Meyer Katzenellenbogen
(1482-1565)
Other names: Meier de Padua,[7]
Maaram Mipadova[7]
Positions Held
Chief Rabbi of Padua[1]
Biographical
Meyer ben Isaac was a renown Talmudist who was generally named after his
native town. After studying at Prague under the well-known casuist Jacob
Polak, he went to Padua and entered the yeshibah of Judah Minz, whose
granddaughter he later married. He succeeded his father-in-law, Abraham
Minz, in the chief rabbinate of Padua, and occupied the office until his
death. Meyer was also nominal rabbi of Venice, where, as appears from
his responsa, he went several times a year; but he had his fixed residence
at Padua. Meir was considered by his contemporaries a great authority
on Talmudic and rabbinical matters, and many rabbis consulted him, among
them being Moses Alashkar, Obadiah Sforno, and his relative Moses Isserles
(who addressed him as 'rabbi of Venice'). It may be seen from his responsa
(ninety in number, published by himself, with those of Judah Minz, under
the title of She'elot u-Teshubot, Venice, 1553), as well as from
those of Isserles, that he was disposed to be liberal in his decisions.
Another indication of his leaning toward liberalism was his use in his
responsa of the civil names of the months, a thing not done by other rabbis
of his time. Joseph b. Mordecai Gershon says that Meyer, in one of his
responsa, told him not to rely at that time on his opinion, because he
could not verify his decision by the Talmud, all the copies of which had
been burned. This burning is mentioned by David Gans and by Heilprin as
having occurred in 1558 or 1554 under Pope Julius III, at the instigation
of certain baptized Jews. Meyer also states in his responsa that in Candia
the haftarah for Yom Kippur Minhah was, with the exception of the first
three verses, read in Greek. In his responsa, he speaks of the plague
that raged at Venice, but without indicating the year. Many of his responsa
are to be found in the collection of Moses Isserles. Meyer added to the
edition of his responsa his father-in-law's Seder Gittin wa-Halizah,
and a detailed index. He also edited Maimonides' Yad, with some
commentaries, to which he added notes of his own (Venice, 1550).[3K]
Place of birth: Katzenelenbogen, Hesse[3K]
Place of death: Padua[3K]
Place of burial: old Jewish Cemetery, Padua[7]
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