Meir of Rothenburg

Meir of Rothenburg

 orig. Meir ben Baruch

(born c. 1215, Worms, Franconia—died May 2, 1293, Ensisheim Fortress, Alsace) German Jewish scholar. After studying in France, he served as rabbi in several communities in Germany, notably Rothenburg, where he opened a Talmudic school. He became famous as an authority on rabbinic law, writing notes and commentary on the Talmud and acting for nearly half a century as the supreme court of appeals for Jews of Germany and surrounding countries. Persecution prompted him to flee Germany with a group of followers in 1286, but he was caught and imprisoned for the rest of his life in an Alsatian fortress.