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Meiri

Meiri

1249 CE–1315 CE · Rishonim · Perpignan

Menachem HaMeiri was a Provençal Talmudist and halakhic authority who lived in Perpignan during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He was a student of Rabbi Reuven ben Chaim of Narbonne and became one of the most prolific commentators of his era. HaMeiri is best known for his comprehensive novellae on the Babylonian Talmud, called the Beit HaBehirah, which synthesize Rishonim sources and offer clear, practical halakhic rulings. He also authored works on biblical exegesis and Jewish jurisprudence. His approach was marked by intellectual rigor, creativity in reconciling conflicting sources, and a commitment to rendering Talmudic discussions accessible to students. Though his works circulated widely in manuscript, they were largely unknown to later Ashkenazi Jewry until modern printing recovered them.

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Stop 1 of 11249–1315Died

PerpignanRoussillon (France)

What they did here

Born and lived his whole life in Perpignan, in Roussillon. A student of Rabbi Reuven ben Chaim, he composed the Beit HaBechirah — his lucid digest of the Talmud across some thirty-five tractates — and corresponded with the Rashba, including over the 1305 ban on the study of philosophy, which he opposed. He held no formal rabbinic post, earning his living independently, and died in Perpignan in 1315.

About Perpignan

Perpignan, the chief town of Roussillon (today in southern France, then part of the Crown of Aragon/Principality of Catalonia), had a significant medieval Jewish community attested from the late twelfth century. It was the birthplace of Rabbi Menachem HaMeiri (1249-1306), author of the Beit HaBechirah, one of the great medieval Talmud commentaries, and a notable center of Catalan-Provençal Jewish scholarship.

In Perpignan at the same time

Yedaiah HaPenini

See other sages who lived in Perpignan→

In the same place & time

Sages whose lives overlapped with Meiri’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.

In the same tradition

Yedaiah HaPenini

The world in their lifetime

Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Meiri’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

Works(33)

Kiryat Seferקרית ספר

Perpignan · 1290

A work on the mitzvot and their scriptural sources, demonstrating the Meiri's systematic approach to halachic organization.

Full text not yet available in our corpus.

Beit HaBechirahבית הבחירה

Perpignan · 1300

Comprehensive Talmudic commentary covering most tractates, known for its systematic methodology and integration of philosophical reasoning with halachic analysis.

Full text not yet available in our corpus.

Related figuresRashbaRabbeinu MordechaiSuggested by shared subject matter, not a documented teaching relationship.