Meiri

Meiri (לבֵית מֵאַיר or מֵאַירַי), MENACHEM BENSALOMO, also: called Don Vidal Salomo, also Menachem bei-Salomo, a Jewish savant, was born at Perpignan, in Franie, in 1249. He was a man of great learning, and, like Maimonides, he tried to harmonize philosophy with the Talmud. He wrote in a lucid style, and in this respect made an exception to that bombastic method which was prevalent in his times. In his explanations of the holy Scriptures he kept aloof from the philosophical and mystical interpretation, and, though he acknowledged that some passages contain a higher hidden sense, he nevertheless adhered to the literal interpretation of the Word. He died between 1317 and 1320. Besides a commentary on the book of Proverbs, he wrote commentaries on the Talmudical tract Megilla (מגַלָּה בֵּית הִבּחַירָה עִל; new edition Konigsberg, 1860, 4to); on Joma, printed with Isaiah Nufies-Vaez's שַׂיחִ יַצחָק. (Livorno, 1760); on

Jebamoth, Sabbath, Nedarian, Nazir, Sota (Livorno and Salonica, 1794 and 1795). But his greatest commentary is on the tract Aboth (בֵּית אָבוֹת or לאָבוֹת פֵּרוּשׁ, with an introduction to the Talmud, etc. This latter work has been edited by M. Stern (Vienna, 1854), with biographical and bibliographical matter. See Gratz, Gesch. d. Juden, 7:240-42 (Leipsic, 1873); Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums u. s. Sekten,. 3:57; Furst, Biblioth. Jud. 2:345, 346; Zunz, Zur Gesch. u. Literatur, p. 476-481 (Berl. 1845). (B. P.)