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Rabbi Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin | |
|---|---|
 Grave of Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin in Worms, Germany | |
| Title | Maharil |
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 1365 |
| Died | September 14, 1427 |
| Parent | Rabbi Moshe Levi Moelin |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Profession | Rabbi of Mainz |
| Buried | Jewish Cemetery, Worms |
Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin (Hebrew:יעקב בן משה מולין) (c. 1365[1] – September 14, 1427) was aTalmudist andposek (authority onJewish law) best known for his codification of the customs (minhagim) of theGerman Jews. He is also known asMaharil (Hebrew:מהריל) - theHebrewacronym for "Our Teacher, theRabbi, YaakovLevi" - as well asMahari Segal orMahari Moelin. Maharil'sMinhagim was a source of law forMoses Isserles’ component of theShulkhan Arukh.
Maharil was the son and pupil of Moshe Levi Moelin,Rabbi ofMainz, and a pupil of R.Shalom b. Isaac (he) ofWiener Neustadt. At a young age, Moelin was recognized as a budding scholar. In 1387, he succeeded his father as Rabbi of Mainz. He established ayeshiva in Mainz which attracted many students. One of his most noteworthy students wasJacob Weil. Moelin lived through the massslaughter of Jews in Austria in 1420 and theHussite Wars in 1421, which brought suffering to the Jews ofBavaria and theRhine; seeHistory of the Jews in Germany.Maharil played an important role in rebuilding these communities. He died in September 14, 1427 and was buried in theJewish Cemetery of Worms.
Moelin composedpiyyutim for the synagogue. He was also a notableHazzan who famously ruled that traditional melodies should not be changed. Some traditional melodies attributed to him were still in use in pre-World War II Mainz. He appears also to have been familiar with the study ofastronomy.
Maharil's best known work isMinhagei Maharil, also known asSefer ha-Maharil or simply theMinhagim (customs). It contains a detailed description of religious observances and rites, at home and in thesynagogue, and thus provides an authoritative outline of theminhagim of theGerman Jews. It also contains sermons and textual comments. It was compiled by Moelin's student, Zalman ofSt. Goar, and was first published - with various additions - atSabbioneta, in 1556 and frequently thereafter. It had a great influence on the Jews ofCentral Europe and was largely responsible for the importance attached tominhag in these communities. This book is frequently quoted in thecodes and commentaries - includingMoshe Isserles who citesMaharil frequently in theShulkhan Arukh - and has become a valuable source forlater scholars (Achronim).
Another pupil of Moelin, Eleazer b. Jacob, collected some of Moelin'sresponsa; these were published inVenice in 1549. Many more of Moelin'sresponsa remained in manuscript. These were collected and edited by Rabbi Yitzhak Satz, and, published in 1977 under the titleSHuT Maharil heChadashot ("New Responsa of Yaakov Molin").[2]
Recently, the Germanesoteric scholar Georg Dehn has argued that the MaHaRIL was also the author ofThe Book of Abramelin, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Abraham von Worms.[3] However, this is disputed.[4]
Unlike traditional books, the text ofMinhagei Maharil was never fixed. In his critical edition of Minhagei Maharil, Shlomo Shpitzer surveyed 22 manuscripts of the work and noted that "The only thing common between them was that no on text was like the other."[5] As such, there is great importance to every early version of the work. In 1989,Machon Yerushalayim published a critical edition of the work, edited by Shlomo Shpitzer. In 2024,Wieder Press published a facsimile edition of the RSL Ginzburg 979 manuscript which wasn't available to Shpitzer when he did his work.[6]
