Samson ben Joseph of Falaise
SAMSON BEN JOSEPH OF FALAISE
SAMSON BEN JOSEPH OF FALAISE (12th century), French tosafist. Samson was an older contemporary of Jacob Tam, with whom he corresponded and who addressed him with exceptional humility (see Sefer ha-Yashar, responsa, nos. 3 and 4). He may have been a pupil of Rashi. His sister Miriam was the second wife of Tam, and after his death she was consulted by scholars as to her husband's customs and observances. Some of Samson's teachings are included in the novellae section of the Sefer ha-Yashar, and he is mentioned in the printed tosafot to several tractates. The rishonim quote from an extensive halakhic work by him which is no longer extant. Samson apparently met a martyr's death and his remains were handed over for burial only six months after his death. The two renowned tosafists, *Isaac b. Abraham and his brother Samson of Sens, were his grandsons. The Eliezer of Falera mentioned in the tosafot to Bava Batra (79b) may have been his son-in-law.
bibliography:
Gross, Gal Jud, 477–8; Urbach, Tosafot, index.
[Israel Moses Ta-Shma]