Simeon Kara

Simeon ben Helbo Kara was a French rabbi who lived in Mans in the 11th century; brother of Menahem ben Ḥelbo and father of Joseph Ḳara. For the meaning of his surname see Joseph Ḳara. Isaac de Lattes, in his Ḳiryat Sefer, counts Ḳara among the prominent French rabbis, although no work of his has survived. J.L. Rapoport identified him with the compiler of the Yalḳuṭ Shim'oni, on account of the similarity of some Midrashic quotations in this work with citations in Rashi's Bible commentary. Abraham Epstein has, however, shown that in the manuscripts the name "Ḳara" does not occur, and in place of "Simeon" the reading "Simson" at times is found.

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Richard Gottheil and Isaac Broydé (1901–1906). "Simeon Kara". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography: Zunz, G. V. p. 313; idem, Z. G. p. 61; J.L. Rapoport. Kerem Ḥemed, vii. 4 et seq.; Kirchheim, in Orient, Lit. iv. 253; A. Geiger, Niṭ'e Na'amanim, German part, p. 8; idem, in Z. D. M. G. xxviii. 300; I.H. Weiss, in Bet Talmud, ii. 35; Brüll's Jahrb. viii. 113; Abraham Epstein, in Ha-Ḥoḳer, i. 85 et seq. Chaim Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, ed. Benjacob, i.36; David Conforte, Dore ha-Dorot (see index in Cassel ed.); Frumkin, Eben Shemuel, pp. 67 et seq., 125 et seq., Vilna, 1874; Michael, Or ha-Chaim, No. 612; Luncz, in Jerusalem, ii.23-27; Responsa of Yom-Tov Zahalon, No. 160.