JUDAH BEN MEÏR HA-KOHEN HAZAḲEN:
French Talmudist; lived about the year 1000. According to the sources, he was surnamed "Léon," "Léonṭe," "Léonṭin," "Sire Léon," and "Sire Léonṭin," and was designated as "the grand" and "the gaon." He was the principal teacher of Gershom ben Judah (Me'or ha-Golah), who considered him an authority in religious decisions. Judah seems to have been one of the founders of the scientific study of the Talmud in France. He, together with Eliezer ben Judah, addressed a teshubah to the Jewish community of Troyes concerning the validity of certain statutes.
Bibliography:
- Epstein, Jüdische Alterthümer von Worms, p. 3;
- Grätz, Gesch. v. 334;
- Gross, Gallia Judaica, pp. 224, 300, 520;
- Zunz, Literaturgesch. p. 611.
