ELEAZAR BEN JUDAH OF WORMS (ROKEAH, ELEAZAR)

(c.1165-c.1230)

   German talmudist, kabbalist and liturgical poet. Born in Mainz, he spent most of his life in Worms. He witnessed the murder by crusaders of his wife and children. He published works on halakhah, liturgical poetry, theology, ethics and exegesis. His Sepher ha-Rokeah was intended to educate the common reader in the details of halakhic law. He was the last major scholar of the Haside Ashkenaz movement.