The Rashbatz רשב״ץ
a physician from Majorca who became rabbi of Algiers — and explained why one may be paid for it
Simeon ben Zemah Duran was born in Majorca in 1361, worked as a physician and taught Torah without payment — as was proper. In 1391 the massacres reached Majorca; he fled to Algiers, having lost his property.
There he became a rabbi — and ran into a plain prohibition: one does not take payment for teaching Torah. The solution he justified is called sekhar batalah: the community pays not for Torah but compensates a man for the time he might have spent earning. The distinction is legal, but it is precisely what makes it work: the payment attaches not to the teaching but to what was forgone.
On that ruling rests all later practice of paying rabbis and teachers. It is also the first clear evidence of such payment at all.
His books are Magen Avot, a commentary on tractate Avot and on the principles of faith, and the Tashbetz, a collection of responsa in which, among much else, the cases of the anusim are examined: whether they may be counted as Jews, whether their testimony is accepted, whether their property is returned.
On the timeline
Sources
Rishonim
- Tashbetz — sekhar batalah — compensation for time forgone, not payment for Torah
- Magen Avot — a commentary on Avot and an examination of the principles of faith
Basis: documents and evidence.