27 Tishrei · Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit/Hillula of the Ri HaZaken - Ba'al Tosafot
Rabbi Yitzchak bar Shmuel - the Ri HaZaken - one of the greatest of the Ba'alei Tosafot (authors of the Tosafot), the leading sage of his generation in France (1115-1190)
Yahrzeit - 27 Tishrei
Resting place -
Rabbi Yitzchak ben Shmuel the Elder, also known as the Ri HaZaken, was a French tosafist and commentator on the Torah. He lived in Ramerupt and Dampierre, France, in the twelfth century.
On his father's side, the Ri HaZaken was the grandson of Rabbi Simcha ben Shmuel of Vitry, author of the "Machzor Vitry"; on his mother's side he was the nephew of Rabbeinu Tam, the Rashbam, and Isaac ben Meir (the RiBaM), the great-grandson of Rashi, and a relative of Rabbi Elazar of Worms.
He was called "HaZaken" (the Elder) to distinguish him from another tosafist with the same name, Isaac ben Avraham, known as "HaBachur" (the Younger).
He is often cited as Rabbi Yitzchak of Dampierre, but he lived at first in Ramerupt, where his maternal grandfather resided. It was also in Ramerupt that he studied under his uncle Rabbeinu Tam, after the latter moved to Troyes.
Later, the Ri HaZaken settled in Dampierre and established a flourishing and well-attended yeshiva there. It is said that he had sixty students, each of whom, in addition to having a broad knowledge of the Talmud, knew an entire tractate by heart, so that the whole Talmud was preserved in the memory of his students. Since the Ri HaZaken lived under Philip Augustus, at whose hands the Jews suffered greatly, he forbade the purchase of confiscated Jewish property and ordered that everything acquired in this way be returned to its original owners. Of particular interest is one of his responsa, in which he relies on the oral testimony of his aunt, the wife of Rabbi Yitzchak ben Meir, and the wife of Rabbi Elazar of Worms, a great-granddaughter of Rashi.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/1052-Rabbi-Isaac-ben-Samuel)