ר׳ אלעזר בן יהודה מוורמייזא

ר׳ אלעזר בן יהודה מוורמייזא (c.1176–1238), known from his major halakhic work as בעל הרוקח, was a leading member of חסידי אשכנז. Probably born in Mainz into the Kalonymus family, he learned esoteric and ethical traditions from ר׳ יהודה החסיד and may have served as cantor in Erfurt before becoming rabbi of Worms. On 22 Kislev 1196, attackers broke into his Worms home, gravely wounded him and murdered his wife Dulcea, their daughters Belet and Hannah, and son Jacob. His prose account and lament preserve the catastrophe with unusual personal immediacy. He nevertheless produced an immense corpus spanning halakhah, prayer, biblical exegesis, ethics, pietism, gematria and esoteric theology. ספר הרוקח integrates law with custom and ascetic discipline; his prayer commentary and works such as חכמת הנפש and סודי רזיא transmitted earlier Hekhalot and Kalonymide traditions. In 1233 he participated in the Mainz synod associated with תקנות שו״ם. His combination of Tosafist law and Ashkenazic pietism influenced later halakhists, liturgists and kabbalists. He died at Worms in 1238.