Yerucham ben Meshullam ( he, ירוחם בן משולם, 1290–1350), often called Rabbenu Yerucham ( he, רבנו ירוחם), was a prominent

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 of ...

and

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

during the period of the

Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; he, ; sing. he, , ''Rishon'', "the first ones") were the leading rabbis and '' poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, , "Set Table", a ...

Biography

Yerucham was born in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Initially he lived in

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

. In 1306, after the Jewish expulsion from France, he moved to

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESC ...

. During this time of his life, he became a student of Rabbi

Asher ben Jehiel Asher ben Jehiel ( he, אשר בן יחיאל, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabb ...

. In the year 1330, he began writing his work Sefer Maysharim, which deals with civil law. He completed this work in four years. At the end of his life, he wrote Sefer Toldos Adam V'Chava. This work is divided into two parts. The first is entitled "Adam", and covers the laws that apply before marriage, such as laws of circumcision, instruction, prayer, and Shabbat. The second part, entitled "Havah", deals with the laws that become obligatory at and after marriage, such as those connected with betrothal, marriage, etc. Many of his rulings were codified in the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...

. He greatly influenced Rabbi

Yosef Karo Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the '' Beit Yosef'', and its popular analogue, the ''Shu ...

. He is quoted extensively by Rav Karo in both the

and Beit Yosef (Tur Choshen Mishpat 29:3 for a 'small' example of the latter).

References

Its bibliography: *Abraham Zacuto, Yuḥasin, p. 224, ed. Filipowski; *Geiger's Jüd. Zeit. iii. 284; *Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1384; *Renan-Neubauer, Les Ecrivains Juifs Français, pp. 221 et seq.; *Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 490.G. I. Br. 1290 births 1350 deaths French Orthodox rabbis Provençal Jews Exponents of Jewish law Authors of books on Jewish law 14th-century French rabbis {{Judaism-bio-stub