, its best-known native.
The community of Girona is known from the end of the ninth century and remained small throughout its history. What made it famous was one circle of men who lived here in the first half of the thirteenth century.
Before them kabbalah had been handed on narrowly and by mouth: Rabbi Isaac the Blind in Provence taught few and forbade writing. His disciples—Rabbi Ezra and Rabbi Azriel of Girona—began to write, and to write in Hebrew for a reader, not for an initiate. To that circle belonged also the Ramban, a native of the town: in his commentary on the Torah kabbalah stands beside the plain sense, and so it became known to everyone who read the Ramban—that is, to the whole Jewish world.
After the Ramban there came out of Girona Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, who wrote on repentance, and the Ran—Rabbeinu Nissim Gerondi, one of the last great Spanish commentators on the Talmud.
The riots of 1391 broke the community and the expulsion of 1492 ended it. The Jewish quarter of Girona—the Call—has survived better than almost any in Europe: the narrow streets stand as they stood.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- Nachmanides' commentary on the Torah — kabbalah beside the plain sense—the Girona school in the most-read book
- Shaar ha-Kavanah and Perush ha-Aggadot of Rabbi Azriel of Girona — the first written kabbalah of the Girona circle
Basis: documents and evidence.