Ephraim Zalman Margolios

Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolios (1762-1828) was a Galician halakhist associated with the town of Brody, where he was born and spent most of his life. In his youth he studied at Satanov under his kinsman Alexander Margolioth and at Ostrow, and contemporaries noted his retentive memory and broad command of the sources. After briefly holding the rabbinate of Uhniv, he turned to commerce and built a successful banking house, whose income allowed him to devote himself to study; he opened a yeshiva in his home and was counted among the rabbis of Brody from 1786. He kept up a learned correspondence with Ezekiel Landau of Prague. Among his writings are Beis Ephraim, a collection of responsa on the Shulchan Arukh; Mateh Ephraim, a manual of the laws of Elul and Tishrei; and Sha'arei Ephraim, on the practice of public Torah reading.