characteristic of his attitude toward the persons under criticism. He treated the Rif with the utmost respect, almost with humility, and referred to him as "the sun by whose brilliant rays our eyes are dazzled". His language toward R' Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona ("Baal Hamaor") was harsh, almost hostile. Though only eighteen years old, Zerachia possessed the courage and the ability to write a sharp criticism upon the Rif, and Raavad referred to him as an immature youth who had the audacity to criticise his teacher. According to Louis Ginzberg, Raavad's hasagot are notable for having prevented the replacement of Talmud study with the exclusive study of the codes of Isaac Alfasi and Maimonides. While Jews in Muslim countries had a wide variety of serious intellectual outlets besides the Talmud (such as the sciences, philosophy, literature, and the Hebrew language), Ginzberg asserted that Ashkenazi Jews had no such outlets apart for Talmud study. Without the intricacies of the study of the Talmud and its commentaries, Ashkenazi Jews would have been left with no serious intellectual outlets. Hasagot to Mishneh Torah Raavad's criticism of Maimonides' code of Jewish law, Mishneh Torah, was very harsh. This was not due to any personal ill-feeling, rather a result of the radical differences of view in matters of faith between the two greatest Talmudists of the twelfth century. Maimonides' aim was to bring order to the vast labyrinth of Halakha by presenting final results in a definite, systematic and methodical manner. But to Raavad, this very aim was the main defect of the work. A legal code that did not state the sources and authorities from which its decisions were derived, and offered no proofs of the correctness of its statements, was (in Raavad's opinion) entirely unreliable for practical rulings, for which purpose Maimonides had specifically designed it. Such a code (Raavad thought) could be justified only if written by a man claiming infallibility; by one who could demand that his assertions be accepted without question. If Maimonides had intended to stem the further development of Talmud study by reducing it to the form of a code, Raavad felt it his duty to oppose such an attempt, as contrary to the free spirit of rabbinical Judaism, which refuses to surrender blindly to authority. Raavad was thus an opponent to the codification of the Halakha; but he was even more strongly opposed to the construction of