Perez ben Elijah

Who was Perez ben Elijah?

Perez ben Elijah of Corbeil was a French tosafist, son of the Talmudist Elijah of Tours. In Talmudical literature he is designated by the abbreviations RaP, RaPaSh, and MaHaRPaSh.

Perez had for masters Rabbi Jehiel of Paris and Samuel of Evreux. He traveled throughout Brabant, and sojourned for a time in Germany, where he made the acquaintance of Meir of Rothenburg. On his return home he delivered lectures on Talmudical subjects. These lectures were attended by the most celebrated rabbis of the fourteenth century; and his fame as a Talmudical authority became universal, his commentaries being studied in France, Germany, and Spain. He died before 1298, probably in 1295.

Perez was the author of the following works:

Glosses on the Ammude ha-Golah of Isaac of Corbeil, published together with the text, Cremona, 1556.

Commentaries on the greater part of the Talmud. These commentaries, variously entitled "Tosafot," "Shiṭṭah," "Nimuḳim," "Ḥiddushim," "Perishah," underwent many changes introduced by Perez's numerous disciples; only the commentary on the treatise Baba Metzia has been preserved in its original redaction.