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 ...

Samuel ben Moses de Medina (abbreviated RaShDaM, or ''Maharashdam''; 1505 – October 12, 1589), was a

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 and author from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. He was principal of the Talmudic college of that city, which produced a great number of prominent scholars during the 16th and 17th centuries. His teachers were the noted Talmudists

Joseph Taitazak Joseph ben Solomon Ṭaiṭazaḳ (), also referred to by the acronym ''MahaRITaTS'', was a talmudic authority and kabalist who lived at Salonica in the 15th and 16th centuries. He was a member of the Taitazak family. With his father and brother ...

and Levi Ibn Chaviv, and among his schoolmates were Isaac Adarbi, Joseph ibn Leb, and Moses Almosnino. While on a mission to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

he met the noted grammarian

Menahem Lonzano Menahem ben Judah ben Menahem de Lonzano (), often Menahem di Lonzano, was a rabbi, Masoretic scholar, lexicographer, and poet. He died after 1608 in Jerusalem. Biography His origin is unknown, but it has been supposed that he was born in Italy. ...

, who studied under him for some time and who therefore speaks of him as his teacher (

David Conforte David Conforte (c. 1618 – c. 1685) () was a Hebrew literary historian born in Salonica, author of the literary chronicle known by the title ''Ḳore ha-Dorot.'' Biography Conforte came of a family of scholars. His early instructors were rabbis H ...

, ''Kore ha-Dorot,'' ed. Cassel, p. 44a). Among Samuel's many disciples who attained prominence were

Abraham de Boton Abraham Hiyya de Boton (c. 1560 – c. 1605) (Hebrew: אברהם די בוטון) was a Talmudist and rabbi, a pupil of Samuel de Medina, who later dwelt for the most part at Salonica as rabbi and leader of a Talmudic academy. The name "Ḥiyya" ...

, Joseph ibn Ezra and Ḥayyim Shabbethai. He had a controversy with

Joseph Karo Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 Anno mundi, A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the ''Beit Yosef (book), Beit Yosef'', and it ...

and other rabbis at

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

, against whom he wrote a

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

al letter (''Ketav Tochachah''). He died at

Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. A grandson of his was Samuel Hayyun, author of ''Bene Shemuel'', ''

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

e'' and ''

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 ...

'' (Salonica, c. 1613).

Writings

Samuel's works include: *''Ben Shemuel'',

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, 1622, thirty sermons on various subjects, published with a preface by his grandson Shemaiah *''Hiddushim'' (unpublished), ''novellae'' on some Talmudic

tractates A tractate is a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject; the word derives from the Latin ''tractatus'', meaning treatise. One example of its use is in citing a section of the Talmud, when the term '' masekhet'' () is used ...

*a collection of 956 ''responsa'' in four parts, of which the first two were published during the lifetime of the author (1578-87?) under the title ''Piske RaShDaM'' A complete edition of the last-named work was undertaken later by the author's son Moses, who added a prefaceSalonica, 1594–97; new ed. ib. 1798

References

* Its bibliography: *

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, ''Cat. Bodl.'' No. 8909; *

Joseph Zedner Joseph Zedner (10 February 1804 – 10 October 1871) was a German Jewish bibliographer and librarian. After completing his education, he acted as teacher in the Jewish school in Strelitz (Mecklenburg), where the lexicographer Daniel Sanders wa ...

, ''Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus.'' s.v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Samuel de 1505 births 1589 deaths 16th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire Rabbis from Thessaloniki Rosh yeshivas Authors of books on Jewish law