Gershom ben Judah

Gershom ben Yehudah (or Judah [h ] ), also known as Rabbeinu Gershom (Hebrew רבנו גרשום " Our teacher Gershom ) " Rabbeinu Gershom or Me'or Hagolah " Our teacher Gershom, Light of the Exile " (* 960 probably, so to avoid misunderstandings, often referred to as Gershom ben Judah Mettensis in Metz, † 1028 or 1040 in Mainz ) was a Jewish Talmudic scholar. He is among Jews, particularly for his alleged adoption ( takkanah, plural Takkanot ) is known with which polygamy was abolished in Ashkenazi Judaism.

Gershom ben Yehuda Meir was a student. After his Talmudic studies he opened a Talmud academy in Mainz, students from many countries attracted. Mainz was characterized for religious and cultural center of the so-called SCHUM Cities Speyer ( Schin (SCH) for Spira ), Worms ( Waw (U) for Warmaisa ) and Mainz (Mem (M) for Magenza ), as birthplaces of German - Ashkenazi religious culture apply. The study house in Mainz as well as the in Worms were destroyed in the massacre of Jews during the First Crusade in 1096 and in subsequent prosecutions. This persecution is commemorated in the Jewish liturgy as Gezerot Tatnu.

The general view, which goes back to Meir of Rothenburg, Gershom has abolished polygamy around the year 1000 in a decree that no longer met the requirements in the Christian countries, and anathematized. He should also have features that a husband can not divorce his wife without the consent of her. Other sources indicate the decrees as dispositions of the community. Maybe they were Gershom attributed due to the high reputation which he enjoyed. The controversy stems from the fact that no original texts of the decrees have been preserved; and they are also not cited by the scholars of his generation. Those orders were generally accepted in the Ashkenazi communities in Europe and largely followed.

Gershom ben Judah died in 1028 or 1040 in Mainz. In the old Jewish cemetery in Mainz, the Jews sand, there is a grave stone that the words in memoriam: contains R. Gershom ben R, which is considered his grave stone and is often visited.