Ephraim Zalman Shor (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אפרים זלמן שור; 1550 – 2 October 1633) was a 16th-century

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

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 t ...

who is best known for his rabbinic work on koshrut and the proper ritual slaughter of animals called ''Tevu'ot Shor''.

Biography

Ephraim Shor was born c. 1550 in Pošná,

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. His father Rabbi Naftali Zvi Hirsch Shor claimed to be a paternal descendant of

Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor of Orléans (12th century) () was a French tosafist, exegete, and poet who flourished in the second half of the 12th century. He was the father of Abraham ben Joseph of Orleans and Saadia Bekhor Shor. Biography ...

, and a maternal descendant of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

. His mother Rivka Shachna was the daughter of Shalom Shachna. In his early years Ephraim learnt

Halakah ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

under the supervision of his father. He married Hanna Wahl Katzenallenbogen who was the daughter of the alleged "1 day King of Poland", Rabbi Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen. In his mid thirties Ephraim moved to

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

where he acted as the cities

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

. Around 1600 he wrote his

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

''Tevu'ot Shor'' which dealt with laws of koshrut and the proper halakahic ritual slaughter of animals. Ephraim died on 2 October 1663 in

, and was buried in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. His descendants would go on to occupy several prominent roles in

Eastern European Jewry The expression ''Eastern European Jewry'' has two meanings. Its first meaning refers to the current political spheres of the Eastern European countries and its second meaning refers to the Jewish communities in History of the Jews in Russia, Ru ...

References

{{authority control Year of birth uncertain 1633 deaths 16th-century rabbis from Bohemia 17th-century rabbis from Bohemia