The Price of Wine - Rabbi Moshe Isserless on the Megillah

Rabbi Moshe Isserles, also known as the Rema, is most famous for his glosses on Rabbi Yosef Karo’s Shulchan Aruch. But the first work he ever wrote was a commentary on Megillat Esther, called “Mechir Yayin” — “The Price of Wine.” In the introduction to that work, he writes that he had been forced to flee his home of Krakow due to a plague ravaging the city. Join Rabbi David Sedley and discuss the life and works of the Rema, his commentary on the Megillah, and see how the tragedy of plague led to the creation of his first work.

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February 27, 2023 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Price of Wine - Rabbi Moshe Isserless on the Megillah: The Price of Wine’ – Rabbi Moshe Isserles on the Megillah

Class description

Rabbi Moshe Isserles, known as the Rema and author of the glosses on Shulchan Aruch, wrote his first book, Mechir Hayayin, while fleeing from the plague that swept through his home town of Krakow.

In this class we look at some details of the life and ideas of the Rema, and learn a few verses of his commentary on Megillat Esther.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles -- David Sedley

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Rabbi David Sedley

Rabbi David Sedley lives in Jerusalem with his wife and six children. He was born and raised in New Zealand before making Aliya in 1992. He left Israel temporarily (for eight years) to serve as a communal Rabbi in Scotland and England and returned to Israel in 2004. He has translated Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on Pirkei Avos and is the co-author of Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement Through Counting the Omer (both Judaica Press). Over the years Rabbi Sedley has worked as a journalist, a translator, a video director and in online reputation management. He also writes a weekly Torah blog on the Times of Israel.