Ephraim Zalman Shor (

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 ...

: 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' Places *Czech, ...

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 ...

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 ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

. 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) ( he, יוֹסֵף בֶּן־יִצחָק בְּכוֹר־שׁוֹר) was a French tosafist, exegete, and poet who flourished in the second half of the 12th century. He was the father of Abr ...

, and a maternal descendant of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

. His mother Rivka Shachna was the daughter of

Shalom Shachna Shalom Shachna ( 1510 – 1558) was a rabbi and Talmudist, and Rosh yeshiva of several great Acharonim including Moses Isserles, who was also his son-in-law. Biography Shachna was a pupil of Jacob Pollak, founder of the method of Talmudic study ...

. In his early years Ephraim learnt

Halakah ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

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 the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

were he acted as the cities

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') 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 ...

. Around 1600 he wrote his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use 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, ...

''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 ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. 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 Russia and Poland. The phrase 'Easte ...

References

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