Elhanan ben Isaac Jaffe of Dampierre (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ר׳ אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן יִצְחָק יָפֶה מִדַּמְפְּיֵיר; d. 1184) also known as Rabbeinu Elhanan was a 12th-century French

Tosafist The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are 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 auth ...

and the son of

Isaac ben Samuel Isaac ben Samuel the Elder (c. 1115 – c. 1184), also known as the Ri ha-Zaken (Hebrew: ר"י הזקן), was a French tosafist and Biblical commentator. He flourished at Ramerupt and Dampierre, France in the twelfth century. He is the father of ...

. He is mostly known for his numerous commentaries on the

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

tractates,

Avodah Zarah ''Avodah Zarah'' (Hebrew: , or "foreign worship", meaning " idolatry" or "strange service") is the name of a tractate of the Talmud, located in ''Nezikin'', the fourth Order of the Talmud dealing with damages. The main topic of the tractate is ...

and

Yoma Yoma (Aramaic: יומא, lit. "The Day") is the fifth tractate of ''Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the ''Mishnah'' and of the ''Talmud''. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their ...

among other notable commentaries. He is also the founder of the

Jaffe family The Jaffe family (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יפה) is an Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish Rabbinic Judaism, Rabbinic family originally from Dampierre, Aube, Dampierre, France. The family descends from the 12th century Tosafot, Tosafist, Elhanan ...

Biography

Born in Dampierre,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, his father was the head of the Dampierre

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; 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 s ...

. Rabbi Elhanan had several illustrious pupils, such as

Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon (1166–1224) was a French tosafist born in Paris. Biography Born in 1166 in Paris, France, his father Rabbi Isaac Treves was a rabbi in Paris and a paternal descendant of Judah ben Nathan, and thus a descendant of Ras ...

. His tosafot are numerous and were often quoted by contemporary scholars, and are mentioned in "Minḥat Yehudah", "Shibbole ha-Leḳeṭ" and Rambam's "Sefer Hafla'ah". He is also credited for two works of his own: "Tiḳḳun Tefillin" - a treatise on

Tefillin Tefillin (; Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Te ...

, and several

piyyutim A ''piyyut'' or ''piyut'' (plural piyyutim or piyutim, he, פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט ; from Greek ποιητής ''poiētḗs'' "poet") is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, ch ...

related to

passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

. Rabbi Elhanan was martyred in 1184.

References

{{Rishonim Tosafists 12th-century French rabbis