View source for Rabbeinu Tam

{{short description|Renowned 12th C. Ashkenazi Jewish rabbi, leading French Tosafist, leading halakhic authority}}
{{Redirect|R. Tam|the character in ''Firefly''|River Tam}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader
| honorific-prefix = Rabbeinu
| name = Jacob ben Meir Tam
| honorific-suffix = 
| title = Rabbeinu Tam
| image = Rabbenu Tam.png
| caption = Artistic depiction by Meir Kunstadt (c. 1900)
| synagogue = 
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| rabbi = 
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| other_post = <!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 1100
| birth_place = [[Ramerupt]]
| death_date = June 9, 1171
| death_place = [[Troyes]]
| buried = [[Ramerupt]]
| nationality = 
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| parents = [[Meir ben Shmuel]] and [[Rashi's daughters#Yocheved and family|Yocheved bat Shlomo]]
| spouse = Miriam bat Yosef
| children = 
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}}

'''Jacob ben Meir''' (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8436-jacob-ben-meir-tam |title=Jacob Ben Meïr Tam (known also as Rabbenu Tam) |author=Solomon Schechter |author2=Max Schloessinger |encyclopedia=The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia |access-date=9 December 2011}}</ref> best known as '''Rabbeinu Tam''' ({{langx|he|רבינו תם}}), was one of the most renowned [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] rabbis and leading French [[Tosafists]], a leading ''[[Halakha|halakhic]]'' authority in his generation, and a grandson of [[Rashi]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dubovick |first1=Yosaif Mordechai |last2=Reiner |first2=Avraham (Rami) |date=2024 |title=Rabbenu Tam and Count Henry the Liberal: New Sources |journal=Journal of Medieval History |volume=50 |issue=5 |pages=563–572 |language=en |doi=10.1080/03044181.2024.2415639 |issn=0304-4181|doi-access=free }}</ref> Known as "Rabbeinu" (our teacher), he acquired the Hebrew [[Suffix (name)|suffix]] "Tam" meaning straightforward; it was originally used in the [[Book of Genesis]] to describe his biblical namesake, [[Jacob]].

== Biography ==

Jacob ben Meir was born in the French country village of [[Ramerupt]], now in [[Aube]] in northern-central [[France]], to [[Meir ben Samuel]] and Yokheved, [[Rashi's_daughters#Yocheved_and_family|daughter of Rashi]]. His primary teachers were his father,and his brother Samuel ben Meir, known as [[Rashbam]]. His other brothers were Isaac, known as the [[Rivam]], and Solomon the Grammarian. He married Miriam, the sister of Shimshon ben Yosef of [[Falaise, Calvados]], who may have been his second wife.

His reputation as a legal scholar spread far beyond France. [[Abraham ibn Daud]] of the [[Taifa of Córdoba]], a chronicler of the sages, mentioned Rabbeinu Tam in his ''[[Sefer ha-Qabbalah]]'' (but not Rashi). The Italian Mishnaic exegete [[Isaac ben Melchizedek]] of [[Siponto]], maintained a written correspondence with Rabbeinu Tam.<ref>"Or Zarua'," ii., § 52</ref> Rabbeinu Tam's work is also cited by [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona]], a [[Catalonia]]n critic living in [[Lunel, Hérault|Lunel]], [[Provence]]. He maintained a scholarly correspondence with [[Aaron ben Joseph of Beaugency]] and received questions from students throughout France and from the [[Italy|Italian]] communities of [[Bari]] and [[Otranto]].

Rabbeinu Tam gave his [[Beth Din]] the title of "the generation's [most] significant court", and indeed, he is known for communal enactments improving Jewish family life, education, and women's status. At times, he criticised [[halakhic]] opponents, notably in his controversies with Meshullam of [[Melun]] and Efraim of [[Regensburg]].

In or around 1160, a [[synod]] was held in [[Troyes]] as part of the ''[[Takkanot Shum]]''. This synod was led by Rabbeinu Tam, his brother and his father, and [[Eliezer ben Nathan]]. Over 250 [[hakham]]s from communities all over [[France]] attended as well. Several communal decrees were enacted at the synod covering both Jewish-[[Gentile]] relations as well as matters relating internally to the Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Synods |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/synods |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>

{{Rashi family tree}}

==Halakhic disputes==
===Phylacteries===
Legend has it that when [[Rashi]] was holding his infant grandson, the baby touched the [[tefillin]] on Rashi's head, and Rashi predicted that this grandson would later disagree with him about the order of the scripts that are put in the head tefillin. Rabbeinu Tam did disagree with Rashi and today, both "Rashi tefillin" and "Rabbeinu Tam tefillin" are produced: the ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'' requires wearing Rashi's version and recommends that Jews wear both to satisfy both halakhic opinions.
{{quote|It is worth noting that the Shulchan Aruch ... rules that Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin should be worn only by one who is known to be a very pious person; the ''[[Mishnah Berurah]]'' ... explains that it is a sign of haughtiness for anyone else to do this because the accepted practice is to wear Rashi Tefillin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tzemachdovid.org/thepracticaltorah/bo.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713184523/http://www.tzemachdovid.org/thepracticaltorah/bo.shtml|url-status=usurped|title=Parshas Bo: Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin|archive-date=July 13, 2007|website=www.tzemachdovid.org}}</ref>}}

However, the [[Sephardic law and customs|Sephardic custom]] also followed in [[Hasidic Judaism]] is to wear Rabbeinu Tam's tefillin in addition to wearing Rashi's following the opinions presented in the ''Shulchan Aruch'' and its extensive commentaries authored throughout the [[early modern era]] and after.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stam.net/what_is_stam.aspx |title=Torah scrolls, Sefer Torah projects, tefillin, mezuzah scrolls & Megillah scrolls from Israel |publisher=Stam.net |access-date=2013-04-05}}</ref> The rise and articulation of Hasidic Judaism has conflated the kabbalistic and halakhic aspects of Rabbeinu Tam's position, popularizing the custom to wear both pairs every day. Wearing Rabbeinu Tam tefillin is an almost universal custom among the many and diverse communities that follow the teachings of the [[Baal Shem Tov]] and his students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/ekev/eli.html|title=שני זוגות תפילין|website=www.biu.ac.il|author=מנשה אלישיב|language=he}}</ref>

===Mezuzah===
Another halakhic disagreement between Rabbeinu Tam and Rashi concerns the placement of the [[mezuzah]]. Rashi rules that it should be mounted on the doorpost in a vertical position; Rabbeinu Tam holds that it should be mounted horizontally. In a compromise solution, many [[Ashkenazi]] Jews place the mezuzah on the door in a slanted position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/section-61.html |title=soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Torah and Halachic Authority (3/12)Section – Question 4.12: Who was Rabbeinu Tam? |publisher=Faqs.org |date=2012-08-08 |access-date=2013-04-05}}</ref> Sephardi Jews mount the mezuzah vertically, per the opinions of Rashi, [[Maimonides]], and the ''Shulchan Aruch''.

== Liturgical poet ==
Rabbenu Tam is significant to Hebrew poetry. The poetry of the Sefardim influenced him and is the chief representative of the transition period in Christian-ruled territory from the old [[payyeṭan]]ic mode of expression to the more graceful forms of the Jews of [[al-Andalus]]. According to Zunz,<ref>Zunz, ''Literaturgesch.'' pp.&nbsp;265 et seq.</ref> he composed the following pieces for the synagogue: (1) several poems for the evening prayer of [[Sukkot]] and of [[Shemini Atzeret]]; (2) a hymn for the close of Sabbath on which a wedding is celebrated; (3) a hymn for the replacing of the [[Torah]] rolls in the Ark on [[Simchat Torah]]; (4) an "ofan" in four metric strophes;<ref>see Luzzatto in ''Kerem Ḥemed'', vii.35</ref> (5) four [[Aramaic]] ''reshut''; (6) two ''selichot'' (Zunz reproduces the second in ''S.P.'' p.&nbsp;248, in German verse).<ref>see also "Nachalat SHeDaL" in Berliner's ''Magazin'' ["Oẓar Ṭob"], 1880, p.&nbsp;36.</ref> There was a synagogal poet named Jacob ben Meïr (Levi) who might easily have been confounded with the subject of this article, and therefore Tam's authorship of all of these poems is not above doubt.<ref>See [[Landshuth]], "'Ammude ha-'Abodah", p.&nbsp;106; comp. also Harkavy, "Ḥadashim gam Yeshanim", supplement to the Hebrew edition of Graetz, "Hist." v. 39; Brody, "Ḳunṭras ha-Piyyuṭim", p.&nbsp;72</ref>

The short poems which sometimes precede his [[responsa]] also show great poetic talent and a pure Hebrew style (see Bacher in ''Monatsschrift'', xliv.56 et seq.). When [[Abraham ibn Ezra]] was traveling through France R. Tam greeted him in verse, whereupon Ibn Ezra exclaimed in astonishment: "Who has admitted the French into the temple of poetry?" (''Kerem Ḥemed'', vii.35). Another work of his in metric form is his poem on the accents, which contains forty-five strophes riming in; it is found in various libraries (Padua, Hamburg, Parma), and is entitled ''Maḥberet.'' Luzzatto has given the first four strophes in ''Kerem Ḥemed'' (vii.38), and Halberstam has printed the whole poem in Kobak's "Jeschurun" (v.123).

== Gravesite ==

Rabbeinu Tam and his brothers, the Rashbam and the Rivam and other Tosafists, were buried in [[Ramerupt]]. The unmarked ancient cemetery in which they are buried lies adjacent to a street called the "Street of the Great Cemetery". In 2005, [[Yisroel Meir Gabbai]], a [[Breslov]]er Hasid who renovates and repairs neglected [[Ohel (grave)|gravesites of Jewish leaders]] around the world, helped to determine the exact boundaries of the cemetery. In addition, a member of the Jewish religious community in [[Paris]] bought a house at the site and converted it into a [[beth midrash]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5764/VYC64features.htm |title=A Man with a Grave Mission – Part I |last=Friedman |first=Yisroel |date=7 January 2004 |access-date=28 December 2010 |publisher=Dei'ah VeDibur |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230162815/http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5764/VYC64features.htm |archive-date=30 December 2009}}</ref>

== Works ==

Rabbeinu Tam's best known work is [[Sefer haYashar (Rabbeinu Tam)|''Sefer HaYashar'']], which contained both ''[[novel (Roman law)|novellae]]'' and ''responsa'', its primary purpose to resolve Talmudic textual problems without resorting to emendations of the received text. Even the best editions show considerable corruption of the original work, and all present editions of ''Sefer HaYashar'' are fragments collected from it. ''[https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/book.aspx?13153&&lang=eng Responsa of Rabbeinu Jacob of Ramerupt]'' (Hebrew) was published by Rabbi [[Yosef Qafih|Yosef Kafih]] in 1968.<ref>Published by Mekize Nirdamim in Kobez Al Yad, new series, book 7 (17), Jerusalem 1968, pages 81-100. (Reprinted in Rabbi Kafih's ''Collected Papers'', Volume 1, pages 453-470.)</ref> Tam also authored a much-cited work of Biblical philology, ''Rulings of Rabbeinu Tam,'' in which he weighed in on the debates of [[Menahem ben Saruq|Menahem b. Saruq]] and [[Dunash ben Labrat|Dunash b. Labrat]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=לברט.|first=דונש בן|title=ספר תשובות דונש בן לברט : עם הכרעות רבינו יעקב תם מבעלי התוספות . והוא חלק שני לספר מחברת מנחם ...|date=1969|oclc=914866602}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
;Attribution
* {{Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Jewish Encyclopedia name|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8436-jacob-ben-meir-tam... |first=Solomon Schechter |last=Max Schloessinger |volume= |page=|ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{EB1911 poster|Tam, Jacob ben Meïr}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tam-jacob-ben-meir|title=Tam, Jacob ben Meir|publisher=The Jewish Virtual Library, a project of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.sichosinenglish.org/essays/45.htm |title=Essay on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041014220355/http://www.sichosinenglish.org/essays/45.htm |archive-date=2004-10-14}}

{{Rishonim}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Rabeinu}}
[[Category:1100 births]]
[[Category:1171 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century French rabbis]]
[[Category:French Ashkenazi Jews]]
[[Category:French Tosafists]]
[[Category:Authors of books on Jewish law]]
[[Category:Exponents of Jewish law]]
[[Category:People from Ramerupt]]