Abraham Ẓevi ben Eleazar
ABRAHAM ẒEVI BEN ELEAZAR
ABRAHAM ẒEVI BEN ELEAZAR (1780–1828), rabbi and posek in Poland. In his youth he lived in Piotrkow near Lodz, where he studied under his grandfather, Solomon b. Jehiel Michel, and Moses, the av bet din. In 1800 he served as rabbi of Pilica, and later, before 1819, as av bet din of Piotrkow. In formulating his rulings Abraham Ẓevi utilized the pilpul method employed in the Urim ve-Tummim of Jonathan *Eybeschuetz, the Noda bi-Yhudah of Ezekiel *Landau, and the Hafla'ah of Phinehas *Horowitz. He gave his rabbinical works the general title Efod Zahav, but designated each by a special name. The only two that have been published are Berit Avraham (Dyhernfurth, 1819), responsa on sections of the Shulḥan Arukh, and Gufei Halakhot (pt. 1, Lodz, 1911), novellae to the tractates Shabbat, Pesaḥim, and Ketubbot. Remaining in manuscript form are Ma'alot Yuḥasin, novellae to the Even ha-Ezer; Halva'at Ḥen, novellae on the halakhot concerning usury; pt. 2 of his Gufei Halakhot containing novellae on the rulings of the great posekim; and Pa'amonei Zahav, his sermons.