ר׳ ישראל איסרלין

ר׳ ישראל איסרלין בן פתחיה (בערך 1390–1460), הידוע כמהרא״י וכבעל תרומת הדשן, was the pre-eminent late-medieval Ashkenazic halakhist of Austria. Born in Regensburg, he was orphaned young and educated in Wiener Neustadt in the household of his maternal uncle ר׳ אהרן בלומל. The Vienna persecutions of 1421 killed his mother and uncle. After further study and a period connected with Italy, he led communities in Marburg (Maribor) and, from about 1445, Wiener Neustadt, where his court and yeshiva drew students from Central Europe. His 354 responsa in תרומת הדשן combine learned legal analysis with evidence about actual Ashkenazic practice; פסקים וכתבים, assembled by a disciple, preserves further rulings. Both collections deeply shaped later Ashkenazic law, especially through their use by ר׳ משה איסרליש.