Decoding the Rabbis by Marc Saperstein - 1980: A Thirteenth-Century Commentary on the Aggadah

The book is about the work of a 13th century Provencal author named R. Isaac ben Yedaiah. No one of such a name is to be found in the Jewish encyclopedias or in the general histories of Hebrew literature or even in the monumental bibliographic studies of the Wissenschaft des Judentums. Saperstein suggests that a new figure in the history of Jewish culture has been discovered - an important discovery. Saperstein sets out to reclaim an author whom has been ill treated by history.
Marc Saperstein, who previously held the first regular faculty appointment in Jewish Studies at Harvard divinity school, is currently Gloria M. Goldstein Professor of Jewish History and Thought at Washington University in St Louis.