Intellecta Design

The book
The Aruch authored by Rabbi Nathan ben Rabbi Yechiel Anav, explains legal terms, gives etymologies and explanations of foreign (including those in Aramaic, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Persian) words, and makes the Talmud more explicable to students. The Aruch thus provides traditions from North Africa, Babylonia, and Germany. It is tremendously helpful to talmudic scholars in helping them explicate arcane or foreign words and terms Author of the Aruch (order), a lexicon of Hebrew. It explains the translations, various interpretations and difficulties surrounding words taken from the entire Bible, Talmud, Midrash and Targums in Hebrew and Aramaic. He is frequently quoted by Rashi.

The Author
Rabbi Nathan ben Yechiel Anav was the greatest Italian Jewish scholar in the 11th century. As a child, he studied with his father, the founder of the Yeshiva in Rome. He also studied in Narbonne, learning the German/French talmudic disciplines. In 1070, at the death of his father, Rabbi Nathan joined his two brothers Rabbi Abraham and Rabbi Daniel to become the teachers at the Rome Yeshiva. All three wrote responsa; some scholars believe that he even answered a question written to him by Rashi. Rabbi Nathan was known for his generosity; he and his brothers financed the building of a magnificent synagogue and mikvah in Rome. While head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Nathan wrote his famous lexicon of the Talmud and major midrash collections, the Aruch.
Rabbi Nathan traced his family back to the scholars who were brought to Rome by Titus in 73 CE.