Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau (יצחק אייזיק מטירנא or יצחק טירנאו; also Isaak Tyrnau) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

(or Hungarian)

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, born in the late 14th century and active in the 15th century; he is most famous for his ''Sefer haMinhagim'' (Book of Customs).

Biography

Little is known about his life. He was born 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 later moved to Tyrnau in

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 ...

, although some suggest ''

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...

'' (german: Tyrnau), in modern-day

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. He studied under Abraham Klausner of

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 R' Shalom of Neustadt. It is possible that he later served as rabbi in

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

, although this is debated by scholars. His correspondence with the Maharil regarding a divorce (1420) is recorded. Gabriel Polak and Israel Böhmer published (

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

, 1857) an anonymous story entitled "Etzba Elohim," the heroes of which are Isaac Tyrnau and his beautiful daughter. According to legend, a Hungarian prince fell in love with Tyrnau's daughter, converted to Judaism, renounced the throne and married Tyrnau's daughter.

Works

The ''Sefer haMinhagim'' (Book of Customs) is a compendium of ''

halachot ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

'' ("Jewish laws") and ''

minhag ''Minhag'' ( he, מנהג "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. , ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, '' Nusach'' (), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers. Et ...

im'' ("customs") of various groups of

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

, arranged according to the calendar. The work is significantly influenced by those of Tyrnau's teachers. It also contains notes from a Hungarian rabbi, which were already attached with the first printed edition of Tyrnau's work (1566).Seforim Online
/ref> It is quoted by Mordechai Jaffe at the end of his "Lebush" on Orah Hayyim. As Tyrnau states in the foreword of the book, his intention was to unify the customs. The

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

around 1348 had almost completely destroyed the German Jewish communities. The number of scholars had diminished so much that in some places "there were only two or three persons who had a real knowledge of local customs". Tyrnau's work is noted as the first to discuss in detail the idea of the '' Yahrzeit'' (the commemoration of the anniversary of a death). It was translated into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

in 1590, and often reprinted. It also contains a treatise on morals entitled "Orhot Hayyim," in 132 sections, which is appended to the ''Sefer haMinhagim''. This work was to some extent superseded by ''Minhagei Maharil'' by Rabbi

Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin ( he, יעקב בן משה מולין) (c. 1365 – September 14, 1427) was a Talmudist and ''posek'' (authority on Jewish law) best known for his codification of the customs (''minhagim'') of the German Jews. He is ...

(Maharil), 1556.

References

*
Sefer HaMinhagim
' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Fulltext,

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) 14th-century Austrian rabbis 14th-century Austrian writers 14th-century Hungarian writers Rabbis from Vienna People from Trnava Rabbis from Bratislava 15th-century Austrian rabbis {{Austria-rabbi-stub