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MEÏR BEN SAMUEL (RaM) – French tosafist; born about 1060 in Ramerupt; died after 1135. His father was an eminent scholar. Meïr received his education in the Talmudical schools of Lorraine, his principal teachers being Isaac ben Asher ha-Levi and...
MEÏR. B. SAMUEL OF SCZEBRSZYN – Hebrew author of the seventeenth century. In the disastrous years of 1648-49 he lived at Sczebrszyn, Russian Poland, an honored member of the community, whence he escaped, on its invasion by the Cossacks, to Cracow; there he...
MEÏR BEN SIMEON OF NARBONNE – Talmudist and controversialist; lived at Narbonne in the second half of the thirteenth century. He was a disciple of Nathan ben Meïr of Trinquetaille, and a contemporary of Naḥmanides, with whom he maintained a scientific...
MEÏR B. SOLOMON B. DAVID – Grammarian of the end of the thirteenth century. He wrote a short but interesting grammatical work, which is extant only in a manuscript formerly in the possession of Halberstam, but now in the Montefiore Library (No. 410, 3;...
MEÏR BEN TODROS – See Abulafia.
ME'IRI, MENAHEM BEN SOLOMON – Provençal Talmudist and commentator; born at Perpignan in 1249; died there in 1306; his Provençal name was Don Vidal Solomon. He was a disciple of Reuben ben Ḥayyim of Narbonne. Me'iri is regarded as one of the most brilliant...
MEISACH, JOSHUA – Russian Hebrew author; born at Sadi, government of Kovno, 1848. Meisach has written and edited over one hundred works in Yiddish and Hebrew. He began his literary career in 1861 with the weekly "Ha-Karmel," since which year he...
MEISEL – Bohemian family which became famous chiefly through Mordecai Marcus b. Samuel Meisel, "primate" of Prague. The family seems to have come originally from Cracow, to whose community Mordecai Meisel bequeathed large sums for...
MEISEL SYNAGOGUE – Prague.
MEISELS, DOB BERUSH B. ISAAC – Polish rabbi and statesman; born in Szezekoeiny about 1800; died in Warsaw March 17, 1870. He was a scion of one of the oldest families in Cracow, and was brought up in Kamenetz, Podolia, where his father (d. 1832) was rabbi....
MEISELS, NAHUM – See Cracow.
MEISSEN – See Saxony.
MEKILTA – First Mention. The halakic midrash to Exodus. The name "Mekilta," which corresponds to the Hebrew "middah" (= "measure," "rule"), was given to this midrash because the Scriptural comments and explanations of the Law which it...
MEKILTA DE-RABBI SHIM'ON – Halakic midrash on Exodus from the school of R. Akiba. No midrash of this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature; but medieval authors refer to one which they call either "Mekilta de-R. Simeon b. Yoḥai," or "Mekilta Aḥrita...
MEKILTA LE-SEFER DEBARIM – A halakic midrash to Deuteronomy from the school of Rabbi Ishmael. No midrash by this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature, nor do the medieval authors refer to such a work. Although Maimonides says in his introduction to...
MEḲIẒE NIRDAMIM – International society for the publication of old Hebrew books and manuscripts. It was established first at Lyck, Germany, in 1864, under the direction of Rabbi Nathan Adler, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Joseph Zedner (London),...
MELAMMED – A term which in Biblical times denoted a teacher or instructor in general (e.g., in Ps. cxix. 99 and Prov. v. 13), but which in the Talmudic period was applied especially to a teacher of children, and was almost invariably...
MELBOURNE – Capital of the British colony of Victoria. Attempts were made to hold services in Melbourne in the house of M. Lazarus in 1839 and in that of Solomon Benjamin in 1841; but the first congregation of the city was that entitled...
MELCHIOR, MORITZ GERSON – Danish merchant; born in Copenhagen June 22, 1816; died there Sept 19, 1884. At the age of twenty-four he entered the firm of Moses & Son G. Melchior, established by his grandfather. His father and one of his brothers, with whom...
MELCHIOR, NATHAN GERSON – Danish physician; born in Copenhagen Aug. 2, 1811; died there Jan. 30, 1872; brother of Moritz G. and Moses Melchior. Nathan graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1835. In 1836-37 he traveled, studying ophthalmology at...
MELCHIZEDEK – King of Salem and priest of the Most High in the time of Abraham. He brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). Reference is made to him in Ps. cx. 4, where the victorious ruler is...
MELDOLA – Genealogical Tree of the Meldola Family. Ancient Sephardic family whose genealogy can be traced through sixteen generations without a break to Isaiah Meldola of Toledo (born in 1282). Under Spanish names it long flourished in...
MELIḤAH – The process of salting meat in order to make it ritually fit (kasher) for cooking. The prohibition against partaking of blood was extended by the Rabbis to include, under certain conditions, flesh containing blood (based on Gen....
MELLI – Family of scholars and rabbis that derived its name from Melli, an Italian village in the province of Mantua. The family can be traced back to the fifteenth century.Eliezer Melli: Rabbi of Venice in the sixteenth century. He is...
MELO, DAVID ABENATAR – Rabbi and poet; born in Spain about 1550. His translation of some of the Psalms into Spanish verse brought him under the suspicion of the Inquisition, and he was imprisoned. When, after several years of torture, he was acquitted...

MEÏR BEN SAMUEL (RaM) – French tosafist; born about 1060 in Ramerupt; died after 1135. His father was an eminent scholar. Meïr received his education in the Talmudical schools of Lorraine, his principal teachers being Isaac ben Asher ha-Levi and...

MEÏR. B. SAMUEL OF SCZEBRSZYN – Hebrew author of the seventeenth century. In the disastrous years of 1648-49 he lived at Sczebrszyn, Russian Poland, an honored member of the community, whence he escaped, on its invasion by the Cossacks, to Cracow; there he...

MEÏR BEN SIMEON OF NARBONNE – Talmudist and controversialist; lived at Narbonne in the second half of the thirteenth century. He was a disciple of Nathan ben Meïr of Trinquetaille, and a contemporary of Naḥmanides, with whom he maintained a scientific...

MEÏR B. SOLOMON B. DAVID – Grammarian of the end of the thirteenth century. He wrote a short but interesting grammatical work, which is extant only in a manuscript formerly in the possession of Halberstam, but now in the Montefiore Library (No. 410, 3;...

MEÏR BEN TODROS – See Abulafia.

ME'IRI, MENAHEM BEN SOLOMON – Provençal Talmudist and commentator; born at Perpignan in 1249; died there in 1306; his Provençal name was Don Vidal Solomon. He was a disciple of Reuben ben Ḥayyim of Narbonne. Me'iri is regarded as one of the most brilliant...

MEISACH, JOSHUA – Russian Hebrew author; born at Sadi, government of Kovno, 1848. Meisach has written and edited over one hundred works in Yiddish and Hebrew. He began his literary career in 1861 with the weekly "Ha-Karmel," since which year he...

MEISEL – Bohemian family which became famous chiefly through Mordecai Marcus b. Samuel Meisel, "primate" of Prague. The family seems to have come originally from Cracow, to whose community Mordecai Meisel bequeathed large sums for...

MEISEL SYNAGOGUE – Prague.

MEISELS, DOB BERUSH B. ISAAC – Polish rabbi and statesman; born in Szezekoeiny about 1800; died in Warsaw March 17, 1870. He was a scion of one of the oldest families in Cracow, and was brought up in Kamenetz, Podolia, where his father (d. 1832) was rabbi....

MEISELS, NAHUM – See Cracow.

MEISSEN – See Saxony.

MEKILTA – First Mention. The halakic midrash to Exodus. The name "Mekilta," which corresponds to the Hebrew "middah" (= "measure," "rule"), was given to this midrash because the Scriptural comments and explanations of the Law which it...

MEKILTA DE-RABBI SHIM'ON – Halakic midrash on Exodus from the school of R. Akiba. No midrash of this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature; but medieval authors refer to one which they call either "Mekilta de-R. Simeon b. Yoḥai," or "Mekilta Aḥrita...

MEKILTA LE-SEFER DEBARIM – A halakic midrash to Deuteronomy from the school of Rabbi Ishmael. No midrash by this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature, nor do the medieval authors refer to such a work. Although Maimonides says in his introduction to...

MEḲIẒE NIRDAMIM – International society for the publication of old Hebrew books and manuscripts. It was established first at Lyck, Germany, in 1864, under the direction of Rabbi Nathan Adler, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Joseph Zedner (London),...

MELAMMED – A term which in Biblical times denoted a teacher or instructor in general (e.g., in Ps. cxix. 99 and Prov. v. 13), but which in the Talmudic period was applied especially to a teacher of children, and was almost invariably...

MELBOURNE – Capital of the British colony of Victoria. Attempts were made to hold services in Melbourne in the house of M. Lazarus in 1839 and in that of Solomon Benjamin in 1841; but the first congregation of the city was that entitled...

MELCHIOR, MORITZ GERSON – Danish merchant; born in Copenhagen June 22, 1816; died there Sept 19, 1884. At the age of twenty-four he entered the firm of Moses & Son G. Melchior, established by his grandfather. His father and one of his brothers, with whom...

MELCHIOR, NATHAN GERSON – Danish physician; born in Copenhagen Aug. 2, 1811; died there Jan. 30, 1872; brother of Moritz G. and Moses Melchior. Nathan graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1835. In 1836-37 he traveled, studying ophthalmology at...

MELCHIZEDEK – King of Salem and priest of the Most High in the time of Abraham. He brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). Reference is made to him in Ps. cx. 4, where the victorious ruler is...

MELDOLA – Genealogical Tree of the Meldola Family. Ancient Sephardic family whose genealogy can be traced through sixteen generations without a break to Isaiah Meldola of Toledo (born in 1282). Under Spanish names it long flourished in...

MELIḤAH – The process of salting meat in order to make it ritually fit (kasher) for cooking. The prohibition against partaking of blood was extended by the Rabbis to include, under certain conditions, flesh containing blood (based on Gen....

MELLI – Family of scholars and rabbis that derived its name from Melli, an Italian village in the province of Mantua. The family can be traced back to the fifteenth century.Eliezer Melli: Rabbi of Venice in the sixteenth century. He is...

MELO, DAVID ABENATAR – Rabbi and poet; born in Spain about 1550. His translation of some of the Psalms into Spanish verse brought him under the suspicion of the Inquisition, and he was imprisoned. When, after several years of torture, he was acquitted...