person · P0234
Rabbeinu Tam רבנו תם
Rashi's grandson and the greatest of the Tosafists — the dialectic of the Tosafot, which reads the whole Talmud as a single self-consistent conversation, is largely his creation. He never knew his grandfather (born around Rashi's death); he received from his father R' Meir and his brother the Rashbam. Survived the Second Crusade's violence at Ramerupt; convener of the earliest French rabbinic synods.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבנו תם
- Also known as
- Yaakov ben Meir
- Era
- rishonim
- Received the mesorah from
- Rashbam
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- The Ri (HaZaken)
- Teachers
- Rashbam
- Students
- The Ri (HaZaken)
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 4860–4931 AM
- Academic
- c. 1100–1171 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈71 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Ramerupt, Troyes
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| He studied under his father R' Meir ben Shmuel and his elder brother the Rashbam; only the brother is in the atlas, so a single edge is drawn. That he never studied under Rashi — dying grandfather, newborn grandson — is exactly the kind of link this atlas refuses to draw on kinship alone. | tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| His Sefer HaYashar and the Tosafot built on his teaching reshaped talmudic study across France, Germany, and beyond; "the discussions of Abaye and Rava" now had a medieval counterpart in the give and take of his school at Ramerupt. | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| Attacked at Ramerupt during the Second Crusade in 1147: his house was plundered, a Torah scroll was torn, and he was wounded in the head five times before a passing nobleman intervened.
A near-contemporary Hebrew chronicle; the strongest single life- event source for him.
|
rabbinic external | ★★★★☆ |
|
| Convened a rabbinic synod at Troyes around 1150 together with his brother Rashbam and a large assembly of northern French rabbis.
Listed as a life/office event, not for the content of the enactments. The reported figure of ~150 signatories varies between recensions.
|
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ |
|
| Was a man of substantial means, active in moneylending and in dealings with the local nobility.
Well accepted; drawn from scattered references rather than one document.
|
rabbinic reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |
|
| Died 4 Tammuz 4931 (1171 CE), the same year as the Blois burning in which some thirty Jews were killed; he ordained a communal fast in response to that event shortly before his death.
The Blois event and his fast-day ordinance are attested; the tight sequencing with his death rests on the shared year.
|
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ |
|