20 Adar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Meir HaKohen - Maharam Schiff
Rabbi Meir HaKohen ben Yaakov - Maharam Schiff (Moreinu HaRav Meir Schiff) (1605–1641), Talmudist and rabbi.
Yahrzeit - 20 Adar
Resting place - Frankfurt
He was born in Frankfurt am Main around 1597. The Schiff family was one of the most prominent families in Frankfurt, producing outstanding rabbis and communal leaders for many generations, known both for their scholarship and their wealth, as some of them were also successful financiers and bankers. One of the early ancestors of this family was Rabbi Yaakov Kohen-Tzedek Schiff, who was born around 1370 and served as a Dayan (member of the Beit Din) of Frankfurt. His son Uri Feivush Schiff died at an advanced age in 1481, according to his tombstone in the ancient Jewish cemetery of Frankfurt. A later descendant, Meir Kohen Tzedek, served as Parnas (head) of the community and died in 1626.
Rabbi David Tevele HaKohen Schiff, who was elected Chief Rabbi of London in 1765 (d. 1792), was also a descendant of this family, his father having been a community leader. Rav Schiff was regarded from early youth as a scholar of exceptional ability. Even as a boy, he addressed halachic questions to Rabbi Meir of Lublin.
At the age of 17 he was appointed rabbi of the important community of Fulda, where he also headed a well-known Yeshiva. He recorded the substance of his lectures, novellae, and commentaries covering the entire Talmud, but most of it was destroyed in a fire in 1711.
He lived only 36 years - there is a tradition that in 1641 he was appointed rabbi of Prague. According to his grandson's account, he lived only 36 years, and was destined to die immediately after his appointment.
In writing his pilpul, he complains of the "ink spilled and pens broken in order to provide an interpretation of Talmudic passages through pilpul, which he could have explained according to their simple meaning." His books are noted for their brevity and clarity of language. He takes particular care to emphasize that he does not wish to render halachic rulings, each time referring the reader to the appropriate halachic literature. At the end of each tractate, he provides a summary linking the completed tractate to the tractate to be studied next in the Yeshiva.
His novellae testify to his intellectual honesty. More than once he writes: "I was mistaken," "Everything I have written has no value."
He was familiar with the works of his contemporaries, such as Rabbi Shlomo Luria, Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, and Rabbi Meir of Lublin.
Many of the sermons appended to his books show that Schiff was a strong personality, who did not hesitate to rebuke his community on matters of which he disapproved. He accused many communal leaders of desecrating the Sabbath, of failing to study Torah, of failing to support scholars, and of other transgressions. He also wrote on kabbalistic subjects. The Schiff family of bankers descends from him.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/schiff-meir-ben-jacob-ha-kohen)