Meir of Rothenburg | |
|---|---|
 Tombs of Meir of Rothenburg (left) and Alexander ben Salomon Wimpfen (right) in theJewish cemetery of Worms | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 1215 |
| Died | 2 May 1293 |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Meir of Rothenburg (c. 1215 – 2 May 1293)[1] was aGermanRabbi andpoet, as well as a major contributing author of thetosafot onRashi's commentary on theTalmud. He is also known asMeir ben Baruch (Hebrew:מאיר ב"ר ברוך), and by the Hebrew language acronymMaharam of Rothenburg ("Our Teacher, Rabbi Meir",Hebrew:מהר"ם מרוטנבורג). He was referred to by RabbiMenachem Meiri as the "greatest Jewish leader ofZarfat" (Medieval Hebrew for France, a reference toCharlemagne's rule of Germany) alive at the time.
Rabbi Meir was born between 1215 and 1220 in theFree City of Worms. His first teacher was his father, who descended from a long line of rabbis. He continued his training inWürzburg underIsaac ben Moses of Vienna and inFrance, where he remained until 1242, his teachers beingYechiel of Paris,Samuel ben Solomon of Falaise, andSamuel of Évreux, witnessing theburning of the Talmud on 17 June 1242, inParis. He then settled inRothenburg ob der Tauber, opening ayeshiva in his house. After the death of his father in 1281, he settled in Worms. In 1286,Rudolf I,King of the Romans, instituted a new political status for the Jewish community, declaring themservi camerae regis "serfs of the treasury", allowing direct royal taxation of the Jewish community. Since Rudolf did not prohibit local nobles from also taxing the Jews, the burden on the communities could be devastating.
Along with many others, Meir left Germany with family and followers, but was captured in the mountains ofLombardy, having been recognized by abaptized Jew named Kneppe, and imprisoned in a fortress nearEnsisheim inAlsace. Tradition has it that a large ransom of 23,000marks silver was raised for him byAsher ben Jehiel, but Rabbi Meir refused it for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He ruled on his own abduction in light of Talmudic law.[2]
Meir died in prison after seven years. Fourteen years after his death, a ransom was paid for his body by Alexander ben Salomon Wimpfen, who was subsequently laid to rest beside him in theJewish cemetery of Worms.[3]
According toYaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin, Rabbi Meir was an expert ininterpreting dreams.[4][5]
According toChaim Yosef David Azulai'sShem HaGedolim,[6] a disciple of Rabbi Meir whose name wasMeir HaKohen, wrote the famous commentary on Maimonides'Mishneh Torah entitledHagahot Maimoniyot.
Rabbi Meir wrote no single major work, but many notes, commentaries, expositions, and poems—as well as 1,500responsa. His disciple the Rosh (RabbiAsher ben Jehiel) codified much of his teaching.
The Jewish people have experienced similar situations throughout our arduous history," Rabbi Zalman Abraham of JLI headquarters in New York noted. "When Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg was imprisoned for ransom in the Middle Ages, he ruled on his own abduction in light of Talmudic law."
Media related toMeir von Rothenburg at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutMeir of Rothenburg atWikisource