ר׳ יונה בן אברהם גירונדי

ר׳ יונה בן אברהם גירונדי (c.1200–1263), known as רבנו יונה and רבנו יונה החסיד, was a Catalan Talmudist and one of medieval Judaism’s most influential moral teachers. Originating in Girona and related to ר׳ משה בן נחמן, he studied in the Franco-Provençal scholarly world, most notably with ר׳ שלמה בן אברהם מן ההר at Montpellier. He joined the 1232 ban against philosophical writings of ר׳ משה בן מימון. Later accounts connect the Christian burning of Talmud manuscripts in Paris in 1242 with his public remorse over the dangers of recruiting ecclesiastical power into Jewish controversy; the precise details and chronology are debated. He subsequently taught in Barcelona, where ר׳ שלמה בן אברהם אבן אדרת became his foremost disciple, and then moved to Toledo. His שערי תשובה, ספר היראה and אגרת התשובה shaped Jewish ethical and penitential literature. His Talmudic teaching survives partly through students: תלמידי רבנו יונה on Alfasi’s Berakhot is not a verbatim autograph, while עליות דרבנו יונה preserves his analysis of Bava Batra. He died in Toledo in November 1263 before completing a planned journey to the Land of Israel.