Rabbi Joseph Kara רבי יוסף בן שמעון קרא
an expounder of the Prophets who wrote of the plain sense
He studied under his uncle Menachem ben Helbo and frequented Rashi's house. His commentaries are on the Prophets and the Writings: Job, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, and in part the Pentateuch.
What happens to the younger man beside the elder happened to his work: copyists entered his notes straight into the text of Rashi's commentary, and they could be separated only by manuscript. Part of what is read as Rashi was written by Joseph Kara.
The years are approximate: the Jewish Encyclopedia puts his birth at 1060–1070 and his death between 1130 and 1140; other works of reference give about 1065 and about 1135. The difference falls within a decade, and we take the middle.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- The commentaries of Rabbi Joseph Kara on the Prophets — exposition according to the plain sense
Scholarship
- The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) — the years, the teacher, and the entry of his notes into Rashi's text
Basis: documents and evidence.