Rabbeinu Yona zt"l
הרב יונה בן אברהם זצ"ל
Cheshvan 28 , 5024
Known As: Shaarei Teshuva, of Gerondi
Father's Name: Avrohom
Rabbeinu Yona zt"l
Rabbeinu Yona ben Avrohom of Gerondi, Spain. The Ramban’s mother and Rabbeinu Yona’s father were siblings. Many years later, the Ramban’s son, Rav Shlomo, married the daughter of Rabbeinu Yona. Thus, the two great Rishonim were mechutonim as well as first cousins. He was a talmid of Rav Shlomo ben Avrohom Min Ha’Har. When King Louis XIV of France, “Saint Louis”, burned all the copies of the Talmud in Paris in the Square of the Louvre, Rabbeinu Yona, one of the Rambam’s main detractors, felt that the events in Paris were a sign that he and the other opponents of the Rambam were seriously wrong. He then composed his work Shaarei Teshuva, in which he outlined the methods of doing teshuva, and he traveled from place to place preaching about the need to back away from matters that cause division among the Jewish people. Among his talmidim are the Rashba and Ra’ah. [Others cite his Yahrzeit as 1st, 8th, or 11th of Cheshvan.]