Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (also called Isaac Or Zarua; Hebrew: Yitzchak ben Moshe) was one of the greatest rabbis of the Middle Ages. He was probably born in Bohemia and lived between 1200 and 1270. He attained his fame in Vienna and his major work, the halachic guide known as the Or Zarua, was very popular among Ashkenazic Jewry. He was a member of the Chassidei Ashkenaz and studied under many scholars, including the Ra'avyah and Rabbi Elazar Rokeach. He was among the teachers of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by 6 million people mainly in Israel, parts of the Palestinian territories, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished,. In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi or Rebbi... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Bohemia For the place in the USA, see Bohemia, New York. ... Events University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France Births Matthew Paris, English Benedictine monk and chronicler (approximate date). ... For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... The Chassidei Ashkenaz (literally the Pious of Germany) was a Jewish movement in the 12th and 13th century founded by Rabbi Judah the Pious (Rav Yehuda HaChassid) of Regensburg, Germany and several other German Jews. ... Elazar Rokeach (or Rokeiach) (1165-1238) of Worms, Germany, was a leading rabbi, and was known as one of the Chassidei Ashkenaz (Righteous Ones of German[ic] Jewry), a group of Jewish German pietists. ...

Life

In his Or Zarua, the only primary source of information on his life, Isaac ben Moses mentions as his teachers two Bohemian scholars, Jacob ha-Laban and Isaac ben Jacob ha-Laban (author of 'Arugat ha-Bosem). Led by a thirst for Talmudic knowledge, he undertook in his youth extensive journeys to the prominent yeshivot of Germany and France. According to Gross he went to Ratisbon first; but S. N. Bernstein conjectures that previously he stopped for a long time at Vienna, and became closely identified with the city, as he is usually quoted as "Isaac of Vienna." From among the many scholars at Ratisbon he selected for his guide the mystic Judah ben Samuel he-Chasid (d. 1217). The Talmud (תלמוד) is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ... Regensburg (English formerly Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona, Czech Řezno) is a city (population 146,824 in 2002) in Bavaria, south-east Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ...

About 1217 he went to Paris, where the great Talmudist Judah ben Isaac Sir Leon (d. 1244) became his chief teacher. He also visited for a short time the yeshiva of Jacob ben Meir in Provins (see Gross, "Gallia Judaica," p. 495). Then he returned to Germany, and studied under the mystic Eleazar ben Judah at Worms, and, at Speyer, under Simchah ben Samuel, his intimate friend, and Eliezer ben Joel ha-Levi, author of Abi ha-'Ezri and Abi'asaf (see Zunz, Z. G. p. 36). At Würzburg, where Meir of Rothenburg was his pupil (c. 1230), he became rosh yeshiva. Later on Isaac returned to Ratisbon, and then settled for some time in Vienna, where he held the position of "ab beth din" and rosh yeshiva. Finally, he went to Saxony and Bohemia. The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Provins is a commune of France. ... Worm can refer to: The worm, a collection of animal phyla. ... Speyer (English formerly Spires) is a city in Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate) with approx. ... Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. ... A Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה) (plural in Hebrew: Roshei yeshiva, but also referred to in the English form as Rosh yeshivas) is a rabbi who is the academic head, or rosh (ראש), of a yeshiva (ישיבה), a college of higher Talmudic study. ... A beth din (בית דין, Hebrew: house of judgment, plural battei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. ... With an area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ...

Isaac lived a long but unsteady and troubled life. He saw the law compelling Jews to wear the yellow badge put into force in France, and he deplored the massacres of the Jews in Frankfurt-am-Main (1241) and the extortions practised upon them by the nobles of Austria. His son-in-law was Samuel ben Shabbethai of Leipzig; his son Chayyim Eliezer, called Or Zarua, like him a scholar, carried on a comprehensive halachic correspondence, a part of which (251 responsa) was printed under the title Sefer She'elot u-Teshubot (Leipzig, 1860). The yellow badge which Jews were forced to wear during the Nazi occupation of Europe: a black Star of David on a yellow field, with the word Jew written inside. ... A pogrom (from Russian: погром, meaning wreaking of havoc) is a massive violent attack on a particular group; ethnic, religious or other, with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth largest city in Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Leipzig   Leipzig? [ˈlaiptsɪç] (Polish; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ...

Work

Toward the end of his life, about 1260, Isaac composed his ritual work Or Zarua. He is usually quoted as "Isaac Or Zarua" It was printed from the Amsterdam manuscript (incomplete) by Lipa and Höschel in Jitomir, 1862 (parts i. and ii.); other manuscripts are at Oxford (Neubauer, Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. No. 650) and in the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City (MS. Halberstam No. 454). In the edition of Lipa and Höschel Seder Nezikhin is wanting; most of the rest of the work was afterward printed at Jerusalem by J. M. Hirschensohn (part iii., 1887; part iv., 1890) (Harkavy, Chadashim gam Yeshanim, No. 10; Grätz, Gesch. v. 20, Hebr. ed.). Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,295 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 4°54E - 52°22N Website www. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, and is the movements main rabbinical seminary. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, the most densely populated major city in North America, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ... Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew:   יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ?; Yerushalayim; Arabic:   القُدس? al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...

The Or Zarua comprises the whole ritual, and is arranged according to the Talmudic tractates, while at the same time the halachot are kept together. The author, unlike Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah, does not confine himself to giving the halachic decisions, but gives also the passage of the Talmud, explains the subject-matter, and develops the "din" from it. Thus the Or Zarua is at the same time a ritual code and a Talmudic commentary. As it contains, in addition, explanations of some passages in the Bible, the author is also quoted as a Bible commentator. Moreover, the book contains a part of the halachic correspondence which the author carried on with Talmudic scholars of Italy, France, and Austria. Older collections of halachic decisions which the author had gathered together during his lifetime seem also to be embodied in the work. Isaac explains unknown words in Bohemian, his mother tongue (see Harkavy, Die Juden und die Slavischen Sprachen, pp. 53 et seq.), and cites the Palestinian Talmud, to which he ascribes great authority in halachic decisions. The work is introduced by a treatise couched in words to whose meanings mystical significance is attached. It is an imitation of the Alphabet of Akiba ben Joseph, and was composed at the order of Isaac's teacher Eleazar ben Judah of Worms. Isaac's son Chayyim Eliezer arranged a compendium of this work which exists in several manuscripts. The Talmud (תלמוד) is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. ... Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Hebrew: רבי משה בן מיימון; Arabic: Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdallah al-Kurtubi al-Israili; March 30, 1135—December 13, 1204), commonly known by his Greek name (Moses) Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. ... The Jerusalem Talmud (In Hebrew Talmud Yerushalmi, in short known as the Yerushalmi), also known as the Palestinian Talmud, was written in the Land of Israel at the same time of the writing of the Babylonian Talmud, (which is known as the Talmud Bavli or simply the Bavli in Hebrew... Rabbi Akiva (or Rebbi Akiva) is one of the most central and essential contributors to the early Oral Torah, mainly the Mishnah and the Midrash Halakha. ...

The Or Zarua succeeded in displacing all the older ritual works. It is very important also for the Culturgeschichte of the German Jews in the Middle Ages (see, for instance, Berliner, Aus dem Leben der Juden im Mittelalter, on almost every page).

According to Gross, Isaac's chief importance rests upon the fact that he introduced among the Slavs the study of the Talmud from France and the west of Germany. Slav, Slavic or Slavonic can refer to: Slavic peoples Slavic languages Slavic mythology Church Slavonic language Old Church Slavonic language Slavonian can also refer to Slavonia, a region in eastern Croatia. ...

Isaac was of a mild and peace-loving character and it was for this reason, perhaps, that he did not participate in the struggle against the study of secular sciences, though an incorrect ritual decision would rouse him to indignant energy. He carried on a controversy with several rabbis concerning the legal status of a betrothed girl who had been forced by circumstances to adopt Christianity and had afterward returned to Judaism. His anxiety for correct observance led him to counsel the more difficult rather than the easier ritual practise. His mystical studies account for his belief in miracles. He was held in high regard by his pupils, and, like other teachers of the time, was given the title Ha-Kadosh (the holy; Asheri, Ta'an. iv.). His contemporary Isaiah di Trani described him as "the wonder of the age" (Or Zarua i. 226). Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ...

Bibliography

• S. N. Bernstein. in Ha-Tzefirah, 1902, Nos. 229, 231, 232.
• Grätz, Gesch. vii. 101.
• Gross, in Monatsschrift, 1871, pp. 248 et seq.
• Güdemann, Gesch. i. 114, 152, 153.
• Zunz, Z. G. Index.
• Zunz, in Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. 1865, pp. 1 et seq.
• Zunz, G. S. iii. 128 et seq.
• Weiss, Dor, v. 73.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. ...