Rabbi Ephraim ben Yitzchak of Regensburg רבי אפרים בן יצחק מרגנשבורג
Tosafist and paytan of Regensburg, who argued with Rabbeinu Tam
Regensburg on the Danube was the oldest community of Bavaria, and in the twelfth century its house of learning was headed by Rabbi Ephraim ben Yitzchak. He studied in the Rhineland, in the line that runs from Riva, and he argued with the strongest man of the generation, Rabbeinu Tam; their exchange survives in quoted fragments and shows how this school spoke: sharp on the matter and respectful on the substance.
His second craft was liturgical poetry. Ephraim's selichot and kinot entered the Ashkenazi rite, and on the days when communities mourned their murdered, his words were among those read. A Tosafist and a paytan in one man is no rarity in Ashkenaz: the same school taught both how to take apart a sugya and how to find words for calamity.
He should not be confused with Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn, his contemporary and also a paytan—they are different men, and the sources keep them apart.
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Sources
Rishonim
- The Tosafot, where his words are cited — his objections to Rabbeinu Tam, cited in the discussion
- The Ashkenazi machzor of selichot — the piyutim that entered the rite under his name
Basis: documents and evidence.