ר' אליעזר אשכנזי (מעשי ה')

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R. Eliezer Ashkenazi

Name	R. Eliezer Ashkenazi ר' אליעזר אשכנזי בן ר' אליה הרופא, מעשי ה'
Dates	1513-1586
Location	Italy / Turkey / Egypt / Poland
Works	Ma'asei Hashem, Yosef Lekach
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by	R. Yosef Taitazak
Impacted on	Vilna Gaon

Background¹

Life

• Name – ר' אליעזר בן אליה אשכנזי הרופא
• Dates – 1513 – 1586
• Location – R. Eliezer wandered widely throughout his life,² spending time in Egypt, Cyprus, Italy, Crimea, Cracow, and Prague.
• Occupation – R. Eliezer served in many different rabbinic positions,³ notably for 22 years in Egypt. His many travels gave him extensive knowledge of the politics, culture, and realia of different societies, knowledge which impacted his commentaries.⁴
• Family – R. Eliezer's father was R. Eliyah HaRofe, and his mother was the daughter of R. Yosef Colon (Maharik). He and his wife Rachel had two sons⁵ and a daughter.
• Teachers – R. Eliezer studied Talmud under R. Yosef Taitazak in Salonica.
• Contemporaries – R. Meir Padua, R. Shemuel Yehudah Katzenellenbogen,⁶ R. David Ibn Zimra (Radbaz), R. Betzalel Ashkenazi,⁷ R. Yosef Karo,⁸ R. Moshe Isserles, Maharal.
• Students – 
• Time period – R. Eliezer was raised in Renaissance Italy, which may have impacted on his thought.⁹

Works

• Biblical commentaries – Ma'asei Hashem,¹⁰ Yosef Lekach¹¹
• Rabbinics
  • Talmudic novellae – Novellae on Gittin¹² and Kiddushin¹³ are attributed to R. Eliezer.
  • Responsa – There are many responsa of R. Eliezer recorded in the works of other scholars of his day.¹⁴

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

• Verse by verse / Topical – 
• Genre – 
• Structure – 
• Language – 

Methods

• – 

Themes

• – 

Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – 
• Printings – 
• Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – 
• Teachers – 
• Foils – 

Occasional Usage

• –

Possible Relationship

• –

Impact

Later exegetes

• –

Supercommentaries

• –

¹ This section incorporates material from C. Benish's introduction to "ספר חידושי קדמונים המיוחס לרבינו אליעזר אשכנזי על מסכת קידושין", Otzar HaPosekim (1995): 9-45 (hereafter: Benish, Introduction) and the Encyclopedia Judaica entry Ashkenazi, Eliezer Ben Elijah the Physician.

² This seems to have been due to both R. Eliezer's desire to see the world (see Ma'asei Hashem, Ma'asei Torah, 7), and his proclivity for embroilment in rabbinic controversies.

³ See above, Location.

⁴ For examples, see ‏חונה, ח.‏, ‎'חכמים ממשפחת טריויש בירושלים', Sinai 11 (1942): 203-206. R. Eliezer also was said to have known twelve languages and to have been well-versed in general sciences.

⁵ R. Eliezer's major work, Ma'asei Hashem, was authored for one of his sons, R. Eliyah.

⁶ R. Eliezer left Venice in the wake of a dispute with these scholars, despite the fact that R. Eliezer's son was married to R. Katzenellenbogen's daughter.

⁷ R. Eliezer served for 22 years as a rabbi and judge in Egypt, where Radbaz and R. Betzalel were community leaders.

⁸ R. Eliezer corresponded with R. Yosef Karo on Halakhic matters. See Responsa Beit Yosef, Dinei Yibbum VaChalitzah, Responsum 5.

⁹ See the paper by N. Ecker, "פירושו של ר' אליעזר אשכנזי לחזון המרכבה של יחזקאל".

¹⁰ The work has four parts: Ma'aseh Bereshit (covering the period from Creation through Avraham), Ma'asei Avot (covering from Avraham through Yaakov), Ma'asei Mitzrayim (covering the miracles of the Exodus, and including a commentary on the Passover Haggadah), and Ma'asei Torah (covering the period from the giving of the Torah through Moshe's death.

¹¹ A commentary on Esther which had a major influence on the Vilna Gaon's commentary.

¹² His novellae on the eighth chapter of the tractate were published in "חידושי רבי אלעזר אשכנזי בעל מעשי ה' לפ' הזורק", Yeshurun 8 (2001): 47-58.

¹³ ספר חידושים קדמונים על מסכת קידושין (Jerusalem, 1995) – see the book's Introduction regarding the attribution of the work to R. Eliezer Ashkenazi.

¹⁴ See citations throughout Benish, Introduction.