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duran
Roman World (1990); P.V.M. Flesher, “Rereading the Reredos: David,
Orpheus, and Messianism in the Dura Europas Synagogue,” in: D. Urman
and P.V.M. Flesher (eds.), Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis
and Archaeological Discovery. vol. 2 (1995): 346–66.
DURAN, family which originated in Provence, settled in
Majorca in 1306, and after the persecutions of 1391 in Algiers.
ẓEMAḥ ASTRUC DURAN (d. 1404), a grandnephew of Levi b.
*Gershom, was respected as a scholar by both the Jews and
non-Jews of Majorca. He died in Algiers. His son was Simeon
b. Ẓemah *Duran (14th–15th century). Until the end of the 18th
century, the descendants of Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ provided uncontested
lay and spiritual leaders among Algerian Jewry. His
son was Solomon ben Simeon *Duran whose three sons were
dayyanim in Algiers. They were AARON (d. c. 1470), a rabbinical
authority consulted by such distant communities as Constantinople;
Ẓemaḥ ben Solomon *Duran who was married to
the daughter of the illustrious Rab (rabbi) Ephraim al-Nakawa
of Tlemçen; and Simeon ben Solomon *Duran. ẓEMAḥ BEN
SIMEON BEN ẓEMAḥ (d. 1590) wrote a commentary on the
poem for Purim by Isaac b. Ghayyat which was published in
Tiferet Yisrael (Venice, 1591?) by his son SOLOMON (d. c. 1593).
The latter wrote notes on the works of his grandfather Simeon
b. Ẓemaḥ, Yavin Shemu’ah and Tashbaẓ, which are followed by
his casuistic responsa Ḥut ha-Meshullash, part 1. In addition,
Solomon wrote a collection of sermons, a commentary on the
Book of Esther, and a treatise on temperance. All of these are
included in his Tiferet Yisrael. He is also the author of a commentary
on Proverbs, Ḥeshek Shelomo (Venice, 1623). His son
ẓEMAḥ (d. 1604) was a talmudist whose death inspired Abraham
*Gavison to write an elegy. AARON DURAN (d. 1676),
dayyan in Algiers, was probably his grandson.
Ẓemaḥ ben Benjamin (d. 1727) was a prominent authority
in religious matters. He also was active in Algerian commerce
and left a large fortune to his sons: JOSEPH BENJAMIN
(d. 1758), whose responsa were published in the works of Judah
Ayash, together with whom he was dayyan in Algiers; and
ḥAYYIM JONAH (d. c. 1765), who settled in Leghorn, where
he published the first part of Magen Avot (1763). MOSES BEN
ẓEMAḥ, one of the notables of Leghorn, had a previously unpublished
part of Magen Avot printed in 1785 from an original
manuscript which was in the possession of his family. DAVID
DURAN (18th–19th centuries), whose father JUDAH (d. c. 1790)
was a direct descendant of Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ and one of the
wealthiest merchants of Algiers, himself held a distinguished
position in Algerian commerce from 1776. He became a rival
of the *Bakri-*Busnach merchant families who were then at
the height of their power. After the assassination in 1805 of
Naphtali Busnach and, two months later, of the dey himself,
David was appointed muqaddim (leader of the Jewish community)
by the new ruler of Algiers, Aḥmad Dey, but was replaced
in the same year owing to the intrigues of Joseph Bakri.
He continued representing the interests of England in Algiers
as against those of France and Spain, whose side was taken
by the Bakri-Busnach families. David Bakri was appointed
muqaddim in 1806 and held the position for over four years
but Duran’s machinations evidently caused his execution.
Although David Duran was again appointed muqaddim he
was himself executed the same year (October 1811) for no apparent
reason, immediately after bringing the annual tax, or
presents, to the dey.
The descendants of Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ who had established
themselves in Leghorn settled in London before 1826.
Bibliography: Benjacob, Oẓar, 203 (no. 875), 222 (no. 215),
659 (no. 699), 674 (no. 995); I. Epstein, Responsa of Rabbi Simon ben
Zemah Duran as a Source… (1930), 1–5, 16, 102; I. Bloch, Inscriptions
tumulaires… (1888), nos. 7, 17, 27, 37, 46; A. Devoulx, Le Livre d’or des
Israélites algériens (1872), 4ff., 34, 65ff.; Hirschberg, Afrikah, index.
[David Corcos]
DURAN, PROFIAT (Profayt; d.c. 1414), scholar and physician,
one of the outstanding anti-Christian polemicists of
Spanish Jewry. Duran was probably born in Perpignan and
later moved to Catalonia. He was the son of Duran Profiat,
himself the son of Profiat de Limos, both Jews of Perpignan.
His Hebrew name was Isaac b. Moses ha-Levi, and he signed
his books and letters with the pseudonym דפא (“Efod”), the
Hebrew acronym of ןרוד טאיפורפ ינא, Ani Profiat Duran (“I
[am] Profiat Duran”). Duran acquired an extensive knowledge
of sciences and languages and associated with Ḥasdai
*Crescas. He was the author of two polemical tracts against
Christianity, the dates of which are not known with certainty:
Al Tehi ka-Avotekha and Kelimat ha-Goyim. The decisive
event in his life was the wave of anti-Jewish persecutions in
Spain in 1391. According to R. Isaac *Akrish’s introduction to
Al Tehi ka-Avotekha (Constantinople, 1570), Duran himself
had been forcibly converted to Christianity in 1391 but reverted
to Judaism. However, documents recently discovered
in the archives of Perpignan show that Duran lived there as
a Christian, under the name of Honoratus de Bonafide, for
about 12 years after 1391/2, serving as astrologer to Juan I of
Aragon. This presents obvious difficulties, as it is certain that
he continued his Hebrew literary activity throughout this period.
Tradition has it that he wrote the Al Tehi ka-Avotekha
when his friend David Bonet *Bonjorn, who was compelled
to undergo conversion with him, became a sincere Christian.
Duran apparently considered that the other should have remained
like himself a Christian only in name, continuing to
believe and act like a Jew. Nevertheless, how he managed to
do this remains a mystery.
Al Tehi ka-Avotekha is a penetrating satire on Christianity,
its tenets, and the affairs of the Church (the schism
between Rome and Avignon), and especially on the Jewish
converts attracted by the Church. Duran emphasizes the irrationality
of Christian doctrine and its insistence on feelings
and on “faith” alone. In contrast, he presents the view of Judaism
in accordance with the approach of the Jewish philosophers
that salvation is attained by faith that does not contradict
the demands of the intellect, combined with the performance
of the practical mitzvot. Because of its witty ambiguities sev-
56 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6