ר׳ וידאל די טולושא

ר׳ וידאל די טולושא (approximately 1300–1378), universally known as the Maggid Mishneh, was a Catalan rabbi and one of the foundational commentators on ר׳ משה בן מימון’s Mishneh Torah. His precise origins and dates remain uncertain: older writers placed “Tolosa” in Spain, while modern scholarship has argued for Toulouse in southern France. Evidence associates him with Villefranche-de-Conflent and later Barcelona, where he was a colleague or personal friend of ר׳ ניסים בן ראובן. Maggid Mishneh identifies the Talmudic and Geonic sources behind Mishneh Torah, reconstructs its legal reasoning and frequently defends it against the strictures of ר׳ אברהם בן דוד מפושקירה, while openly acknowledging unresolved sources or disagreement. Surviving commentary covers six of Mishneh Torah’s fourteen books, though early testimony suggests a wider original scope. From its first printing alongside Mishneh Torah in Constantinople in 1509, it became a standard page commentary and a major source for later decisors, including ר׳ יוסף קארו. A philosophical commentary in Arabic on a work of al-Ghazali is also attributed to him.