12 Facts About Isaac Alfasi

Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym, the Rif, was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek.

Isaac Alfasi is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in halakhic literature.

Isaac Alfasi studied in Kairouan, Tunisia under Nissim ben Jacob, and Chananel ben Chushiel the recognized rabbinical authorities of the age.

Chananel trained Alfasi to deduce and to clarify the Halakha from Talmudic sources, and Alfasi then conceived of the idea of compiling a comprehensive work that would present all of the practical conclusions of the Gemara in a clear, definitive manner.

In 1045, Isaac Alfasi moved to Fez with his wife and two children, hence the name "al fasi".

Isaac Alfasi remained in Fez for 40 years, during which time he completed his Sefer Ha-halachot.

Isaac Alfasi left Fes for Al-Andalus, eventually becoming head of the yeshiva in Lucena, Cordoba in 1089.

When his opponent Isaac Albalia died, Alfasi adopted Albalia's son.

When Isaac Alfasi was himself on the point of death, he recommended as his successor in the Lucena rabbinate, not his own son, but his pupil Joseph ibn Migash.

Isaac Alfasi transcribed the Talmud's halakhic conclusions verbatim, without the surrounding deliberations; he excludes all Aggadic matter as well as discussion of the halakha practicable only in Land of Israel.

At the close of the Middle Ages, when the Talmud was banned in Italy, Isaac Alfasi's code was exempted so that from the 16th to the 19th centuries his work was the primary subject of study of the Italian Jewish community.

Isaac Alfasi occupies an important place in the development of the Sephardic method of studying the Talmud.