Isaac Tyrnau

Isaac ( Isak Frosty or Nagyszombati Izsák ) Trnava was a rabbi and ritualist, who lived towards the end of the 14th century (d. before 1421 ). He is primarily known as the author of a book on Jewish customs ( Sefer ha - minhagim ).

About his life little is known. After a long time it was assumed that his name is derived from the then Hungarian, Slovak town of Trnava today, one tends today more likely to believe that this is the place Trnava in Styria. He was born in Vienna, where his principal teacher was Abraham Klausner. From Vienna he went apparently into Styrian Trnava and may continue from there traveled to Bratislava to officiate there as a rabbi, although some experts doubt that he has ever stood in Bratislava. Furthermore, it is known that he has consulted in 1420 with Jacob Moelin a divorce case.

The importance Tyrnaus based on his Sefer ha - minhagim. Like his teacher Klausner, who wrote a book of the same, he laid down for the whole year customs and rules of conduct that have been followed in the sequence in most Jewish communities in the Duchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary and Styria. How Tyrnau indicates in the preface of the book, he wanted to do with the publication of which, to unify the customs. The Black Death of 1348 had destroyed the German Jewish communities almost entirely. The number of scholars had decreased so much that it was " only two or three people were who had a real knowledge of local customs " in some places. The book was very popular among the German and Polish Jews. It was first printed in Venice in 1566 in Hebrew and later often reprinted as an appendix to the prayer book. A German translation, which also appeared in numerous reprints, was published in 1590 in Mantua by Simon Günzburg.