Everything about Mordecai Ben Hillel totally explained
Mordechai ben Hillel, also known as
The Mordechai, (c.
1250 –
1298), was a
13th century German rabbi and
posek. His main legal commentary on the
Talmud, referred to as the
Mordechai, is one of the sources of the
Shulchan Aruch. He died a
Martyr's death at
Nuremberg.
Biography
Little is known of the Mordechai's early life. He belonged to one of the most prominent families of scholars in Germany: his grandfather Hillel, on his mother's side was a grandson of Eliezer ben Joel ha-Levi, who was in turn a grandson of
Eliezer ben Nathan. Mordechai was also a relative of Rabbi
Asher ben Jehiel. He was married to Selda (nee?) and they'd five children.
His principal teacher was
Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg; he was also taught by Perez ben Elijah of
Corbeil, Ephraim ben Nathan, Jacob ha-Levi of
Speyer (Jacob ben Moses ha-Levi), Abraham b. Baruch (Meir of Rothenburg's brother), and Dan Ashkenazi. In addition to his knowledge of Talmud and Halakha, the Mordechai was also an expert on
Hebrew grammar.
About
1291 the family moved to
Goslar. But his right of residence there was disputed by Moses Tako, the local Rabbi; although the suit was decided in Mordechai's favor, it was conducted with such bitterness that Mordechai left Goslar and settled at
Nuremberg. For the next seven years, he operated a
Yeshiva there which attracted students from all over Europe. The Mordechai was murdered, along with his wife and children, in the
Rintfleisch Massacres;
see Nuremberg: Middle ages.
Works
Magnum opus
Mordechai, is a great legal (Halachic) work, which acquired wide authority, and was one of the sources of the
Shulchan Aruch of
Joseph Caro; it has also been printed as an appendix to the
Talmud, since the
Soncino edition of
1482. The work is written as a compilation of existing halakhic material, and also provides conclusions and results of long discussions in
other works. It thus serves both a source of analysis, as well a source of
decided law. Mordechai's knowledge of halakhic literature was phenomenal. He quotes the works, and written or verbal
responsa, of about 350
authorities; in fact,
Mordechai is now the only source for many
Ashkenazi authors. He frequently quotes his teacher, Meir ben Baruch, and much of the
Mordechai is written in support of the
Tosafists, the last of whom were Mordechai's teachers.
The
Ashkenazi authorities, as well as
those in Italy, were great admirers of Mordechai, and assiduously studied the
Mordechai and recognized its authority as a source of Halakha.
Moses Isserles lectured on the
Mordechai in his yeshivah, and many of his
responsa are devoted to questions regarding difficult passages of the book. Its status was such that, the
Mordechai is one of the sources of the
Shulchan Aruch of
Joseph Caro. In Italy and Poland, where the
Mordechai was especially studied, a whole
Mordecha literature came into existence.
The
Mordechai although linked textually with the
Halakhot of Rabbi
Isaac Alfasi, is, in fact, an independent work. The connection with Alfasi is an external one: single sentences, sometimes even single words, of the
Halakot serve as "catchwords" introducing the relevant material found in the
Jerusalem Talmud, the
tosafot, as well as other codices and compendiums. The
Mordechai is published in two forms: glosses to
Alfasi's "Halakhot" in various manuscripts, and also as an appendix to the "Halakhot" - the standard form in today's editions of the
Talmud.
The work has a "most peculiar history". As the early critics pointed out, the
Mordechai wasn't issued in its final form by the author. He collected the material, but the work was in fact arranged and published by his pupils, partly during his lifetime and partly after his death. Thus within two generations after Mordechai's death there were two entirely different versions of his work, respectively designated as the "Rhenish" and the "Austrian" versions. The Rhenish is the shorter one of the two. These were not merely two different copies of the
Mordechai, but are in fact two materially different compendiums. It is thought that the Austrian
Mordechai, as found in the manuscripts, is the original form of the work. The version published in the Talmud is the Rhenish with
glosses from the Austrian Mordechai, by Rabbi Samuel ben Aaron of Schleastailt.
Other works
He authored several selichot.Further Information
Get more info on 'Mordecai Ben Hillel'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://mordecai_ben_hillel.totallyexplained.com">Mordecai ben Hillel Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
