Israel Isserlein

Israel ben Patachia Isserlein (also: Isserlin ; * 1390 in Regensburg ; died around 1460 in Wiener Neustadt ) was one of the most important Austrian personalities of medieval Judaism and a rabbi of the 15th century.

Life and origin

He comes from a family of well-known scholars, so his great-grandfather, Rabbi Israel from Krems , was already a respected figure in the Krems Jewish community , in which his uncle Aharon Blümlein also worked. The sons of Israel from Krems were Petachia (also known as Zecherl von Herzogenburg) and Chaim (Hetschlein von Herzogenburg, Isserlein's grandfather) and were important Jewish moneylenders whose customers included the Austrian nobility. Chaim's son was Isserlein’s father, Isserlein lost him in childhood and was therefore sent from Regensburg to Wiener Neustadt, where he grew up with his mother’s brother. She and her brother Aharon Blümlein were killed in the " Wiener Gesera ", the persecution of Jews in Vienna (see Jewish life in Vienna ). After studying with scholars in Italy and Germany, Isserlein settled in Marburg an der Drau in 1435 (at that time part of the Duchy of Styria ; history of the Jews in Styria ) and returned to Wiener Neustadt in 1445, where he became rabbi and chairman of the city Beth Din was appointed. Here he spent the rest of his life, and through him Wiener Neustadt became a center of Jewish learning after the Wiener Geserah (→ Jews in Wiener Neustadt ). There he also had his own yeshiva . He is also called Israel Marburg and Israel Neustadt after the cities in which he lived .

Isserlein's wife was the respected and learned Rebbtzin Schöndlein from Wiener Neustadt, she wrote many answers to halachic questions for women with health, sexual or other problems. From this marriage there were four sons and one daughter: Petachia, Avraham, Shalom, Aharon and Muscat. His descendants often held prestigious positions in Jewish communities.

Works

Isserlein is mainly known as the author of Terumat HaDeschen , a collection of responses with 354 sections, which corresponds to the numerical value (see Gematria ) of the word "Deschen". He also wrote explanations of Raschi's Bible Commentary, which was printed in Venice in 1519, and other legal declarations quoted by Moses Isserles .

Web link

Israel Isserlein; Jewish Encyclopedia

literature

• Encyclopedia Judaica , Volume 9, pp. 1080-1081.
• Solomon Schechter , Louis Ginzberg :  Isserlein (Isserlin), Israel Ben Pethahiah Ashkenazi. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.