Meir ben Baruch

Meir ben Baruch (Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg) (1215 – 1293) Rabbi

Meir ben Baruch is one of the main scholars of Ashkenazic Judaism in the 13th century. Born in Worms in around 1220, he studies in Mainz for a brief period before moving to Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1245 and opening a Talmud school in the town. His preserved collection of more than 1,500 legal opinions is the largest in Ashkenaz. When the policy of the Roman-German King becomes increasingly directed against Jews, he attempts to emigrate but is captured and imprisoned in 1286. After forbidding the Jews to pay a ransom for him, he dies in captivity in 1293. His corpse is not released until 1307, when it is buried in Worms. His grave is still an important place of remembrance today.