Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam ( he, רבינו תם), was one of the most renowned
Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French
Tosafists
Tosafists were rabbis of France and Germany, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and sources) on the Ta ...
, a leading ''
halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a grandson 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 ...
. Known as "Rabbeinu" (our teacher), he acquired the Hebrew
suffix "Tam" meaning straightforward; it was originally used in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
to describe his biblical namesake,
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
.
Biography
Jacob ben Meir was born in the French country village of
Ramerupt
Ramerupt () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France.
Population
Personalities
* Meir ben Samuel (1060-1135), also known as The RaM, French rabbi and tosafist
* Rashbam, medieval rabbi and scriptural commentator
* Rabbe ...
, today in the
Aube
Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),[département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...]
of northern-central
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, to
Meir ben Shmuel
Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer (name), Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer (disambiguation), Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicize ...
and Yocheved,
daughter of Rashi. His primary teachers were his father and his brother, Shmuel ben Meir, known as
Rashbam
Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi".
Biography
He was born in the vicinity of Tro ...
. His other brothers were Isaac, known as the
Rivam, and Solomon the Grammarian. He married Miriam, the sister of Rabbi Shimshon ben Yosef of
Falaise, Calvados
Falaise () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
Geography
Falaise lies on the river Ante, a tributary of the river Dives, about southeast of Caen.
History
The area around Falaise has bee ...
, who may have been his second wife.
His reputation as a legal scholar spread far beyond France.
Avraham ibn Daud
Abraham ibn Daud ( he, אַבְרָהָם בֵּן דָּוִד הַלֵּוִי אִבְּן דָּאוּד; ar, ابراهيم بن داود) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer, historian, and philosopher; born at Córdoba, Spain about 1110; die ...
, the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
chronicler of the sages, mentioned Rabbeinu Tam in his ''
Sefer HaKabbalah'', but not Rashi. The Italian Mishnaic exegete, Rabbi
Isaac ben Melchizedek
Isaac ben Melchizedek (; also known by the acronym Ribmaṣ ; c. 1090–1160), , was a rabbinic scholar from Siponto, Italy, and one of the first medieval scholars to have composed a commentary on the Mishnah, of which only his commentary on '' S ...
of
Siponto
Siponto ( la, Sipontum, grc-gre, Σιπιούς) was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' ...
, maintained a written correspondence with Rabbeinu Tam. Rabbeinu Tam's work is also cited by Rabbi Zerachya HaLevi, a
Provençal critic. He maintained a scholarly correspondence with
Aaron ben Joseph of Beaugency
Aaron ben Joseph of Beaugency was a French Bible commentator and rabbinical scholar, who flourished in the twelfth century at Beaugency, near Orléans. He was the contemporary of Rabbenu Tam
Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), be ...
and received questions from students throughout France and from the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
communities of
Bari and
Otranto
Otranto (, , ; scn, label=Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label= Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a ferti ...
.
Rabbeinu Tam gave his
Beth Din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a Rabbinic Judaism, rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of ...
the title of "the generation's
ostsignificant court", and indeed, he is known for communal enactments improving Jewish family life, education, and women's status. At times, he criticised Halakhic opponents, notably in his controversies with Meshullam of
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Ma ...
and Efraim of
Regensburg.
In or around 1160, a
synod was held in
Troyes as part of the ''
Takkanot Shum
The ( he, תקנות שו"ם), or Enactments of SHU"M were a set of decrees formulated and agreed upon over a period of decades by the leaders of three of the central cities of Medieval Rhineland Jewry: Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. The initials of th ...
''. This synod was led by Rabbeinu Tam, his brother, the
Rashbam
Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi".
Biography
He was born in the vicinity of Tro ...
, and
Eliezer ben Nathan
Eliezer ben Nathan () of Mainz (1090–1170), or Ra'avan (), was a halakist and liturgical poet. As an early Rishon, he was a contemporary of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam, and one of the earliest of the Tosafists. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi ...
(the Ra'avan). Over 250
rabbis
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 ...
from communities all over
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
attended as well. A number of communal decrees were enacted at the synod covering both Jewish-
Gentile
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...
relations as well as matters relating internally to the Jewish community.
Halakhic disputes
Phylacteries
Legend has it that when
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 ...
was holding his infant grandson, the baby touched the phylacteries (''
tefillin
Tefillin (; Israeli Hebrew: / ; 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. Tefillin are worn by adult Jews durin ...
'') that were on Rashi's head. Rashi predicted that this grandson would later disagree with him about the order of the scripts that are put in the head tefillin. Regardless of the episode's veracity, Rabbeinu Tam did disagree with the opinion of his antecedent. Today, both "Rashi tefillin" and "Rabbeinu Tam tefillin" are produced: the ''
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...
'' requires wearing Rashi's version and recommends that God-fearing Jews wear both in order to satisfy both halakhic opinions. However:
However, many
Sephardic and
chasidic Jews wear Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin (in addition to wearing Rashi's) per opinions presented in the ''Shulchan Aruch'' and its extensive commentaries authored throughout the early-modern and modern era. The rise and articulation of chasidic philosophy has conflated the kabbalistic and halakhic aspects of Rabbeinu Tam's position, popularizing the custom to wear both pairs every day. Wearing Rabbeinu Tam tefillin is an almost universal custom among the many and diverse communities that follow the teachings of the
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
and his students.
Mezuzah
Another halakhic disagreement between Rabbeinu Tam and Rashi concerns the placement of the
mezuzah
A ''mezuzah'' ( he, מְזוּזָה "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment, known as a '' klaf'', contained in a decorative case and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah ( and ). These verses consist of the ...
. Rashi rules that it should be mounted on the doorpost in a vertical position; Rabbeinu Tam holds that it should be mounted horizontally. In a compromise solution, many
Ashkenazi Jews place the mezuzah on the door in a slanted position. Sephardi Jews mount the mezuzah vertically, per the opinions of Rashi,
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...
, and the ''Shulchan Aruch''.
Liturgical poet
In the field of Hebrew poetry the importance of R. Tam is not slight. He was influenced by the poetry of the Spaniards, and is the chief representative of the transition period, in Christian lands, from the old "payyeṭanic" mode of expression to the more graceful forms of the Spanish school. According to Zunz, he composed the following pieces for the synagogue: (1) several poems for the evening prayer of
Sukkot and of
Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret (—"Eighth ay ofAssembly") is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in the Land of Israel, and on the 22nd and 23rd outside the Land, usually coinciding with late September or earl ...
; (2) a hymn for the close of Sabbath on which a wedding is celebrated; (3) a hymn for the replacing of the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
rolls in the Ark on
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah (, lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi: ''Simchas Torah'') is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simch ...
; (4) an "ofan" in four metric strophes; (5) four
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
''reshut''; (6) two ''selichot'' (the second is reproduced by Zunz in ''S.P.'' p. 248, in German verse). It must, however, be remarked that there was a synagogal poet by the name of Jacob ben Meïr (Levi) who might easily have been confounded with the subject of this article, and therefore Tam's authorship of all of these poems is not above doubt.
The short poems which sometimes precede his ''
responsa'' also show great poetic talent and a pure Hebrew style (see Bacher in ''Monatsschrift'', xliv.56 et seq.). When
Abraham ibn Ezra was traveling through France R. Tam greeted him in verse, whereupon Ibn Ezra exclaimed in astonishment: "Who has admitted the French into the temple of poetry?" (''Kerem Ḥemed'', vii.35). Another work of his in metric form is his poem on the accents, which contains forty-five strophes riming in; it is found in various libraries (Padua, Hamburg, Parma), and is entitled ''Maḥberet.'' Luzzatto has given the first four strophes in ''Kerem Ḥemed'' (vii.38), and Halberstam has printed the whole poem in Kobak's "Jeschurun" (v.123).
Gravesite
Rabbeinu Tam and his brothers, the Rashbam and the Rivam, as well as other Tosafists, were buried in Ramerupt. The unmarked, ancient cemetery in which they are buried lies adjacent to a street called Street of the Great Cemetery. In 2005, Rabbi
Yisroel Meir Gabbai, a
Breslover
Breslov (also Bratslav, also spelled Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous rel ...
Hasid
Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...
who renovates and repairs neglected gravesites of Jewish leaders around the world, helped to determine the exact boundaries of the cemetery. In addition, a member of the Jewish religious community in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
bought a house at the site and converted it into a
beth midrash.
Works
Rabbeinu Tam's best known work is ''Sefer HaYashar'', which contained both ''
novellae In Roman law, a novel ( la, novella constitutio, "new decree"; gr, νεαρά, neara) is a new decree or edict, in other words a new law. The term was used from the fourth century AD onwards and was specifically used for laws issued after the publi ...
'' and ''responsa'', its main purpose to resolve Talmudic textual problems without resorting to emendations of the received text. Even the best editions show considerable corruption of the original work, and all present editions of ''Sefer HaYashar'' are fragments collected from it.
Responsa of Rabbeinu Jacob of Ramerupt' (Hebrew) was published by Rabbi
Yosef Kafih in 1968. Tam also authored a much-cited work of Biblical philology, ''Rulings of Rabbeinu Tam,'' in which he weighed in on the debates of
Menahem b. Saruq and
Dunash b. Labrat.
Notes
References
;Attribution
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Rabeinu
1100 births
1171 deaths
12th-century French rabbis
French Ashkenazi Jews
French Tosafists
Authors of books on Jewish law
People from Aube