[Avodah] rosh in spain

[Shlomo H. Pick]

I would like to comment on the following:
<<PS.   One of the Maharam's students was the Rosh, who later fled  to Spain
and  taught Torah there, resulting in the cross-fertilization of Torah
between the  Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities (not the only time such
cross-fertilization  occurred, of course).>>

This isd a common fallacy. Actually the Rosh was relatively little influenced
by sephardic halacha. His yeshiva in Toledo continued for many years
fairly isolated from the surrounding sephardic community.
 eli then referenced ta shma

with all due respect this is simply incorrect!
first of all we are talking about cross-fertilization and rosh certainly influenced Spanish Jewry. see the list of spaniards who communicated with him in freimann's biography.
one simple example is r, yeruham's meisharim.  and see urbach's article about spanish influence on codification. 

but I would like to mention spanish influence on rosh. I recall an article in hebrew in HUCA in he 50s I think that analyzed spanish quotations in tos. rosh to brachos.
a simple search in responsa project turns up around 180 references to ramban in piskei rosh. around 40 ramahs, 63 r. yonahs. 3 rashbas.   results in his tosfot, eg 4 rashbas, only 26 rambans, 8 yonahs,  20 ramahs. it may be that rosh did posken like them, but he quotes them and deals with the problems they raised. isn't that cross fertilization?
what text is the basis of rosh's pesakim? not the talmud but the alfasi code - standard feature in provence and spain.  isn't that cross fertilization?
the tur quotes these spanish rishonim and tho he may pasken like his father, the fact he quotes them leaves it open for someone else to pasken like them.
I will add that rosh sought out a tutor to teach him astronomy, and his student isaac israeli penned a monograph for him with a dedication to rosh. now that would appear to be cross fertlization.

see the more up to date articles in english and hebrew by judah/yehuda galinsky.
shabbat shalom
shlomo
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