Shemariah ben Mordecai

Who is Shemariah ben Mordecai?

Shemariah ben Mordecai was a German rabbi and tosafist of the first half of the 12th century, who was a pupil of the tosafist Isaac ben Asher. He was considered an especially eminent authority on religious rites, and seems to have written posḳim; no less a person than Jacob b. Meïr Tam consulted him on a difficult question.

Those of Shemariah's pupils most deserving mention are Judah b. Kalonymus b. Meïr, author of Yiḥuse Tannaim va-Amoraim, and Judah b. Kalonymus, father of Eleazar of Worms. The former usually calls him mori ha-yashish, which seems to indicate that Shemariah died at an advanced age. It is, however, not true that Eleazar of Worms also was his pupil, as has been asserted by some.