Gershom Ben Judah

Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960 -1040?) was a French rabbi, best known as Rabbeinu Gershom (Hebrew: רבנו גרשום, "Our teacher Gershom"), who was the founder of talmudic studies in France and Germany.

and also commonly known to scholars of Judaism by the title Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah ("Our teacher Gershom the light of the exile"), was a famous Talmudist and Halakhist.

Rashi of Troyes (d. 1105) said less than a century after Gershom's death, "all members of the Ashkenazi diaspora are students of his." As early as the 14th century Asher ben Jehiel wrote that Rabbeinu Gershom's writings were "such permanent fixtures that they may well have been handed down on Mount Sinai."

About 1000 C.E. Gershom called a synod that decided the following particulars, altering the practice of Rabbinic Judaism: (1) prohibition of polygamy; (2) necessity of obtaining the consent of both parties to a divorce; (3) modification of the rules concerning those who became apostates under compulsion; (4) prohibition against opening correspondence addressed to another.

Biography

Rabbeinu Gershom studied under Judah ben Meïr ha-Kohen, who was one of the greatest authorities of his time. Having lost his first wife, Gershom married a widow named Bonna and settled at Mayence, where he devoted himself to teaching the Talmud. He had many pupils from different countries, among whom should be mentioned Eleazar ben Isaac ha-Gadol ("the Great"), nephew of Simeon ha-Gadol; and Jacob ben Yaḳar, the teacher of the great rabbinical sage Rashi. The fame of Gershom's learning eclipsed even that of the heads of the Babylonian academies of the Sura and Pumbedita, which until them had been preeminent.

During Gershom's lifetime Mainz became a center of Torah and Jewish scholarship for many Jewish communities in Europe that had formerly been connected with the Babylonian yeshivas. He was the spiritual guide of the fledgling Ashkenazic Jewish communities and was very influential in molding them at a time when their population was dwindling.

The most difficult questions were addressed to him by Jews from all quarters, and measures which he authorized had legal force among virtually all the Jews of Europe. In about the year 1000 he called a synod which decided the following particulars:

• prohibition of polygamy
• necessity of obtaining the consent of both parties to a divorce
• liberalization of the rules concerning those who became apostates under compulsion
• prohibition of opening correspondence addressed to another

Gershom's was also an active writer. He is celebrated for his works in the field of Biblical exegesis, the Masorah (textual criticism), and lexicography. He revised the text of both the Mishnah and Talmud, the fundamental texts of rabbinical Judaism. He also wrote commentaries on several treatises of the Talmud which were very popular and gave an impulse to the production of many other works of the kind.

He also composed poetic penitential prayers warning the people against sin, which were inspired by the bloody persecutions of his time. He is the author of Seliha 42—Zechor Berit Avraham ("Remember the Covenant of Abraham")—a liturgical poem recited by Ashkenazic Jews during the season of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur:

"The Holy City and its regions
are turned to shame and to spoils
and all its desirable things are buried and hidden
and nothing is left except this Torah."

Gershom also left a large number of rabbinical responsa, which are scattered throughout various collections. His life reportedly conformed to his teachings.

Man of tolerance

Rabbeinu Gershom had a son who forsook the Jewish religion and became a Christian at the time of the expulsion of the Jews from Mayence in 1012. The young many later died before his father, sill a Christian. Refusing to disown him spiritually, Gershom grieved for his son, observing all the forms of Jewish mourning. His example in this regard became a rule for others in similar cases.

His tolerance also extended to who had submitted to baptism to escape persecution and who afterward returned to the Jewish fold. He strictly prohibited reproaching them for their apostasy, and even gave those among them who had been slandered an opportunity to publicly pray publicly in the synagogues.

Legacy

The halakhic rulings of Judah Ben Gershom are considered binding on all of Ashkenazic Jewry until the present day, although the basis for this is somewhat controversial. Some hold that the bans are still binding and others consider them to have techically expired but that they nonetheless remain obligatory as universally accepted customs.

Some have speculated that if Rabbeinu Gershom had never lived then there may not have been something known as "Ashkenazic Judaism" as it is known today. In the words of the renowned talmudic commentator and rabbinical sage Rashi (1040–1105), all of the great European rabbis of the day were “students of his students.”

External links

• Schechter, Solomon and Bloch, Isaac Gershom ben Judah at the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia site.
• Biographical page

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

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