![Esh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Esh.jpg)
Meir Eisenstaedter (Meir ben Judah Leib Eisenstädter, 1780-1852) was a Hungarian
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 ...
,
Talmudist
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 center ...
, and ''
paytan
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 ...
'' (liturgic poet). He is best known as the author of ''Imre Esh'' (''Words of Fire''), the collection of his
responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
published by his son in 1864.
Eisenstaedter was also known as Maharam Asch (a
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 ...
acronym for "Morenu ha-Rav Meir Eisenshtadt" meaning "our teacher, Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt"), Meir Gyamath, and Meir Ungvar after his later rabbinates.
Life
Eisenstaedter studied at the
Mattersdorf 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 ...
in
Nagymarton,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
under
Moses Schreiber
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
, a renowned rabbi who later became the chief rabbi of Pressburg (Pozsony, now
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
in
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
). In his youth Eisenstaedter moved to Kismarton (now
Eisenstadt
Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074.
In the Habsburg ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
), from which he took his name.
Eisenstaedter was called to the
Baja rabbinate in 1807, where he directed a large yeshiva. He was the intimate friend of Rabbi
Götz Schwerin Kohn, who later became the Chief Rabbi of
Bács County
BACS is the Bankers Automated Clearing Services, a scheme for the electronic processing of financial transactions.
BACS or Bács may also refer to:
Organisations
* Bay Area Christian School, in League City, Texas, US
* Boston Archdiocesan Choir ...
. When Schwerin's father-in-law was ruined, forcing Schwerin to seek a rabbinate, Eisenstaedter voluntarily reassigned to him the office at Baja, and on the recommendation of the
Chatam Sofer
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
, obtained a position for himself at
Balassagyarmat
Balassagyarmat (Hungarian: ; formerly ''Balassa-Gyarmath''; german: Jahrmarkt; sk, Balážske Ďarmoty or ) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus. Balassagyarmat is the capital city of Palóc country as the promi ...
, where he served between 1815 and 1835. In 1835 he moved to
Ungvár
Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
, where he held the position of the Chief Rabbi at a large yeshiva until his death.
Eisenstaedter took an active part in Hungarian Jewish communal life and many of the future rabbis of Hungary were his pupils. He vehemently opposed progressives who desired to introduce religious changes and reforms. The greatest rabbis of Hungary and
Galicia including
Solomon Kluger Solomon ben Judah Aaron Kluger (1785–June 9, 1869) ( he, שלמה בן יהודה אהרן קלוגר), known as the Maggid of Brody, was chief dayyan and preacher of Brody, Galicia. He was successively Rabbi at Rava-Ruska (Galicia), Kulikow ...
of
Brody
Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...
,
Ḥayyim Halberstam of
Neu Sandec
Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, ...
(
Nowy Sacz in Poland), and
Simon Sofer
Simon Blumenfeldt (; 1760 or 1770 – 1826), also known as Simon Sofer (), was a Russian Hebrew calligrapher and writer.
He possessed the gift of writing in characters so small that they could be read only by the aid of a microscope. The Lord's ...
of
Cracow addressed their problems to him. Rabbi
Shlomo Ganzfried
Shlomo Ganzfried (or ''Salomon ben Joseph Ganzfried''; 1804 in Ungvár – 30 July 1886 in Ungvár) was an Orthodox rabbi and posek best known as the author of the work of Halakha (Jewish law), the ''Kitzur Shulchan Aruch'' (Hebrew: קיצו ...
, author of the ''
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch'' served as ''
dayan'' (rabbinic judge) during this time in Ungvár.
Eisenstaedter was married to the daughter of
David Deutsch
David Elieser Deutsch ( ; born 18 May 1953) is a British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) in the Clarendon Laboratory of ...
, the rabbi of Vágújhely (now
Nové Mesto nad Váhom
Nové Mesto nad Váhom (; german: Neustadt an der Waag, Neustadtl, Waag-Neustadtl, Waagneustadtl, Waag-Neustadt; hu, Vágújhely, Vág-Újhely) is a town in the Trenčín Region of Slovakia.
Geography
District town located at the northern edge ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
), where he was head of the yeshiva at the time.
Eisenstaedter died on 16 January 1852 (24
Tevet
Tevet ( he, טֵבֵת, ''Ṭevet''; ; from Akkadian ) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a month of 29 days. Tevet usually occ ...
, 5612). His son Menachem replaced him as head of his yeshiva.
Works
Eisenstaedter's major work is called ''Imrei Esh'' (''Words of Fire''). The title is a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on the abbreviation of Eisenstadt, as E.S means "fire" in Hebrew. ''Imrei Esh'' contains his
responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
(rabbinic answers to
halachic
''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 ...
, i.e. Jewish religious questions) and was published by his son in two parts.
Other works:
*''Imrei Yosher'' (''Words of Honesty'') consisted of sermons and was published in
Ungvár
Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
in 1864.
*''
Imrei Binah'' (''Words of Wisdom'') was a halachic novella about the
Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of s_of_''Mo'ed">san_in_the_Hebrew_c_...
s_of_''Mo'ed''_and_''Nashim.html" ;"title="Mo'ed.html" ;"title="san in the Hebrew c ...