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Early History of the Rabbinical Weil
Family
(Clarifying Some Historical Errors)
NOTE: To access footnotes, click on numbers within
parentheses, eg. (F1). Bibliographic
references are contained within square brackets and are
listed at the end of this article.
The most startling and exciting result of my genealogical
investigations was the discovery of a family link to the
well-known and highly respected rabbinical family Weil. For the
past six hundred years, this Weil dynasty has been the source of
a countless line of rabbis and Jewish community leaders, having
spread their influence and purview throughout southern Germany,
as well as to more distant pockets such as Prague in
Czechoslovakia, Lissa, Krakow, Brisk, and Lublin in Poland and
Ludmir in Ukraine. There may also be a connection between this
family and the many Weil/Weill/Weyl folks that settled in Alsace
and elsewhere.
I was introduced to the Weil family by cousin David Blum (F1)
who had determined our descent from Rosa Weil (1748-1821) of
Kippenheim, married in 1766 to Maier Auerbach (1746-1834) of
Nordstetten. From this point, in the eighteenth century, I was
immediately catapulted back four hundred more years to the
recorded origin of the Weil lineage in the fourteenth century.
Going back that far boggles the mind, realizing that I had
traced at least one of my family branches to the time before the
discovery of the Americas, to a period when Europe was engaged
in the Hundred Years’ War, and to the era in Asia when the
Ming Dynasty ruled China.
But, even more surprises were awaiting discovery. The Weil
family claimed descent from that major thirteenth century Gaon
(illustrious), Rabbi Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg (1215-1298),
called the Mahara"m (F2).
This relationship would extend my family purview several hundred
years earlier, bringing my analysis to the epoch of the Second
Crusades and the time of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204).
The patriarch of the Weil family is Rabbi Jakob ben Yehuda
Weil, the Mahari"v (F3),
who was born in the period 1380-1390 in Weil-der-Stadt, a
small town located near Stuttgart in what is now Württemberg.
Jakob Weil was a student of the renowned and honored Rabbi Jakob
Halevi Möllin (the Mahari"l) of Mainz and Worms.
Jakob Weil was ordained by the Mahari"l and
installed at Nürnberg as rabbi in 1407, where he married a
woman, name unknown. Berthold Rosenthal acknowledged that the Mahari"l’s
brightest student was Jakob Weil, whose descendants counted
amongst the oldest Jewish families that had settled in southern
Germany [17, p.43]. Mollin
Jakob Weil served as rabbi in Nürnberg, Augsburg, Bamberg
and Erfurt, the latter location from 1444 until his death in
around 1456 (see Encyclopedia Judaica). He made
his historical mark by assembling the important codification of
the laws of ritual slaughtering and examination, resulting in a
scholarly treatise, Shechitot v’Bedikot. Rabbi
Weil was also responsible for compiling the prayers and
practices of the Jews living along the Rhine River. He was a
prolific participant in responsa, the questions and
answers (She-elot u Teshuvot) that were exchanged between
scholars on halachic (talmudic legal) matters. In this
regard Rabbi Jakob Weil was one of the key contributors among
the early achronim, the second group of rabbinical
authorities engaged in the pursuit of rationalizing the issues
of Jewish law (F4). The
writings of Rabbi Jakob Weil have been repeatedly published over
the years beginning in Venice in 1549 (F5).
An example of a contemporary anthology containing a number of
his works is the 1959 published comprehensive volume, She-elot
u Teshuvot, v’Halachot Shechitah v’Bedikah, v’Chidushe
Dinin [26].
The thoughts and views of Rabbi Jakob Weil have been captured
in the Yeshiva University Ph.D. dissertation of Rabbi Bernard
Rosensweig, leading to the publication of his scholarly book, Ashkenazic
Jewry in Transition [16]. In this work the author has
described the life style, the views, and the practices of
fifteenth century Ashkenazic Jewry (F6)
as reflected in almost 200 responsa of Rabbi Weil (F7).
Furthermore, he has also deduced from these responsa
particulars relating to the life events of Rabbi Weil himself.
It appears from this analysis that others, and more older
sources on the life of Rabbi Jakob Weil, had also relied on
these responsa for their various conclusions regarding
aspects of his family and his career.
A completely different approach in looking at the life of
Rabbi Jakob Weil was taken by one of his prominent descendants,
the historian and novelist Thelma Stern-Täubler. A prolific
author, Stern wrote a fictional account of the fourteenth
century life of the family of Eleasar from Weil-der-Stadt [21
(English), 22 (German)], reflecting her view of the life and
times that must have surrounded her ancestors during the time of
the Black Plague and beyond. [Stern-Taubler]
The origin of the Weil family is not clear. A 1957 assessment
of the early Weil history is contained in the Ernest B. Weill
book, Weil-de Veil, A Genealogy, 1360-1956 [25] (F8).
Reference is made in this book to a 1936 document advancing the
notion that Jakob’s father, Yehuda (born around 1360), may
have come from Spain to Germany [4]. There is even an attempt to
tie the Weil name to a sefardic location, Valls near
Tarragona. Despite these suggestions, I believe that the family
took its surname from Rabbi Jakob’s birthplace,
Weil-der-Stadt.
Ernest Weill also reveals another belief that is a matter of
controversy. He identifies the unnamed wife of Rabbi Jakob Weil
as a descendant of the great scholar, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg
(the Mahara"m" m) of the thirteenth century.
This position is supported by descendant Asher Weill in [14,
p.176] as well as by Raymond M. Jung in his letter to Maajan
[Leserbriefe, page 929 of Heft 40] (F9).
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Figure
1 (click on the image for a larger view)
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In contrast, a family connection to R.
Meir is also mentioned in the 1898 work of Dr. Leopold Löwenstein
[13]. In reference to Rabbi Jakob Weil, it is stated
that "zu seinen Ahnen gehörte der berühmte R.
Meir von Rothenburg." This comment implies that
Rabbi Jacob Weil was in the direct line of descent from
R. Meir which contradicts the just mentioned role played
by his wife. To further the argument, Löwenstein then
points out that the tombstone of descendant seventeenth
century Rabbi Nathanel Weil contains the inscription,
"Descendant of the Mahari"v, the Mahara"m
and the great Tosaphists" (figure 1).Clearly,
Nathanel Weil is entitled to this identification with
Rabbi Meir since the inscription is true regardless of
whether the line of ascent goes through Rabbi Jakob’s
side or through the side of his wife (F10).
Other prominent sources such as Güdemann [9], Rosensweig
[16], and Shapiro [18] (F11)
repeat the conclusion reached by Löwenstein, all relying on the
specific responsa #15 attributed to Rabbi Juda Minz (F12).
The relevant portion of this responsa is translated as
follows: [Gudemann]
"I heard that the Marari"v (z"l)
followed the thinking of the Mahara"m because he had
a family connection with him."
There are two operative Hebrew words in this sentence, mityaches
and krovo. It seems to me that my translation of
"family connection" is as valid, if not more so, than
the presumption made by others that the meaning suggests direct
descent. In any event, the statement by Rabbi Minz ("I
heard…") is rather weak, certainly not convincingly
stated at such a great distance from the stomping grounds of the
Weils. Bottom line, the comment could equally support a family
connection to the Mahara"m,
either through Jakob Weil or through his wife.
To further my position that the ascent to the Mahara"m
is through the wife, I note that the naming tradition among
the Weils does not reflect the given names that are known with
respect to the family of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. According to
Zimmels [28], the Mahara"m’s brother is Abraham,
he has two uncle rabbis, Josef and Nathan, and his father is
named Baruch. None of these names appear in the line of descent
of Rabbi Jakob Weil.
On the other hand, we observe that one of the sons of Rabbi
Jakob Weil is called Meir or Mahara"m, a naming
convention that probably is due to the son’s maternal
connection to Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. The Mahara"m
name is rather distinctive and was the topic of a paper authored
by Rabbi and genealogist, Bernhard Brilling [3]. Rabbi Brilling
asserts that this name, also in such forms as Maram, Marum,
Marim and Maron, is a clear sign of descend from Rabbi Meir of
Rothenburg. He specifically notes the traditional belief that
the first bearer of this name was the son of Rabbi Jakob Weil.
Subsequently, the name appears frequently among the descendants
of the Weils, as well as in other families.
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Figure 2 (click on the image for
a larger view). Surnames include: Auerbach, Blum,
Frank, Gutmann, Uffenheimer, Weil, and Weingartner.
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Based on this analysis, we
have a direct descendant chart of nineteen-plus
generations, from Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg to this
author as shown in Figure 2. Since there is a spread of
around 170 years between the births of Rabbi Meir and
Rabbi Jakob, it is likely that there are at least 3 or 4
missing generations encapsulated in the box marked
"Connection to the Mahara"m."
Furthermore, in Mishpachot Atikot b’Yisrael
[18], the father of Rabbi Meir is identified as Rabbi
Baruch ben Meir, adding thereby another two generations.
This would make the span of the descendant chart from
myself to Rabbi Meir, the grandfather of the Mahara"m,
to be at least 23 generations, bridging a period of over
eight hundred years.
We have already seen in earlier chapters that Jewish family
research reaches a solid wall in the mid seventeenth century.
Prior to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) there are practically
no records of genealogical value. Three related issues contribute
to the difficulty of tracing family continuity in this earlier
period:
The population as a whole went through great swings in size
due to the severity of repeating epidemics and wars. Jews
suffered the additional curses of the Crusades, periodically
inflicted attacks, and continual dislocations from their place
of residence.
Written records were generally not maintained by the
community until the latter part of the seventeenth century, or
if available earlier they were mostly destroyed during the
Thirty Years’ War.
Jews in general did not carry surnames making it very
difficult to track families, a problem which was compounded by
their excessive, mostly forced, mobility.
So, why are we blessed with such a significant amount of
information regarding our Weil family? Records are available for
rabbinical families for much the same reason that genealogical
histories exist for royalty. Rabbis are generally known because
they are identified with the towns they served, the yeshivot
(religious academies) they attended or headed, and the books that
they authored. Because of the rabbinical family practice of
marrying among each other, there also exists a rich body of
interlocking information that form large genealogical networks.
These networks often include names of daughters and their
(rabbinical) marriage partners (F13).
Perhaps the most unique source of information concerning the
life and times of our rabbinical ancestors is contained in the
widely preserved responsa already cited in connection with
Rabbi Jakob Weil and Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. Thousands of such She-elot
u Teshuvot provide fertile research opportunities for
ferreting out names and relationships of our forefathers.
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Figure 3 (click on the image for a
larger view) |
There is yet another unique
source for genealogical information. Rabbis and Jewish
scholars observed a tradition of making personal
introductions (hakdamot) and soliciting
approbations (haskamot) as forewords to their
published sacred writings. These prefaces are devices
having a twofold purpose: (1) to give credence to the
authority of the author by virtue of praise and
endorsement of his work by third parties and (2) to give
honor, praise and admiration to the author’s forebears,
thereby claiming yichus (pedigree) on his own
behalf. The preambles often include the family lineage of
the author and so it becomes important to genealogists. An
example of such a presentation relating to my own research
can be found in any current publication of the Talmud
Babli (figure 3). In the volume, Shabbat,
heading off the portion Korban (F14),
authored by Rabbi Nathanel Weil (1687-1769), is the
following recital contained in the Hakdama (F15):
Nathanel;
son of my esteemed father and holy Rabbi Naftali (z"l);
son of the Torah scholar Rabbi Moses Meir, known as the Mahara"m
from Stühlingen;
son of the honored Rabbi Samuel Uri Shraga;
son of the Gaon and our teacher and rabbi, Jona
Weil, AB"D (F16)
in the lands of Burgau, Schwaben and Switzerland;
son of the wonder of his age, our teacher Rabbi Jakob
Weil, who was the AB"D in the great place of
Donauwürth and all the lands of Bayern;
son of our teacher and rabbi, Mahara"m, AB"D in
the lands of Ulm;
son of our teacher and rabbi, Mahara"m, AB"D in
the lands of Ulm;
son of the greatest Gaon, wonder of his age, our
teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Jakob Weil, AB"D of Nürnberg,
compiler of Shechitot v’Bedikot and She-elot u
Teshuvot.
This lineage forms the basis on which Dr. Leopold Löwenstein
compiled the 1898 comprehensive history of the Weil family [13]
adding thereto an abundance of collateral information known to
him at that time. Therein also lies one of a number of disputed
aspects of this family history.
Löwenstein acknowledges in his work that there was a
controversy with respect to the Weil lineage. He cites the
opinion of Rabbi Tiah Weil, son of Rabbi Nathanel, that there
was a gap in the line-up of his family’s pedigree (F17).
Rabbi Tiah believed that there was a missing generation of a
Rabbi Jakob Weil who should be rightfully placed as the son of
Rabbi Jonah Weil and as the father of Rabbi Samuel Uri Shraga
Weil. I am of the strong opinion that this is the case.
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1. David Blum of Jackson Heights,
New York. (return)
2. Rabbi Meir ben Baruch of
Rothenburg was a Tosaphist (codifier and
commentator on the Talmud), as well as a liturgical
poet. He is more popularly called the Mahara"m,
a title of honor derived from the lead letters MHRM of
the Hebrew, Morenu Harav Rabi Meir (Our teacher,
the rabbi, Rabbi Meir). He has also been bestowed
the title of Me'or haGolah (Light of the Exile),
along with Rash"i
and Rabbenu Gershom. R. Meir was born in Worms around
1215, ultimately ending his life in prison at Ensisheim,
Alsace beginning in 1286, remaining there until his
death in 1293. Fourteen years later his body was
ransomed and reburied in Worms. (return)
3. Morenu Harav Rabi Weil
(Our teacher, the rabbi, Rabbi Weil). (return)
4. The achronim (the later
ones) are distinguished from the earlier scholars who
were called the rishonim (the first ones). The
Encyclopedia Judaica quotes prominent Rabbi Salomon
Luria, stating that "Weil was the chief of the achronim
and his successors relied upon his rulings." (On
the other hand, Raphael Halperin [10] categorizes Rabbi
Jakob Weil among the last of the rishonim.)
(return)
5. I actually thumbed through an
original copy of this publication at the Dorot Jewish
Division of the New York Public Library. According to
the identification stamp contained on the inside front
cover of this rare book, the most recent owner was Rabbi
Dr. Adolph D. Jellinek, Prediger (preacher) of
Vienna. (return)
6. Here we use the term Ashkenaz to
refer to the area of Jewish settlement in western
Europe, specifically on the banks of the Rhine river.
While the term now refers to Jews from all of Europe, in
contradistinction to the Sefardim, in the middle
ages the word distinguished the German Jews (including
the area of Alsace) from those Jews living in Poland and
other points of Eastern Europe. (return)
7. This approach for studying a man
and his period through the analysis of responsa
was exemplified by Rabbi Rosensweig’s teacher, Dr.
Irving A. Agus, author of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg
[1]. Agus enumerates 788 responsa in
question and answer format, preceded by a thorough life
story of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and his times. (return)
8. There are actually three main
sources upon which Ernest Weill builds his genealogy.
One is the classical work of Dr. Leopold Löwenstein
[13]. A second is a study by Berthold Rosenthal,
commissioned by Alfred Sonder and published in 1935, Ahnentafel
der Kinder des Nathan Weill [20]. The third source
is the Dutch language genealogy, Het Geslacht de
Weille, (Weil, Weill, De Veille, De Veil) [4]. In
April, 2000 I became aware of further research by
Gerhard Sonder, son of Alfred Sonder. Gerhard Sonder
undertook translating his father’s 1935 book to
English. In this process he updated the genealogical
data, made some corrections to the original work, and
added some of his own comments and observations to
enhance the text for his own descendants. My research
has been enhanced through private communications with
Gerhard Sonder. (return)
9. It should be pointed out that
none of these three cited sources produced any kind of
evidence to support their positions. (return)
10. According to Löwenstein [13,
p.5], Rabbi Nathanel can also claim descent from the Tosaphists
through his mother, Miriam. (return)
11. Jacob Shapiro in Mishpachot
Atikot b’Yisrael [18] goes even further. On pages
70, 86, and 159 he identifies Yehuda, father of Rabbi
Jakob Weil as neched (grandson) of the Mahara"m
of Rothenburg, albeit there are three to four
generations separating these two individuals. The only
likely explanation for this illogical situation is to
adopt the less frequent usage of the word neched
to mean progeny, descendant or offspring. (return)
12. Rabbi Juda Minz was a rabbi in
Padua, Italy where he died in 1508 at around one hundred
years of age. The Hebrew is: Shamati
sh’Mahari"v z"l halach acher da-at
Mahara"m l’fi sh’haya mityaches acharov
sh’haya krovo. Rabbi Juda Minz was a cousin of
Rabbi Moshe Minz (1415-1485) who was a student of Rabbi
Jakob Weil. This may have been the conduit and source
for the speculation contained in the responsa
regarding R. Meir of Rothenburg. (return)
13. The availability of female
names and their progeny is unusual in Jewish genealogy
since most early sources only trace the male lines.
Thus, to identify a female ancestor often requires the
discovery of her husband’s family, from which vantage
point one may be able to backtrack a connection to the
distaff’s family. (return)
14. The Korban Nathanel
(Offering of Nathanel) is a supercommentary on the
Talmudic explanation of the Ro"sh,
Rabbi Osher ben Jechiel (1250-1328). Rabbi Nathanel Weil
may have been drawn to interpreting the writings of the Ro"sh
since the latter was a student of the Mahara"m
of Rothenburg, the presumed ancestor of the Weil family.
(return)
15. Gerhard Sonder had commented
that the Weil rabbinic line was actually broken in the
fifth generation. He indicates that Samuel Uri Shraga,
Moses Meir and Naftali may have only had the honorific
title of Chaver and rabbi. This could well be
true since one notes that the praise bestowed on these
three ancestors in the Hakdamah of Figure 6.3 is
devoid of an official rabbinical position as was the
case for their forebears. (return)
16. AB"D is the
abbreviation for Av Beit Din, the Head of the
Rabbinical Court. As will be seen later, there is a
question regarding the accuracy of placing R. Jona Weil
at this point in the chronology, as well as the location
of his rabbinical jurisdiction. (return)
17. See Löwenstein [13, p. 5 and
Beilage 1, p. 40-44]. (return)
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