Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, ABD Posen, "Maasei Hashem"

Jacobi, Vol I., p. 177

Could be son of Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Menachem Chalfan, of Venice. Eliezer's epitaph says he is son of Dr. Elia. Both Eliezer (Provençal Responsa 96) and Dr. Eliayahu Menachem Chalfan (Isserles Responsa 56) say they are descendants of Rabbi Joseph ben Solomon Colon, MaHaRIK. So either Eliezer is the son of Dr. Eliyahu Menachem Chalfan or he is the son of a different Dr. Elia who is either a grandson of Josef Colon or married to a granddaughter of Josef Colon. Josef Colon had two daughters who married men named Treves.

• Eliezer (Lazer) ben Elijah Ashkenazi Wikipedia

Eliezer ben Elijah Ashkenazi (1512-1585) Talmudist, rabbi, physician, prolific author, many-sided and much travelled scholar. He was a leading authority in Prague, Cremona, Italy, a rabbi in Posen. In 1584 he left that city to take up his abode in Cracow. . . . More

https://www.sefaria.org/Responsa_of_Remah.96?lang=bi

http://www.hebrewbooks.org/11777

http://www.otzar.org/wotzar/book.aspx?52533

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1963-ashkenazi-eliezer-l...

http://hebrewbooks.org/20565 ,

Eliezer (Lazer) ben Elijah Ashkenazi (1512–December 13, 1585) אליעזר בן אליהו אשכנזי‎ was a Talmudist, rabbi, physician, and many-sided scholar. Though of a German family (according to some, the relative of Joseph Colon; see Marco Mortara, Indice Alfabetico, s.v.), he was probably born in the Levant, and received his Talmudic education under Joseph Taitazak in Salonica.

Ashkenazi first became rabbi in Egypt 1538-60, probably at Fostat, where, by his learning and wealth, he became widely known. Compelled by circumstances—doubtless of a political nature—to leave Egypt, he went to Cyprus, remaining there for two years as rabbi at Famagusta.

A desire to visit foreign lands and to observe foreign peoples impelled him to give up this position and to travel. He went first to Venice, but a disagreement with the rabbis Meïr Padua and his son Judah Katzenellenbogen caused him to leave the city and in the same year to take up his residence at Prague (1561). Here—either because he was a rabbi, or, at all events, because he was a leading authority—his was the first signature appended to the constitution of the burial society of the congregation.

After leaving Bohemia and proceeding eastward as far as the Crimea, Ashkenazi returned to Italy, not before 1570. While rabbi of Cremona he published there (1576) his work, Yosef Lekah (Increases Learning; compare Prov. i. 5), dedicated to Joseph Nasi, duke of Naxos, which was several times reprinted. Four years later he was again in eastern Europe, as rabbi of Posen. In 1584 he left that city to take up his abode in Cracow, where he died on December 13, 1585.

Works Ashkenazi's printed works, besides the Yosef LekaḦ, are the following:

1. • A commentary on the Book of Esther
2. • Ma'ase ha-Shem (The Works of God; Venice, 1583; several other editions), a commentary on the historical portions of the Pentateuch, written for the instruction of his son Elijah, and containing also a complete commentary on the Passover Haggadah, which has frequently been published separately
3. • Eight "selihot" (penitential prayers), included in the Bohemian liturgy
4. • A "tokahah" (homily), published by his son.
5. • His supercommentary to Nahmanides, and his critical marginal notes—said to number one thousand—on Joseph Caro's Bet Yosef, have not been preserved.

Though Ashkenazi can scarcely be said to have exercised an influence either on his own or on later times, his personality was an extraordinary one for that age. He may be called the last survivor of a most brilliant epoch in the history of the Sephardim. Although educated by a fanciful kabalist, and a fellow-pupil of Moses Alshech, yet he was a student—if not a deep one—of philosophy and physics. As a Talmudist, such men as Joseph Caro, Moses Isserles, and Solomon Luria considered him of equal authority with themselves; however, when the rabbinical decisions of the old rabbis ran counter to sound judgment, he never sought a sophistical justification for them, as was then the custom, especially in Poland.

Valuable material for a correct estimate of Ashkenazi may be found in several of his decisions preserved in the responsa literature of the time. In Venice he decided that a man could be forced to a divorce, if, by immoral conduct, he had incurred his wife's aversion (Isserles, Responsa, No. 96). It was probably this decision which brought upon him the opposition of the above-mentioned Venetian rabbis, though he was connected with them, for Ashkenazi's son was Katzenellenbogen's son-in-law. From the standpoint of strict Talmudic interpretation, Ashkenazi's opponents were in the right, since his sentence contravened that of the Tosafists, who for the German-Italian Jews constituted, as it were, a court of last resort.

Misunderstood by Polish rabbis[

The Jews of Poland were still less capable of comprehending such a personality than were those of Italy. The following occurrence affords a striking instance of this fact: The "rashei yeshivot" (heads of academies) had forbidden their pupils to establish a rival academy in close proximity to their own. Ashkenazi declined to assent to this resolution, when requested.

At the same time, he complained in a letter to Joseph ben Mordechai Gershon ha-Kohen, the "rosh yeshibah" at Cracow, that, although the decision of the Polish rabbis was based upon the authority of Maimonides, yet he considered it irreconcilable with freedom of instruction among rabbis.

How little he was understood by his Polish colleagues is fully displayed in the reply of the rabbi of Cracow, who at great length vindicates Maimonides' standpoint by erudite and astute references to the Talmud (Joseph b. Mordecai Gershon, She'erit Yosef, No. 19). Consequently, J. S. del Medigo is justified in his remark that Ashkenazi remained unknown to the Poles, and he applies to him wittily, if somewhat audaciously, the verses: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it," etc. (Ps. lxxx. 9 [A. V. 8] to 13 [14]). Ashkenazi had come from Egypt and had to live among the uncultivated Poles.

Ashkenazi's wife, Rachel, died at Cracow April 3, 1593. Her epitaph, still extant, bears witness to her piety and benevolence (Monatsschrift, xliv. 360). His son Elijah published the liturgic collection, Zibhe Shelamim, and wrote a short elegy on his father, which was used as the latter's epitaph.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography[

1. • Eliakim Carmoly, in Literaturblatt des Orients, ii.444;
2. • idem, in Revue Orientale, ii.144, 192, 193;
3. • idem, in Ha-Karmel, vi.94, 95;
4. • B. Friedberg, Luḥot Zikkaron, p. 82;
5. • Landshuth, 'Ammude ha-'Abodah, i.19;
6. • Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 418;
7. • Perles, in Monatsschrift, xiii.361, 371, 372;
8. • Moritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 954;
9. • J. M. Zunz, 'Ir ha-Ẓedeḳ, pp. 20–23, 175, and supplement, pp. 28, 29.

References This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Ashkenazi, Eliezer (Lazer) b. Elijah". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.

Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebraea, Vol. IV. p. 1211 (1733)

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1963-ashkenazi-eliezer-...

ASHKENAZI, ELIEZER (LAZER) B. ELIJAH: By: Louis Ginzberg
Table of Contents
His Works.
His Individuality.
Misunderstood by Polish Rabbis.
Talmudist, rabbi, physician, and many-sided scholar; born in 1512; died at Cracow Dec. 13, 1585. Though of a German family (according to some, the relative of Joseph Colon; see Mortara, "Indice Alfabetico," s.v.), he was probably born in the Levant, and received his Talmudic education under Joseph Taitazak in Salonica. Ashkenazi first became rabbi in Egypt 1538-60, probably at Fostat, where, by his learning and wealth, he became widely known. Compelled by circumstances—doubtless of a political nature—to leave Egypt, he went to Cyprus, remaining there for two years as rabbi at Famagusta.

A desire to visit foreign lands and to observe foreign peoples impelled him to give up this position and to travel. He went first to Venice; but a disagreement with the rabbis, Meïr Padua and his son Judah Katzenellenbogen, caused him to leave the city and in the same year to take up his residence at Prague (1561). Here—either because he was a rabbi, or, at all events, because he was a leading authority—his was the first signature appended to the constitution of the burial society of the congregation. After leaving Bohemia and proceeding eastward as far as the Crimea, Ashkenazi returned to Italy, not before 1570. While rabbi of Cremona he published there (1576) his work, "Yosef LekaḦ" (Increases Learning; compare Prov. i. 5), dedicated to Joseph Nasi, duke of Naxos, which was several times reprinted. Four years later he was again in eastern Europe, as rabbi of Posen. In 1584 he left that city to take up his abode in Cracow.

His Works.
Ashkenazi's printed works, besides the "Yosef LekaḦ," are the following: (1) A commentary on the Book of Esther; (2) "Ma'ase ha-Shem" (The Works of God; Venice, 1583; several other editions), a commentary on the historical portions of the Pentateuch, written for the instruction of his son Elijah, and containing also a complete commentary on the Passover Haggadah, which has frequently been published separately; (3) eight "seliḦot" (penitential prayers), included in the Bohemian liturgy; (4) a "tokaḦah" (homily), published by his son. His supercommentary to NaḦmanides, and his critical marginal notes—said to number one thousand—on Joseph Caro's "Bet Yosef," have not been preserved.

His Individuality.
Though Ashkenazi can scarcely be said to have exercised an influence either on his own or on later times, his personality was an extraordinary one for that age. He may be called the last survivor of a most brilliant epoch in the history of the Sephardim. During a period when, in Germany and Poland, the hair-splitting dialectics of Jacob Polak could achieve a triumph, and, in Egypt and Palestine, the mysticism of Isaac Luria could confuse the clearest intellects, Ashkenazi preserved an impressive independence of thought. Although educated by a fanciful cabalist, and a fellow-pupil of Moses Alshech, yet he was a student—if not a deep one—of philosophy and physics. As a Talmudist, such men as Joseph Caro, Moses Isserles, and Solomon Luria considered him of equal authority with themselves; but when the rabbinical decisions of the old rabbis ran counter to sound judgment, he never sought a sophistical justification for them, as was then the custom, especially in Poland.

Valuable material for a correct estimate of Ashkenazi may be found in several of his decisions preserved in the responsa literature of the time. In Venice he decided that a man could be forced to a divorce, if, by immoral conduct, he had incurred his wife's aversion (Isserles, Responsa, No. 96). It was probably this decision which brought upon him the opposition of the above-mentioned Venetian rabbis, though he was connected with them; for Ashkenazi's son was Katzenellenbogen's son-in-law. From the standpoint of strict Talmudic interpretation, Ashkenazi's opponents were in the right; since his sentence contravened that of the Tosafists, who for the German-Italian Jews constituted, as it were, a court of last resort.

Misunderstood by Polish Rabbis.
The Jews of Poland were still less capable of comprehending such a personality than were those of Italy. The following occurrence affords a striking instance of this fact: The "roshe yeshibot" (heads of academies) had forbidden their pupils to establish a rival academy in close proximity to their own. Ashkenazi declined to assent to this resolution, when requested. At the same time, he complained in a letter to Joseph b. Gershon ha-Kohen, the "rosh yeshibah" at Cracow, that, although the decision of the Polish rabbis was based upon the authority of Maimonides, yet he considered it irreconcilable with freedom of instruction among Jewish rabbis. How little he was understood by his Polish colleagues is fully displayed in the reply of the rabbi of Cracow, who at great length vindicates Maimonides' standpoint by erudite and astute references to the Talmud (Joseph b. Mordecai Gershon, "She'erit Yosef," No. 19). Consequently, J. S. del Medigo is justified in his remark that Ashkenazi remained unknown to the Poles, and he applies to him wittily, if somewhat audaciously, the verses: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it," etc. (Ps. lxxx. 9 [A. V. 8] to 13 [14]). Ashkenazi had come from Egypt and had to live among the uncultivated Poles.

Ashkenazi's wife, Rachel, died at Cracow April 3, 1593. Her epitaph, still extant, bears witness to her piety and benevolence ("Monatsschrift," xliv. 360). His son Elijah published the liturgic collection, "ZibḦe Shelamim," and wrote a short elegy on his father, which was used as the latter's epitaph.

Bibliography:
Carmoly, in Literaturblatt des Orients, ii. 444;
idem, in Revue Orientale, ii. 144, 192, 193;
idem, in Ha-Karmel, vi. 94, 95;
B. Friedberg, LuḦot Zikkaron, p. 82;
Landshuth, 'Ammude ha-'Abodah, i. 19;
Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 418;
Perles, in Monatsschrift, xiii. 361, 371, 372;
Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 954;
J. M. Zunz, 'Ir ha-Ẓedeḳ, pp. 20-23, 175, and supplement, pp. 28, 29.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transc...

Ashkenazi, Eliezer Ben Elijah The Physician

ASHKENAZI, ELIEZER BEN ELIJAH THE PHYSICIAN (1513–1586), rabbi and exegete. Eliezer's activities covered many of the Jewish centers of the 16th century. The influential position he held in widely scattered communities indicates the basic unity of Jewish society and culture in the period. A pupil of Joseph b. Solomon *Taitaẓak in Salonika, Eliezer went to Egypt when he was 26, and officiated as rabbi. *Elijah of Pesaro said he "judged all the community of Egypt for 22 years." While there, Eliezer was in contact with the *Safed community and its sages, including Joseph *Caro, who respected and consulted him. In 1561 Eliezer was compelled to leave Egypt, and settled at Famagusta in Cyprus. Elijah of Pesaro, who met him there in 1563, describes him as "well-versed in 12 languages… a sage in many general sciences and in the Talmud… he is wealthy." Azariah dei *Rossi called Eliezer "the greatest of the generation." In 1563 Eliezer was in *Venice; the following year he traveled to Prague, returned for a few years to Famagusta, and again went to Venice. From there he went to Cremona where in 1576 he published his commentary Yosef Lekaḥ on the book of Esther, dedicated to Joseph *Nasi. The same year he was invited to Poland as rabbi of Poznan; he was subsequently called to Gniezno, and thence to Cracow, where he died. In Poland his answers to legal queries were accepted as authoritative. Impartial in his decisions, he denied his support to the brother-in-law of Moses *Isserles, Joseph *Katz, who had referred to Eliezer in a discussion with his own pupils. Eliezer's main work, Ma'aseh Adonai, a commentary on the Torah, was completed in Gniezno in 1580 and printed in Venice in 1583. It follows the rationalist trend in rabbinical scholarship, calling for freedom in exegesis of the Scriptures: "Each and every one of us, our descendants too, to the end of all generations… is obliged to search for the meaning of the words of the Torah… to accept the truth from whoever says it, after we have understood it. Let us not permit the opinion of someone else – even if of an earlier generation – to hinder us from research… Research and choose: for that you have been created and reason has been given you from heaven" (Ma'aseh Adonai, 169). Eliezer suggests that irrational elements in Jewish tradition had accrued through copyists' errors, misunderstandings, and misreadings, or had been precipitated in times of trouble and expulsions, or even inserted by ill-disposed persons. In Joseph Solomon *Delmedigo's estimation "the Ma'aseh Adonai should be read in its entirety." He also records that Eliezer wrote a supercommentary on *Naḥmanides' commentary on the Torah and "a thousand refutations of the Beit Yosef" of Joseph Caro. Eliezer also wrote seliḥot and piyyutim printed at Cracow and in Lublin (1618). His glosses on the code of *Mordecai b. Hillel are included in Gedulat Mordekhai (Hanau, 1593).

bibliography:
I.M. Jost, in: Jahrbuch fuer die Geschichte der Juden (1861), 30 ff.; H.H. Ben-Sasson, Hagut ve-Hanhagah (1959), index.

If he is the son of Dr. Eliyahu Menachem Chalfan of Venice, as argued above, then it is worth exploring if he is the same as Eliezer the Astronomer, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5599-eliezer-the-astron.... Dr. Eliyahi Menachem Chalfan's father and father-in-law were astronomers.

ELIEZER THE ASTRONOMER ():
By: Richard Gottheil, Isaac Broydé
German scholar of the sixteenth century; author of "Ge Ḥizzayon," an astrological compilation fromHebrew, Arabic, and Latin sources (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No. 2066). He quotes Abraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi, Ibn Ezra, Andruzagar, Albumazar, 'Ali ibn Riḍwan, 'Ali ibn Rajil, Leopold of Austria, Johannes, Guido Bonatti, and, according to Dukes, Copernicus. In the introduction Eliezer says he began a great work on astrology, a chapter of which, entitled "Reshit Ḥokmah" (quoted by Neubauer, l.c.), is devoted to Ibn Ezra. Whether the "Sefer ha-Goralot" (Vatican MS. No. 216), bearing the name "Eliezer ," is by the same author is not known. The same uncertainty prevails regarding Vatican MS. No. 477, which contains a commentary on Ptolemy's "Centiloquium," and which also bears the name "Eliezer."

Bibliography:
Fürst, in Orient, Lit. xi. 81;
Dukes, ib. p. 318;
Steinschneider, in Z. D. M. G. xxv. 383;
idem, Hebr. Uebers. p. 531.

https://www.sefaria.org/Hagahot_Sheerit_Tzion.54.12?vhe=Podgorze,_1...

ועוד יש חידוש פלא בענין זה כי נתודע לנו כי בק"ק סטאבניץ רחוק מפה כעשרים פרסאות נמצא שם מצבה א' על שם הג"מ אליעזר אשכנזי במו"ה אליהו הרופא בהמ"ס מעשי ה' ומאותו זמן, ואמנם כמקרה הזה קרה גם כן לבעל שבט מוסר ז"ל שנפטר בק"ק אזמיר ונבנה שם מצבת אבן על קבורתו, ונמצא גם בעה"ק ירושלים מצבה על שם כבודו, ואין אתנו יודע מה הוא ואולי זמן זמנים אחר פטירתו נפנה משם עצמותיו הק' לעיה"ק ומצבתו הראשונה נשאר במקומו מונח.

There is also a remarkable thing in this matter, it has become known to us that in the community of Stabnitz (Stopnica?) about 20 miles from here there is found a grave with the name of Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, son of the Rabbi Eliyahu the doctor, author of Maaseh Hashem from the same time.. But the same thing seems to have ooccurred in the case of the author of Shevet Mussar [ Rabbi Eliyahu the Cohen 1659-1729 ] who died in Izmir and yet there is also a gravestone bearing his name in Jerusalem. The reason is not known, but possibly to honor him his remains were transferred to the Holy City some time after his death, and the original stone was left in the first burial place.

Dr. Abraham David: On Eliezer Ashkenazi. A Hebrew article was written by Meir Benayahu and Joseph. Laras, in: Michael, I (1973), pp. 78-143. Another English article was written by Alan Cooper, An Extraordinary Sixteenth-Century Biblical Commentary: Eliezer Ashkenazi on the song of Moses, in: The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume, ed. by Barry WalfishI, Haifa 1993, pp. 129-150. I myself have found a document in the Cairo Genizah about his financial activities in Egypt where he was a Dayyan (Judge) for twenty two years. He is mentioned as a wealthy person. I Have published this documents together with some bio bibliographical references אברהם דוד, בין אשכנז למזרח במאה השש עשרה, ראשונים ואחרונים, מחקרים בתולדות ישראל מוגשים לאברהם גרוסמן, Jerusalem 1970, pp. 318-319, 321-323.

ספרו של ר' אליעזר אשכנזי "מעשי ה'"

הגדה של פסח של ר' אליעזר אשכנזי - מוהדרת בדפוס חדש באתר אוצר החכמה:

מידע נוסף עליו (באנגלית):

הרב אליעזר אשכנזי בן רבי אליה הרופא (ה'רע"ג (1513) – כ"ב בכסלו ה'שמ"ו (1586)) היה רב, פרשן המקרא, חוקר ומחבר ספרים תורניים. מגדולי החכמים בתקופתו. רבי אליעזר אשכנזי נולד במקום בלתי ידוע בשנת רע"ג, לאביו רבי אליה הרופא, חתנו של רבי יוסף קולון (המהרי"ק). בין רבותיו נמנהים רבי יוסף טאיטאצאק ורבי יוסף קארו בצפת. בהיותו כבן 26, בשנת ה'רצ"ט, נתמנה לרב במצרים. בחלוף כ-22 שנה (ה'שכ"א) בשל עלילות דברים שפרטיהם אינם ידועים, נאלץ לעזוב את מצרים ועבר להתגורר בעיר פמגושטה שבקפריסין. בשנת ה'של"א עזב רבי אליעזר את פמגושטה ועבר לונציה, אך בשל מחלוקת חריפה עם רבי שמואל יהודה קצנלובגן וחבריו נסע לפראג. משם המשיך לנדוד ועבר לקרימונה שבאיטליה שם כיהן כרב עד לשנת ה'של"ח. אז העתיק מגוריו לפוזנא ושימש כאב בית דין. לפני מותו התגורר בקרקוב, ושם הלך לעולמו.

ספריו: מעשי השם - על התורה. מחולק לארבעה חלקים: א. מעשה בראשית - על התקופה שמבריאת העולם ועד אברהם אבינו. ב. מעשי אבות - מאברהם אבינו ועד יעקב אבינו. ג. מעשי מצרים - בעניין ניסי יציאת מצרים ובתוכו כלול פירוש רחב על ההגדה של פסח. ד. מעשי תורה - על התקופה שבין קבלת התורה ועד פטירת משה. נדפס באחת מההוצאות עם הסכמת רבי יעקב יהושע פאלק מחבר פני יהושע. יוסף לקח - על מגילת אסתר.

(ויקיפדיה)

https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%A8_...