Eleazar of Worms
Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus | |
|---|---|
Sketch/Engraving of Eleazar of Worms | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 1176 probably Mainz, Electorate of Mainz |
| Died | 1238 |
| Spouse | Dulcea of Worms |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Eleazar of Worms (אלעזר מוורמייזא - also מגרמייזא of Garmiza or Garmisa) (c. 1176–1238), or Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today as Eleazar Rokeach ("Eleazar the Perfumer" אלעזר רקח) from the title of his Book of the Perfumer (Sefer ha rokeah ספר הרקח)—where the numerical value of "Perfumer" (in Hebrew) is equal to Eleazar, was a prominent Kabbalist and halakhic authority, among the greatest of the Hasidei Ashkenaz and a disciple of Rabbi Judah the Pious.
He was the author of the Sefer ha-Rokeach (Rokeach in gematria = Eleazar), one of the Tosafists, and wrote many Kabbalistic works, most of which survive only in manuscript form. He served as a rabbi and judge in Worms, and instituted customs still observed in Ashkenazic communities today.
He was called "the Rokeach" after his book, though he was often mistakenly referred to as "Rabbi Eliezer of Germiza". Due to this confusion, he was sometimes wrongly identified as Eliezer the Great.