Joseph ben Meir Teomim (1727–1792;

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 ...

: יוסף בן מאיר תאומים) was a Galician rabbi born at

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

. While still young he succeeded his father in the position of preacher and rabbinical instructor in the yeshivah of Lemberg. Later he went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he stayed several years in the bet ha-midrash of Daniel Itzig. Then he resumed his former position at Lemberg, and in 1782 was appointed rabbi at Frankfurt an der Oder, where he remained until his death. He was buried in the

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

at Frankfurt/Oder.

Works

Te'omim, who was one of the foremost rabbis of his time, was a thorough student of

rabbinical Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

literature, and was not unlearned in the secular sciences. He wrote: * ''Pri Megadim'' (פרי מגדים), a supercommentary on some of the major commentators on the Shulkhan Aruch: On the '' Orach chayyim'' section, he wrote the ''Mishbetzot Zahav,'' containing a supercommentary on

David ben Samuel David ha-Levi Segal (c. 1586 – 20 February 1667), also known as the Turei Zahav (abbreviated Taz ()) after the title of his significant ''halakha, halakhic'' commentary on the ''Shulchan Aruch'', was one of the greatest Jews of Poland, Polish ...

's ''Ṭurei Zahav,'' and the ''Eshel Avraham,'' on Avraham Gombiner's ''Magen Avraham'' (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1753). On the Yoreh De'ah section, he wrote the ''Siftei Da'at,'' on

Shabbethai Kohen Shabbatai ben Meir HaKohen ( he, שבתי בן מאיר הכהן; 1621–1662) was a noted 17th century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as the ''Shakh'' ( he, ש"ך), which is an abbreviation of his most important work, ''Siftei Kohen'' ...

's ''Siftei Kohen'' (ש"ך; Berlin, 1772) as well as continuing the ''Mishbetzot Zahav.'' * ''Porat Yosef,'' novellæ on Yebamot and

Ketubot A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a Jewish views of marriage, traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the b ...

, with rules for halakic decisions (Zolkiev, 1756) * ''Ginnat Vradim,'' seventy rules for the comprehension of the

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 ...

(Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1767) * ''Tebat Gome,'' on the Sabbatical sections (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1782) * ''Shoshanat ha-'Amakim,'' a methodology of the Talmud, published together with the preceding * ''No'am Megadim,'' commentaries on the prayers, published with the prayer-book ''Hegyon Leb.'' * ''Rosh Yosef,'' novellæ on Berachos, Shabbos,

Megillah Megillah ( he, מגילה, scroll) may refer to: Bible *The Book of Esther (''Megillat Esther''), read on the Jewish holiday of Purim *The Five Megillot *Megillat Antiochus Rabbinic literature *Tractate Megillah in the Talmud. *Megillat Taanit, ...

, and Chullin Te'omim left in manuscript ''Sefer ha-Maggid'' (a commentary on 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 s ...

and the Haftarot, sermons for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

and festivals, and a twofold commentary on

Pirḳe Abot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from ...

) and ''Em la-Binah'' (a

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 ...

, and Chaldaic lexicon; Neubauer, ''Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS.'' No. 1500). In the introduction to the last-named work Te'omim mentions a great number of writings of his own, on halakot and ethics, which are no longer in existence.

Bibliography and references

The following bibliography is referred to in the Jewish Encyclopedia article: *D. Cassel, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section ii., part 31, p. 97; *Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1534; *Neubauer, in Ha-Maggid, xiii. 285; * Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 514; *Buber, Anshe Shem, p. 95. {{DEFAULTSORT:Teomim 18th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire 1727 births 1793 deaths Rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Authors of books on Jewish law Rabbis from Lviv People from Frankfurt (Oder)