SHALOM BEN YIẒḤAK OF NEUSTADT

SHALOM BEN YIẒḤAK OF NEUSTADT (c. 1350–c. 1413), talmudist, teacher of Jacob *Moellin, in whose works there is much information on him. Shalom apparently lived for a time in Vienna and is therefore sometimes referred to as "Maharash of Vienna," but moved to Neustadt. His teachers were his father, whose interpretations of halakhah, kabbalah, and the Torah he quotes, Israel of Krems, and other Austrian rabbis. He established a yeshivah at Neustadt, later known as the yeshivah of Israel Isserlin, which was one of the most important in Austria.

His two sons – Yonah and Yudel – served as rabbis in Vienna and in Neustadt, respectively, and are mentioned several times in his book of sermons. Yonah died a martyr's death, following the edict of 1420 in Austria.

The responsa of Shalom are scattered throughout the rabbinical works of his contemporaries and of his disciples, and constitute reliable source material for the history of the Austrian Jews. S.Y. Spitzer has published Hilkhot u-Minḥagei R. Shalom (Derashot Maharash) (1977), containing 546 items dealing with various laws of the Shulḥan Arukh, which is also valuable source material for the customs of Ashkenazic Jews of his time, the organizational and economic conditions of the Jewish communities, and the relations between Jews and non-Jews. His works reflect the harsh conditions under which the Jews of Central Europe lived at the end of the 14^th century.

bibliography:

S. Spitzer, Halakhot u-Minḥagei Rabbeinu Shalom mi-Neustadt (Decisions and Customs of R. Shalom of Neustadt), Introduction 10–24 (1977).

[Yehoshua Horowitz]