ABENDANAN

ABENDANAN (Ibn Danan or Ibn Dannān ), Moroccan family of rabbis and scholars. The first known members of the family are asase, who emigrated from Morocco to Aragon in 1249, and maimon, who was apparently one of the refugees after the anti-Jewish massacres of 1391. Maimon went to Fez with his son moses, who became known as the "Rambam of Fez" and wrote many commentaries on the Talmud (which have remained in manuscript). In 1438, Moses was accused of attacking Islam and was sentenced to death; he narrowly escaped this fate, but was compelled to flee the country. It is likely that Maimon ii, son of Moses, remained in Fez. His son (or grandson) Saadiah was born there. saadiah *ibn danan was a physician, halakhist, exegete, grammarian, lexicographer, philosopher, and poet. maimon, son of Saadiah, died a martyr's death before 1502 and was buried in Fez. His son samuel (d. after 1566) was rabbi of Constantine (in Algeria), and was instrumental in passing important takkanot. According to tradition he was one of the 200 rabbis who ordained Joseph b. Ephraim *Caro. Samuel was the author of responsa and novellae, some of which were published in Minḥat ha-Omer (Djerba, 1950). His signature appears on numerous documents between 1526 and 1551, and he was the author of many interesting tales (J.M. Toledano, Oẓar Genazim, 1960, 13–16). saadiah ii, the son (or grandson) of Samuel, participated in passing of takkanot between 1550 and 1578 and wrote a commentary on the Bible (still in manuscript). samuel (1542–1621), his son, possessed an extensive knowledge of the local customs of the Jews of Maghreb and of the takkanot of Castile. He wrote many legal novellae and rulings as well as a history. saadiah iii (d. 1680), the son of Samuel, was an av bet din and poet. He held discussions with Jacob b. Aaron *Sasportas (Ohel Ya'akov (1737), 2 and 3) and issued a number of takkanot. Some of his works are extant in manuscript. samuel b. saul (1666–c. 1730) was the first editor of the Ibn Danan family chronicles and a history of the Jews of Fez. He is the supposed author of Ahavat ha-Kadmonim (edited Jerusalem, 1889), a prayer book according to the custom of Fez. solomon (1848–1929) was an av bet din, halakhic authority, preacher, and kabbalist. During the last years of his life he was a member of the supreme bet din of appeal of Rabat. He was the author of the responsa Asher li-Shelomo (1901) and Bikkesh Shelomo (Casablanca, 1935). saul (1882– ?), son of Solomon, halakhist and Zionist, founded a Ḥibbat Zion society in Fez in 1910. In 1933 he was appointed av bet din of Mogador and Marrakesh, and in 1949 chief rabbi of Morocco and head of the supreme bet din of appeal. In 1965 he resigned and settled in Israel. He published Hagam Shaul, responsa (Fez, 1959). From other branches of this family were descended a number of rabbis, among them solomon ben saadiah, 17^th-century scholar and physician, and isaac (1880–1910), author of Le-Yiẓḥak Rei'ah (Leghorn, 1902).

bibliography:

Azulai, 2 (1852), 35, no. 55; Edelman, in: Ḥemdah Genuzah, 1 (1856), xvii–xxi; Neubauer, in: ja, 20 (1862), 256–61; A. Ankawa, in: Kerem Ḥemed (1869/71); Bacher, in: rej, 41 (1900), 268–72; J. Ibn-Ẓur, Mishpat u-Ẓedakah be-Ya'akov (1894–1903), nos. 5, 40, 317; S. Ibn-Danan, Sefer Asher li-Shelomo (1906), pref.; J.M. Toledano, Ner ha-Ma'arav (1911), 44 ff., 84 ff., 103 ff., 134 ff.; J. Ben-Naim, Malkhei Rabbanan (1931), 83a, 96a, 100b–1b, 111a–b, 114b–5b, 123b–4b; Schirmann, Sefarad, 2 (1956), 665–6; Slouschz, in: Sura, 3 (1958), 165–91.

[David Obadia]