Rabbeinu Yonah HaChasid was born in the city of Girona, Spain, around the year 4960 (1200 CE). In his youth, he studied under Rabbi Shlomo Min HaHar while the latter was in Barcelona, and later studied under Rabbi Moshe and Rabbi Shmuel, sons of Schneur, who were among the authors of the Tosafot. In the year 5004 (1244 CE), he returned to Spain and was appointed as rabbi in Toledo after the passing of the Ramah. He established a yeshiva in Barcelona, where he taught, among others, the great leader of the next generation, Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet, the illustrious Rashba.
Rabbeinu Yonah was among the opponents of the Rambam and, together with his teacher, placed a ban on his books, the Guide for the Perplexed and the Book of Knowledge (one of the 14 parts of his Halachic codex). This caused a severe controversy among the Jewish people of that time, in which the Radak, Ramban, and other great sages of the generation participated. One of the harsh consequences of this controversy was the burning of the Rambam’s books by the Christians, which later even led to the burning of the Talmud.
Rabbi Hillel, a student of Rabbeinu Yonah, testifies that after Rabbeinu Yonah saw the results of the controversy, he regretted his actions and repented. As part of his repentance, he wrote the book Sha'arei Teshuvah (Gates of Repentance). On his journey to the Land of Israel, he was persuaded by the Toledo community to stay there for a while, and there he passed away and was buried on the 28th of Cheshvan in the year 5024 (1263 CE).
In a letter written by Rabbeinu Yonah's student, Rabbi Hillel, it is described that Rabbeinu Yonah strongly opposed the Rambam's philosophical inquiries in The Guide for the Perplexed and even acted to ban his books. But after seeing the results of the fierce controversy, when the Christians burned the Rambam's books in its wake, he deeply regretted it and even expressed a desire to travel to the Land of Israel to prostrate himself on the Rambam's grave and ask for forgiveness.
When he was already on his way to the Land of Israel, the people of the Barcelona community detained him and asked him to be a rabbi in their city. Rabbeinu Yonah founded a yeshivah there that produced the leaders of the following generation. Afterwards, he continued to Toledo where the request was repeated, but he conditioned it on staying no more than a year or two. Within those two years, Rabbeinu Yonah passed away, and the Ramban, who admired him, lamented bitterly: "Rabbi Yonah, father of virtues, he is unique in purity / O’ piety, o’ humility, o’ abstinence and admonitions / O’ Mishnah and Gemara, o’ Scripture and traditions..."
Indeed, the connection between Rabbeinu Yonah and the Ramban, of blessed memory, was wonderful and extremely close. Besides being cousins, they also connected through marriage as Rabbi Shlomo, the son of the Ramban, married Rabbeinu Yonah’s daughter.
An interesting response of the Rashbash (Rabbi Shlomo ben Rabbi Shimon - the Tashbetz) highlights the deep connection between the Ramban and Rabbeinu Yonah. The Tashbetz relates that shortly after Rabbeinu Yonah's passing, a grandson was born to him, to his son-in-law Rabbi Shlomo, the son of the Ramban. As is customary in Sephardic communities, the son should have been named Moshe, after his paternal grandfather who was still alive. However, despite the custom, the Ramban ordered that the newborn be given the name Yonah, after his maternal grandfather whose sun had just set in this world, thus fulfilling the verse, "The sun rises and the sun sets." The Ramban's intention was based on the words of the sages in the tractate Yoma: "Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: No righteous person departs from this world until another righteous person like him is created. As it is said: 'The sun rises and the sun sets.' Before the sun of Eli set, the sun of Samuel from the Ramah rose....’”
At the conclusion of the Rashbash's response, he relates that indeed that child, Yonah, grandson of the Ramban, became a great scholar. In his words: "And so it was, for from him emerged a great man who became a rabbi and a leader in Israel." [Based on Zichronam Livrachah]
Rabbeinu Yonah was one of the greatest sages of his generation, and in his personality and Torah he unified many contradictions: In his origins and method of study he was Sephardic, but the influence of the rabbis of the Tosafot from France, some of whom were his teachers for several years and some of whom quote him, is also evident. He also intertwines ethics and halachah inseparably, with his ethical works interspersed with halachot and his Talmudic commentaries full of guidance in Divine service. For this reason, his books became beloved by all streams of Judaism, with both chasidim and non-chasidim studying them with delight.
Rabbeinu Yonah named his book Sha'ar HaYirah (The Gate of Awe), choosing this title despite the fact that most of the book deals with various halachic matters. This expresses his perception that fear of Heaven is both the beginning and the ultimate purpose of Divine service even in the revealed part of Torah. A beautiful allusion is found in the Ramban's lament over his passing, where he calls him "HaRav Yonah" (הרב יונה). This expression has the same gematria as “the Sequestered Light” (האור הגנוז), where the first word “light” (אור) has the same value as HaRav (הרב) and the second word “sequestered” (הגנוז) has the same value as “Yonah” (יונה). The Sequestered Light is a phrase used by the sages to denote the light revealed to those who study Torah for its own sake, in order to fulfill it and instill it in the heart.
Even in the events of the polemic with the Rambam, his approach of embracing paradox is clearly evident. On the one hand, he stood firmly by his opinion and did not shy away from the Rambam and his followers who disagreed with him. On the other hand, he knew how to forgo his honor when he realized that the dispute had gotten out of control. His stand for truth is very fitting to his name: Yonah (which means “dove”) is the name of two central figures in the Bible: Yonah (Jonah) the son of Amitai, the prophet, and Noach’s dove, which Noach sent from the ark. Like Jonah, he is "ben Amitai" (literally, a son of truth), born of pure truth, and like Noach, he is a man of grace (חן, the reverse of Noach, נח) in God's eyes, which is the true grace, the opposite of the "Grace is deceitful" mentioned in Proverbs. (In addition, his day of passing, the 28th of Cheshvan, is always the day of chen (חן), i.e., the 58th day from the beginning of the year.
Rabbeinu Yonah’s similarity to Noach is also expressed in the exact timing of the years in which he lived, at the seam between the fifth and sixth millennia, corresponding to the sefirot of acknowledgment (hod) and foundation (yesod). The inner dimensions and experiences of these two sefirot—earnestness and righteousness—are the two adjectives used in the Torah to praise Noach: "Noach was a righteous, earnest man." Moreover, like the dove that Noah sent, Rabbeinu Yonah too did not find rest and passed away while still on his journey.
Rabbeinu Yonah repeatedly sacrificed his desire to make aliyah to the Land of Israel to guide and teach Torah to those who needed his mentorship in the Diaspora. Jonah the prophet was sent on a Divine mission specifically abroad, and Rabbeinu Yonah also recognized that his mission as a Torah teacher took precedence over his aspiration to ascend to the Land of Israel. In his devotion, he teaches us all how to fulfill the famous Yiddish dictum of the Tzemach Tzedek “moch da Eretz Yisroel” (make where you are into the Land of Israel). Even his grave in the diaspora was certainly sanctified with its holiness.
