For this reason, he is sometimes also called HaYarḥi (הירחי) or Ibn Jarḥi (אבן ירחי), 'of Lunel', since Hebrew yareaḥ is the equivalent of the French word lune ('moon').
In its present form the book consists of two distinct portions, the first of which comprises a collection of responsa, compiled from his numerous written and oral decisions, some of the former of which still bear the usual epistolary conclusion: "Shalom!
However, it must be considered as of some importance in the history of Jewish literature, for it contains numerous literal quotations from the two Talmuds and most of the halakhic and aggadic Midrashim, as well as from certain collections of aggadot which have been wholly lost; so that the Manhig contributes considerably to the textual criticism of all of those works.
It gives interesting and instructive details concerning special synagogical usages, personally observed by the author in northern France, southwestern Germany, Burgundy, Champagne, Provence, England, and Spain, and for which there is no other source of information.
[7] During his long stay in Spain, Abraham learned Arabic sufficiently to translate into Hebrew a responsum by Saadia Gaon, which is to be found in the HaManhig.