orig. Meir ben Baruch
born 0441; 1215, Worms, Franconia
died May 2, 1293, Ensisheim Fortress, Alsace
German Jewish scholar.
After studying in France, he served as rabbi in several communities in Germany, notably Rothenburg, where he opened a Talmudic school. He became famous as an authority on rabbinic law, writing notes and commentary on the Talmud and acting for nearly half a century as the supreme court of appeals for Jews of Germany and surrounding countries. Persecution prompted him to flee Germany with a group of followers in 1286, but he was caught and imprisoned for the rest of his life in an Alsatian fortress.