Yaakov ben Yakar (990 – 1064) was a German

Talmud 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 ...

ist. He flourished in the first half of the 11th century. He was a pupil of

Gershom ben Judah Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960 -1040) best known as Rabbeinu Gershom ( he, רבנו גרשום, "Our teacher Gershom") and also commonly known to scholars of Judaism by the title ''Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah'' ("Our teacher Gershom the light of the ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, and is especially known as the teacher 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 ...

, who characterizes him as ''Mori HaZaken'' (my teacher the elder). Yaakov was one of the leading Talmudic authorities of his time. In some cases Rashi disagrees with the opinions of his teacher Yaakov. It appears that Yaakov had already written commentaries on portions of the

before Rashi. Much in Rashi's commentary on the Talmud is derived from oral communications of Yaakov. When Rashi says simply "my teacher" without naming any one he is always referring to his teacher Yaakov. It appears, based on a remark of Rashi, that Yaakov was engaged in interpreting the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

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 ...

. Besides Rashi, the German Talmudists

Eliakim ben Meshullam HaLevi Eliakim ben Meshullam Halevi (born about 1030; died at the end of the eleventh century in Speyer, Rhenish Bavaria) was a German rabbi, Talmudist and '' payyeṭan''. He studied at the ''yeshivot'' in Mainz and Worms, having Rashi as a fellow stude ...

and

Solomon ben Samson Solomon ben Samson was a scholar of Worms in the eleventh century. He was a teacher and relative of Rashi, who refers to him as an authority beside his other teacher, Isaac ha-Levi. Most probably he is identical with the Solomon ben Samson mentio ...

were pupils of Yaakov. Prof. Avraham Grossman offered that Yaakov ben Yakar may be the author of the lost book

Meat on Charcoals Meat on Charcoals (Hebrew: בשר על גבי גחלים) is a lost work about Jewish Halakha, quoted since as early as the 11th century. There are some dozens quotes from it, some in printed books and some still in manuscript. The origin of the n ...

.Meat on coals
(Hebrew) from the book

The Early Sages of Ashkenaz ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, by Professor

Avraham Grossman Avraham Grossman (Hebrew: אברהם גרוסמן; born: March 10, 1936) is a professor emeritus in the Jewish history department in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Recipient of 2003 Israel Prize for his contributions to Jewish history. Bi ...

References and further reading

Henri Gross Heinrich Gross, writing also as Henri Gross (born Szenicz, Hungarian Kingdom, now Senica, Slovakia, 6 November 1835; died 1910), was a German rabbi. He was a pupil in rabbinical literature of Judah Aszod. After graduating from the Breslau semin ...

, ''Gallia Judaica'', pp. 300, 506; * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Yakar, Yaakov 11th-century German rabbis German Orthodox rabbis 990 births 1064 deaths