The Goldschmidt Family

Maharam Padua R. Meir Katzenellenbogen 1482-1565 Ellenbogen, Germany;Padua, Italy
Chief Rabbi of Padua took Post from his Father in Law Abraham Ha LeviMinitz
Maharam PADUA

R' Meir Katzenellenbogen KNOWN AS THE Maharam PADUA (B. 1482 ELLENBOGEN,Germany - D. 1565 PADUA, ITALY) - Hannah Mintz (B. APPROX. 1485 PADUA -D. 1564). = THEY MARRIED IN 1540 (the date of their marriage is noted byseVeral reliable sources, however a descendant has contacted me andquestioned its validity. Since their son Samuel Judah was born prior tothat date it does deserve some clarification. Assuming the date iscorrect, the only answer I can offer at this time is that during thoseyears Jewish people did not necessarily register their marriages with thechurch or government - the reasons should be quite obvious as they fearedany associations and contacts with the church or government due to pastexperiences of persecution. Rather, the marriages were performed inaccordance with Halachic ruling, in the presence of a Rabbi, and under acanopy. It is certainly understood that all religious Jews and mosTassuredly Rabbinical famiLies lived very observant lives in the traditionof the Torah and Halacha). R' Meir WAS THE SON OF R' Isaac (OF)Katzenellenbogen. THEY WERE THE PARENTS OF R' Samuel JudahKatzenellenbogen.

Notes from Web Site of ww.Maxpages.com/nodabYehuda

Meïr ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen (Meïr of Padua.):
Italian Rabbi; born at Katzenellenbogen, Germany, about 1482; died atPadua Jan. 12, 1565 (see his epitaph in "Kokbe Yi??a?," xv. 14). Meïr benIsaac, who was generally called after his native town, was the founder ofthe Katzenellenbogen family. After studying at Prague under the wellknowncasuist Jacob Polak, he went to Padua and entered the yeshibah of JudahMinz, whose granddaughter he afterWard married. He succeeded hisfather-in-law, Abraham Minz, in the chief Rabbinate of Padua, whichoffice he held until his death. Meïr was also nominal Rabbi of Venice,whither, as appears from his Responsa (Nos. 43, 48, etc.), he wentseVeral times a year; but he had his fixed residence at Padua. Meïr wasconsidered by his contemporAries a Great authority on Talmudic andRabbinical matters, and many Rabbis consulted him, among them being MoseSalashkar, Obadiah Sforno, and his relative Moses Isserles (who addressedhim as "Rabbi of Venice"). It may be seen from his responsa (ninety innumber, published by himself, with those of Judah Minz, under the titLeof "She'elot u-Teshubot," Venice, 1553), as well as from those ofIsserles, that he was disposed to be liberal in his decisions. Anotherindication of his Leaning toWard liberalism was his use in his Responsa(Nos. 38, 49, 72) of the civil names of the months, a thing not done byother Rabbis of his time.

Joseph b. Mordecai Gershon says ("She'erit Yosef," No. 1) that Meïr, inone of his responsa, told him not to rely at that time on his opinion,because he could not verify his decision by the Talmud, all the copies ofwhich had been burned. This burning is mentioned by David Gans ("?ema?Dawid," p. 56, Warsaw, 1890) and by Heilprin ("Seder haDorot," i. 245,ed. Maskileison) as having occurred in 1553 or 1554 under Pope JuliusIII., at the instigation of certain baptized Jews. Meïr states also(Responsa, No. 78) that in Candia the haf?arah for Yom Kippur Min?ah was,with the exception of the first three verses, read in Greek (comp. Zunz,"G. V." p. 413, note). In Responsum No. 86 he speaks of the plague thatraged at Venice, but without indicating the year. Many of his responSaare to be found in the collection of Moses Isserles. Meïr added to theedition of his responsa his father-in-law's "Seder Gi??in wa-?ali?ah,"and a detailed index. He edited also Maimonides' "Yad," with somecommentAries, to which he added notes of his own (Venice, 1550; SeeIsserles).

Meir Katzenellenbogen:
The following was extracted fromwww.Maxpages.com/nodabYehuda/MATERNAL_ROOTS_OF_Rabbi_Landau:

"[Meir Katzenellenbogen was] known as the Maharam ... He was Chief Rabbiof Padua for over 40 years. He took the position after his father-in-lawR' Abraham passed away. He was the son of R' Isaac (of) Katzenellenbogen."