Joseph ben Sheshet ibn Latimi

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JOSEPH BEN SHESHET IBN LATIMI

JOSEPH BEN SHESHET IBN LATIMI (c. 1300), Hebrew poet. Joseph, who lived in Lérida (Spain), was a member of a well-known Jewish family. His best-known work is a prayer, composed in the year 1308, consisting of 1,000 words, each of which begins with the letter alef. Aside from this bit of ingenuity, the piece is distinguished by a highly complicated structure and a long acrostic. It is found in a number of manuscripts, as well as in an edition by Isaac Akrish, Koveẓ Vikkuḥim (Breslau, 1844). Joseph is also the author of numerous liturgical poems and elegies, which have remained unknown to most scholars in the field.

bibliography:

Landshuth, Ammudei, 98; Zunz, Lit Poesie, 499; Baer, Urkunden, 1 (1929), 985; Margoliouth, Cat, 3 (1965), 163 no. 871, 241 no. 929 vi, 428 no. 1058; Davidson, Oẓar, 4 (1933), 400.

[Jefim (Hayyim) Schirmann]

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Joseph ben Sheshet ibn Latimi

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