EFRATI, AMRAM BEN NATHAN:

By: Solomon Schechter, M. Seligsohn

Rabbi of Valencia in the second half of the fourteenth century. He was a contemporary of Nissim b. Reuben, rabbi of Barcelona, and of Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ (RaSH-BaẒ), whom he consulted on rabbinical questions. He occupied the rabbinate of Valencia for more than forty years. Efrati was held in high esteem by his contemporaries, notwithstanding the fact that at the very outset of his career he had had occasion to attack certain powerful members of his community whose actions had given public offense. He enjoyed the reputation of being a great Talmudist and mystic, and was credited with a knowledge of secular sciences also. He seems to have been opposed to casuistry. In his decisions there is good reason to suppose that he largely followed Maimonides. Toward the end of his life there came to Valencia Ḥasdai b. Solomon, a distinguished casuist, who endeavored to defame Efrati and attacked him openly. Efrati's literary remains consist only of a few responsa, which are to be found in the collection of Isaac b. Sheshet.

S. S. M. Sel.