Biography
Very little is known for certain about his life and much discussion has taken place concerning the date and native country of Berachyah. It is possible that he was a descendant of Jewish scholars of Babylonia. He is thought to have lived sometime in the 12th or 13th century, with some placing him about 1260 in Provence. Other theories give Northern France as his home while Joseph Jacobs arrived at the conclusion that Berechiah should be located in England toward the end of the 12th century. This was confirmed by Neubauer's discovery that, in the preface to his fables, Berechiah refers to the "turning of the wheels of fate to the island of the sea for one to die and the other to live," clearly a reference to the English massacre of 1190.
Read more about this topic: Berechiah Ha-Nakdan
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