Isaac Ben Jacob Alfasi

Isaac Ben Jacob Alfasi (1013-1103), Talmudist, born in Algeria, but spend most of his life in Fes, Morocco. He moved to Fes. Morocco, in 1045 with his wife and children when the local community agreed to support him.

Alfasi's plan was to produce a comprehensive work which would set out the practical conclusions of the Gemara in a systematic and clear way. It took him over ten years to compile his work, known as "Sefer Ha-Halachot", one of the earliest comprehensive works of Jewish law. "Sefer H-Halachot" was published before the times of Rashi and other commentators and resulted in a profound change in the study practices of the scholarly Jewish public in that it opened the world of the Gemarah to the public at large. The work became known as the "Talmud Katan" ("Little Talmud").

In Fes Alfasi headed a yeshiva founded in his honour ny the local community and many students from throughout Morocco went there to study under his guidance.

In 1089, after a dispute with the authorities in Fes, Alfasi left Fes and became head of the yeshiva of Lucena, Andalucia (now in Spain).

Alfasi wrote many Responsa most of which were written in Arabic, but which were later translated into Hebrew