Alexander Suslin (orAlexander Süsslein)[1]HaKohen (died 1349) was a prominent 14th centuryrabbinic authority born inErfurt,Germany, and one of the most importantTalmudists of his time. He was rabbi first inCologne andWorms, and then moved toFrankfort-on-the-Main.[2] He authoredSefer HaAguddah (ספר האגודה, "Book of the Collection"), ahalakhic work (structured by the order of theTalmud's tractates) which was highly regarded by later rabbinic authorities. He was killed in theErfurt massacre of 1349 during theBlack Death eramassacres of hundreds of Jewish communities throughout Europe.
Suslin authored the bookAguddah (אגודה "Collection").[3] In concise fashion it enumerates the most important legal decisions, based on Talmudic law, made by preceding rabbinical authorities. Its purpose is to render such decisions accessible for guidance in their practical application. A comparison of theAguddah withJacob ben Asher'sArba'ah Turim, written at the same time inSpain, reveals the deficiencies of theGerman Jews of that day in matters of method and systematization. While Jacob ben Asher, despite his having partially discardedMaimonides' order and method, exhibited in hisYad HaHazaka, presents a comparatively concise compendium of the laws in use, theAguddah shows a conglomeration of legal enactments and personal comments on the Talmud – in which much foreign matter is interspersed.[2]
Among the German Jews, however, theAguddah received a cordial welcome, whileSephardic Jews have almost absolutely ignored it. Such authorities of the beginning of the fifteenth century as Jacob Mölln (Maharil) andJacob Weil considered Suslin's judgments to be decisive. Its reputation is also shown by the fact that extracts from the same were made a hundred years later (Hanau, 1610), under the title ofḤiddushe Aguddah ("Novellæ from theAguddah"), comprising a selection from Suslin's own explanations in theAguddah.[2]
Characteristic of the author, his work, and the period in which he lived is his decision[4] thattalmidei chachamim of his era cannot claim the rights and privileges of the class thus named in the Talmud, because nowadays there is no longer any truetalmidei chachamim. Suslin evidently acknowledged by this the inferiority of Talmudic learning in his time, and was conscious of his own inferiority.[2]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Louis Ginzberg (1901–1906)."Alexander Suslin ha-Kohen of Frankfort". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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