The JTA is reporting that approximately 20 Kevarim from as early as the 12th century have been found in southwest Germany during excavations for a planned housing development next to the wall of the old Jewish cemetery in the community of Mainz. The stones are among the oldest ever found in the Rheinland-Pfalz region. Jewish studies expert Andreas Lehnardt of Mainz told the JTA that the find was a “sensation” and some of the stones included the names of famous learned rabbis.
Menu
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
rav amnon of mainz, nesane tokeph maybe?
wow!
I believe Ram Amnon lived before that. See Hakdama in Machzor Hameforash
great find! Any bigger or better pictures?
There never was any such person as R Amnon. Amnon was not a name used by Ashkenazim of that era. And unesaneh tokef is much older than that – it may even go back to the time of the Kalir.
The whole story is made up. The Or Zorua doesn’t attest to its truth, he just says he read it in a book. He doesn’t say who wrote the book, which means he probably had no idea. He just reports what he read, and lets the reader make up his mind how much to believe it.
some possibilities:
R. Kalonymos ben Moshe HaZaken (story he was brought by Emperor (Charlemagne or Charles the Bald)
R. Yehudah ben Meir HaCohen HaZaken Leotin (R”HY)
R. Shimon ben Yitzchak HaGadol (Dayan – Mainz)
R. Meshullam ben Kalonymos of Lucca
R. Gershom ben Yehudah (Meor HaGolah) (Rosh HaYeshiva – Mainz)
R. Machir ben Yehudah (wrote lexicon – Alfa Beisa)
R. Eliezer ben Yitzchak HaGadol (Rosh HaYeshiva – Mainz)
R. Yaakov ben Yakar (Rosh HaYeshiva – Mainz)
R. Yaakov ben Yekusiel (Shtadlan)