?ayyim ben Jehiel ?efe? Zahav
?AYYIM BEN JEHIEL ?EFE? ZAHAV
?AYYIM BEN JEHIEL ?EFE? ZAHAV (13th century), German talmudist. ?ayyim studied under his father and under *Samuel of Evreux. Many of his responsa are included in the responsa of *Meir b. Baruch of Rothenburg (ed. by M. Bloch, 1895, nos. 188–9, 209, 241, 249, 296–8, 339–41, 355–6, 382–3, 461–3). In a responsum (no. 241) he affirms that he filled the post of "emissary of Kolonia," probably Cologne. It has been therefore assumed by some that he was a member of the Cologne bet din and represented the community before the government. He was probably given the appellation "?efe? Zahav" because of his book bearing this title, but from the endings of many of the responsa (nos. 189, 241, 339) it can also be deduced that his father was the author of the book. It appears that ?ayyim was a colleague of Samuel b. Menahem, the teacher of Meir of Rothenburg, since in one responsum (no. 188) he refers to him as "my associate." This ?ayyim is not to be identified with ?ayyim b. Jehiel, the brother of *Asher b. Jehiel.
bibliography:
Michael, Or, no. 876; H. Gross, in: mgwj, 34 (1885), 313f.; Germ Jud, 1 (1934), 151, 484; 2 (1968), index; I. Agus, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, 1 (1947), xxvi, 106, 129, 131, 146–8, 160f.
[Yehoshua Horowitz]