Ibn Plat, Joseph
IBN PLAT, JOSEPH
IBN PLAT, JOSEPH (12th century), rabbi. Some maintain that Ibn Plat originated from *Spain, but it seems almost certain that he came from North Africa. He traveled to Spain and then to Provence and was in Narbonne and Lunel, where he transmitted several customs to *Abraham b. Isaac of Narbonne, and it is known that he also gave information to other scholars there, including *Zerahiah ha-Levi (see Sefer ha-Terumot, Sha'ar 29, no. 2), *Asher b. Saul (in a number of places in his Sefer ha-Minhagot), and *Asher b. Meshullam (Kol Bo no. 8). Well-known is his responsum to a query addressed to him by Abraham b. Isaac of Narbonne as to why the sages instituted blessings to precede the performance of some mitzvot and not over others. The responsum was frequently published in a fragmentary form and was already included in the works of early authors. It was published in full by S. Assaf (see bibliography). His rulings with regard to the recitations of blessings were included in the Pardes of Rashi (ed. by H.L. Ehrenreich (1924), 195–211). *Abraham b. David of Posquières wrote several critical responsa on Ibn Plat: one on the aforementioned responsum on blessings, published with Ibn Plat's responsum in the work of David *Abudarham; another on the subject of sheḥitah (Temim De'im no. 23); and a third on the laws of ḥazakah. In about 1170 *Benjamin of Tudela met him in Damascus where he held an important post in the yeshivah, and he may have proceeded to Ereẓ Israel. J. Mann conjectures that he is identical with Joseph b. Paltoi who wrote a commentary on the halakhot of Isaac *Alfasi, quotations from which are included in the commentary of *Peraḥyah b. Nissim to Alfasi on Shabbat. Peraḥyah lived in Damascus in the middle of the 13th century. A commentary to the Halakhot (of Alfasi) by Ibn Plat is explicitly mentioned in a list of *genizah books published by Abramson (see bibliography).
bibliography:
Epstein, in: mgwj, 44 (1900), 289–96; S. Assaf, Sifran shel Rishonim (1935), 199–206; Ch. and S. Albeck (eds.), Sefer ha-Eshkol, 1 (1935), 11 (introd.); Abramson, in: ks, 26 (1949/50), 84, 92n. 143; Benedict, ibid., 28 (1952/53), 213 and n. 41; I. Twersky, Rabad of Posquières (1962), 17f.
[Israel Moses Ta-Shma]