Rabbi Avigdor Hacohen ben Elijah of Vienna (also known as Rabbi Avigdor Cohen Tsedek) (fl. mid-13th century) was the earliest of the great

Talmudist The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...

s of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Biography

Rabbi Avigdor Hacohen was the pupil of R. Simha of Speyer (who flourished about 1220), but he knew also R. Joel HaLevi of Bonn (who flourished about 1175). Avigdor lived in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and from there administered the religious affairs of the Jewish population of Austria. Of his writings, we possess only a commentary on the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

and the five

Megillot The Five Scrolls or The Five Megillot ( he, חמש מגילות , ''Hamesh Megillot'' or ''Chomeish Megillos'') are parts of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Five Scrolls are the Song of Songs, ...

, which still exist in manuscript. From various sources, we know that he also wrote

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

to the treatise Ketuvot. The most prominent scholars of Germany often applied to him for advice on difficult ritualistic problems, theoretical or practical, and attached great importance to his decisions. He had also distinguished pupils, among whom was the eminent Rabbi

Meir of Rothenburg Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred ...

.See Responsa of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, ed Cremona, resp 12.

References

* It has the following bibliography: *Michael, ''Or ha-hayyim,'' No. 10; *Zunz, ''Z.G.'' pp. 38, 42, 193. 13th-century Austrian rabbis Austrian Orthodox rabbis Bible commentators Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Rabbis from Vienna Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Austria-rabbi-stub