Dealing with Informers: Yitzḥak Aboab's Aggadic Anthology, Menorat ha-ma'or

Abstract:This article presents a literary evaluation of one compilation of stories from Yitz@hakAboab's Menorat ha-ma'or relating to a violent era in the history of the Jews in medieval Iberia, and in particular the case of Jewish informers to the Spanish crown. Compiled in fourteenth-century Toledo, this anthology of rabbinic lore from late antiquity implemented a unique Sephardic method that presents aggadic materialin thematic order. In the introduction to the first chapter, Aboab creates a new cycle of stories compiled from separate tractates in the Babylonian Talmud. These tales are framed by a moral interpretation claiming all informers must be zealously punished. Surprisingly, the Aggadic lineup suggests a more complex picture. Whereas in the first two stories the sages function as informers to the king's court, the last story is about a victim of an informer. The literary thread does not produce a stable moral message concerning informers. Rather, Aboab poses a moral dilemma that encourages his readers to take sides in a conflict between these iconic sages who reflect two opposing points of view on the role of informers. Several responsa documents from the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Spain show that Aboab used stories that were frequently cited in legal debates on the legitimacy of the death sentence for informers. Alongside presenting a toolbox for further readings of Menorat ha-ma'or, this article shows the extent to which this anthology emerges as a primary source that enriches our cultural and historical understanding of Sephardic Jewry.