Meir of Rothenburg

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Tombs of Meir of Rothenburg and Alexander ben Salomon Wimpfen on the jewish cemetery in Worms, Germany

Meir of Rothenburg (c. 1215-2 May 1293) was a German rabbi and poet, a major author of the tosafot on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud. He is also known as Meir Ben Baruch, the Maharam of Rothenburg.

[edit] Biography

Maharam of Rothenburg was born in Worms, and studied in Germany at Wurtzburg and at Mainz in the Yeshivoth of the leading Talmudists of those days. He later moved to France, studying under the great Rabbi Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris, who had defended the Talmud in the reign of Louis IX. Rabbi Meir was an eyewitness to the subsequent public burning of twenty-four carloads of Talmudic manuscripts (Friday, June 17, 1244), and he bewailed this tragedy in his celebrated "Kina" Shaali serufah (שאלי שרופה) which is still recited on Tisha B'Av.

The following year Rabbi Meir returned to Germany, where he became the rabbi of several large communities successively. He taught in several German communities, but is primarily associated with Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where he opened his own school, maintained at his own cost. Among his disciples were many scholars who later became leading Talmudists and poskim, notably Asher ben Jehiel ("ROSH") and Rabbi Mordecai ben Hillel Ashkenazi ("The Mordechai"). Rabbi Meir, became universally acknowldged as the leading Ashkenazi authority on Talmud and Jewish law, and many communities in France, Italy and Germany frequently turned to him for instruction and guidance in all religious matters and on various points of law.

In 1286, King Rudolf I instituted a new persecution of the Jews, declaring them servi camerae ("serfs of the treasury"), which had the effect to negating their political freedoms. Along with many others, Meir left Germany with family and followers, but was captured in Lombardy and imprisoned in a fortress in Alsace. Tradition has it that a large ransom of 23,000 marks (approximately 15,144,900 U.S dollars today) was raised for him (by the ROSH), but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He died in prison after seven years. 14 years after his death a ransom was paid for his body by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpen, who was subsequently laid to rest beside the Maharam. [1]

[edit] Works

Rabbi Meir wrote no single major work, but many notes, commentaries and expositions - as well as 1,500 responsa. His disciple ROSH, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, codified much of his teaching.

His responsa are of great importance to advanced students of the Talmud, as well as to students of Jewish life and customs of those days -especially for the picture which they give of the condition of the German Jews, and of their sufferings from the caprice of princes and from heavy taxation. These responsa also contain rulings of other older and contemporary Ashkenazi poskim; see History of Responsa: Thirteenth century.

Rabbi Meir is well known as a Tosafist and in particular, authored the Tosafot commentary of the Talmudic tractate Yoma; he is quoted in the Tosafot on various other tractates. He also authored commentaries on the Tohorot and Zeraim orders of the Mishnah.

His writings on specific areas of Halakha (Jewish Law) include:
- Piske Eruvin on the laws of the Eruv;
- Halachoth Pesukoth a collection of decisions on controversial points of Jewish law;
- Hilchoth Berachot on the blessings;
- Hilchoth Avelut on the laws of mourning;
- Hilchoth Shechitah on the ritual slaughtering of animals for Kosher meat.