ARIPUL, SAMUEL BEN ISAAC

ARIPUL, SAMUEL BEN ISAAC (1540?–after 1586), rabbinic scholar and preacher; probably born in Salonika. Although he was one of the greatest preachers in the 16^th century, little is known about his life. From 1569 to 1571 he was seriously ill, and on his recovery wrote his book Mizmor le-Todah ("A Psalm of Thanksgiving"). Some time after 1571 he was in Constantinople. In 1576 he was in Venice where he undertook the publication of his works. It appears that he later settled in Safed for in the introduction to his Ne'im Zemirot he is referred to as "from the city of Safed." His books are rabbinical and philosophical commentaries on the Bible which emphasize its ethical message. He treats at length the problem of the redemption of Israel and quotes from the Zohar. At the beginning and end of each book he wrote poems on its contents. He printed the contents of his five books as a pamphlet, Aggadat Shemu'el, appended to Mizmor le-Todah which seems to be the earliest Hebrew book-prospectus to survive. This work contains panegyrics by two scholars of Salonika, where he evidently spent part of his adult life. Aripul previously had published Zevaḥ Todah (Constantinople, 1572), a homiletical exposition of Psalm 119 (also included as an introduction to his Mizmor le-Todah). His published books are (1) Mizmor le-Todah (Venice, 1576), on Psalms 112–34, the last section (on Psalms 120–34) being republished under the title Ne'im Zemirot (Cracow, 1576); (2) Sar Shalom (Safed, 1579) on the Song of Songs; and (3) Lev Ḥakham (Constantinople, 1586) on Ecclesiastes. His Imrat Eloha on the Pentateuch (mentioned in Sar Shalom) and his Va'ad la-Ḥakhamim on the liturgy (mentioned in Lev Ḥakham, p. 44b) have not been published.

bibliography:

Rivkind, in: ks, 4 (1928/29), 279; A. Yaari, Ha-Defus ha-Ivri be-Arẓot ha-Mizraḥ, 1 (1936), 18.