Meir Lublin
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Meir Lublin or Meir ben Gedalia (1558 – 1616) was a Polish rabbi,
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ist and
Posek In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are incon ...
("decisor of
Jewish law ''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 ('' mit ...
"). He is well known for his commentary on the Talmud, ''Meir Einai Chachamim''. He is also referred to as MaHaRam (
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 ...
acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
: "Our Teacher, Rabbi Meir").


Biography

MaHaRam was born in
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 ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. He was descended from a family of rabbis, and his father, Gedalia, was an eminent Talmudist. His principal teacher was his father-in-law, Isaac ha-Kohen Shapiro, rabbi of
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
. MaHaRam's knowledge of the Talmud and Poskim was such that he was invited to the rabbinate of Kraków in 1587, when he was not yet thirty years old. In 1591 he became rabbi at
Lemberg 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 ...
. (In Lemberg he was engaged in a controversy with Rabbi Joshua Falk concerning a bill of divorce.) In 1613 he became rabbi at Lublin and established a
yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
. He was well known in the role of
Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...
there, owing to his renown as a Talmudic scholar. Many of his students became prominent rabbis or heads of yeshivot; his most famous student is probably Isaiah Horowitz (''Shelah HaKodesh''). A daughter of the MaHaRam was married to Benjamin Beinisch Gelernter, whose parents were Rabbi Zachariah Mendel Gelernter and the daughter of the Maharal of Prague. One of his sisters married Yehuda ha-Kohen Katz and they had Moshe ha-Kohen Katz as their son, who in turn will marry Nessla Wahl, granddaughter of
Saul Wahl Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen (1541–1617) was a wealthy and politically influential Polish Jews, Polish Jew who is in Jewish folk legends said to have Pro tempore, briefly occupied the King of Poland, throne of Poland on 18 August 1587. He has his ...
, who is said to have been King of Poland for one day, and with whom he had six children. While the MaHaRam served as Dayan and Rabbi in Lemberg a dispute broke out between him and Rabbi Joshua Falk (known as the Sema) regarding a bill of divorce. The controversy turned out ugly and the MaHaRam offended the honor of rabbi Joshua Falk. Rabbi Abraham Shrenzel, a student of Joshua Falk and an influential scholar, thus avenged the honor of his rabbi and the MaHaRam was forced to leave the city by order of the local government. R' Meir was a sharp polemicist and critical of the people around him, and did not refrain from criticizing the most respected scholars of his generation, including the Rema, Beis Yosef, Maharsha, Maharshal. He even disagreed with the
Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; ; sing. , ''Rishon'') were the leading rabbis and ''posek, poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' (, "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewis ...
when he felt that they have erred. He was forceful in rejecting opinions of his own "without any doubt, and there is no way of settling he issuein any other way." When the Maharsha's commentary to the Talmud was first printed, he dismissed it and wrote, "from what I wrote you can see that he can't find his hands and feet in the house of learning, and it is an error." Only later when he realized that the Maharsha was a greatly respected scholar, he confessed to him "and what happened happened, and love covers all sins." When a rabbi in Worms, whom he thought to be a lesser authority than him, rejected his opinion he was deeply offended. He writes that he wanted to embarrass him in the synagogue of Lublin and to convene with the leaders of the communities to demote him from his position, but he decided not to because "perhaps it will be an honor for him that a person like me is occupied with someone like him". While he served as the head of the Yeshiva in Lublin, R' Shimon Wolf Auerbach, the son-in-law of the Maharshal, headed another Yeshiva in the same town. They both had different styles of interpretation, and this usually lead to quarreling among the students as everyone claimed that their Rabbi had the correct way. From then on, the communal leaders decreed that the students could not tell one another of the new interpretation of the Rabbis and that whoever violated this ban would be expelled from the Yeshiva. However, this didn't last for too long. When the MaHaRam once had difficulty explaining
Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot () are Middle Ages, 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 authors o ...
and was eager to find out how R' Shimon Wolf had resolved the issue, he asked his students to find out. When the right opportunity came up, they grabbed one of the students of R' Shimon Wolf, beat him up and forced him to repeat the interpretation of his Rabbi. When the MaHaRam heard of it, he openly declared that only his interpretation is the correct one. A great controversy flared up between the two Yeshivot. The leaders of Lublin decided that they would send a letter to Shlomo Aboav Rav of
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
to decide which one is the correct interpretation, and whichever interpretation he deems appropriate, the other would lose the right to remain as head of the Yeshiva. When the answer came back from Amsterdam it was clear that it was in favor of R Shimon Wolf. The communal leaders decided to demote the MaHaRam of his position as head of the Yeshiva. But the humble R Shimon Wolf refused to accept this decision. Instead, they invited the Maharsha to assume the Rabbinate in Lublin. The Maharsha gave a sermon on Shabbat night and convinced the community of Lublin to keep both of these Torah giants among them, and the controversy ended.Luboml: The memorial book of a vanished shtetl, pp. 25-27.


Works

''Meir Einei Chachamim'' is his best known work, a "casuistic commentary" on the Talmud,
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 ...
, and
Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot () are Middle Ages, 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 authors o ...
together. It was published by his son Gedaliah and has since been printed in all principal editions of the Talmud under the heading "MaHaRam." It is considered one of the important commentaries on the Talmud. The commentary, generally, employs short and simple explanations. After his death, over 140 of the Halachic questions posed to him were published in a collection of
responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
entitled ''Manhir Einei Chachamim''.


See also

* Maharam's Synagogue


References


External links


Lublin, Meïr Ben Gedaliah (Maharam)
jewishencyclopedia.com

jewishhistory.org.il {{DEFAULTSORT:Lublin, Meir 17th-century Polish rabbis 16th-century Polish rabbis 1558 births 1616 deaths Rabbis from Lublin