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| al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) |
Introduction
This article is based extensively on the research by
Professor Talya Fishman[1] on
the differences between the classical approaches of Sefaradim and Ashkenazim
to the Talmud. By ‘classical’ is meant the period prior to the
thirteenth century, when there was a very distinct difference between how Sefarad
(Spain) and Ashkenaz (Northern France and Germany) approached Talmud
study.
Study differences between Ashkenaz and Sefarad
In Ashkenaz, the main focus of Torah study was centred primarily around Talmud study, while in North Africa and al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain) they were more concerned with the study of practical Halacha as found in the locally produced eleventh-century codes of R. Nisim, R. Chananel, and R. Yitzchak Alfasi (1013–1103, ‘Alfasi’ implies ‘from Fez’, Morocco). Later in the twelfth century, the Sefaradim added the code of the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides to their study curriculum which thus continued to remain distinctly Halachic and non-Talmudic.
