A Prisoner In Ensisheim

By: Nosson Wiggins

The Maharam’s Arrest and Imprisonment in Ensisheim and Wasserburg

The yeshiva of Rothenburg, headed by Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (known as Maharam), flourished for several decades and was considered the most prestigious in all of Germany. But by the 1280s, the winds of antisemitism drove many Jews out of the country. On December 6, 1286, the Emperor of Germany, Rudolph I, issued a decree to the effect that any Jew who fled the kingdom without consent would have his properties and possessions confiscated.

Aware of Rudolph’s new order, the Maharam still tried to escape since he considered it a better option than remaining behind. Following an escape route prepared by other Jews, the Maharam and his family began their fateful journey out of Germany. While staying in Lombardy (in northern Italy), he was recognized by an apostate named Kneppe, who informed the Duke of Basel (with whom he was traveling) the true identity of their fellow traveler, and convinced the duke to persuade the local governor, Meinhardt, to arrest the venerated rabbi.

On 4 Tammuz, soldiers detained the Maharam and handed him over to Emperor Rudolph I. All the Maharam’s devoted students, headed by Rebbi Asher ben Yechiel (the Rosh) and his brother Rebbi Chaim, both of whom were remarkably wealthy, convened to negotiate the terms of the Maharam’s release. After some time, they reached an agreement and the Rosh oversaw the campaign to raise the necessary funds to meet Rudolph’s exorbitant demands. But the Rosh’s plan to redeem the Maharam were unsuccessful.

The only explanation given is the account of Rebbi Yehuda ben HaRosh, who records that Rudolph agreed to a ransom, but would only accept the funds from the Rosh. The Rosh intended to collect the funds from all the German Jewish communities, but in the meantime, the Maharam passed away:

“The cause of my father’s departure from Germany was due to the imprisonment of Rebbi Meir of Rothenburg. The ruler imprisoned him, and the German communities ransomed him for a large sum. The ruler only agreed to accept my father as a guarantor. He was compelled to become a security for a large sum of money. But before the contributions were divided among the communities, Rebbi Meir died in prison. The ruler unfairly refused to heed my father’s plea that since Rebbi Meir died before his release, the agreement had expired. He still demanded payment from my father and the communities. My father escaped to another city, but out of fear of the authorities, he left Germany and settled in the great city of Toledo…This was the reason for my father’s arrival in this land.”

On the other hand, the Maharshal reports that the Maharam refused to allow himself to be ransomed based upon the halachic principle that a Jewish captive cannot be redeemed for more than his value. The Maharshal explained the appropriateness of this rationale, despite the fact that the Maharam was the Torah leader of the generation:

“I have heard that the Maharam of Rothenburg was imprisoned in the Tower of Eigshom (Ensisheim) for many years. The ruler demanded an exorbitant price from the Jewish communities, and they wanted to redeem him. But the Maharam did not allow them to do so, saying, “It is forbidden to redeem captives for a price higher than their value.” The Maharam’s statement was difficult for me. Since he was an outstanding Torah scholar and, in his generation, there was no one else like him in Torah and piety, it would be permitted to redeem him at any value. And if his refusal was because of his great humility, that he did not want to assume about himself that he was an exceptional Torah scholar, he should have been concerned about neglecting Torah study, as he wrote about himself that he sits in darkness and the shadow of death without Torah and light and he lamented that he did not have access to the works of the halakhists or the Tosfos. How could the Maharam not consider the sin of neglecting Torah study, when so many people needed to learn from him? Undoubtedly, the Maharam was concerned that if they redeemed him, other corrupt government officials would take other great Torah scholars captive for exorbitant ransoms until there would not be sufficient funds in the Diaspora to redeem them and Torah would be forgotten from among Klal Yisrael. For I have also heard that the same enemy wanted to take his student, the Rosh, captive. The Rosh was informed of this and fled to Toledo, and he was saved by Hashem’s mercy and abundant kindness. For this reason, the pious one [the Maharam] said, it is better that a small amount of Klal Yisrael’s wisdom be lost than that the entire Torah be uprooted. The proof that he was correct is that from then onward the capture of the sages of the Diaspora ceased.”

The Maharam sat in prison for seven years until his death in 1293. He was first detained in a fortress in Ensisheim (in Alsace) but was eventually transferred to more comfortable quarters in Wasserburg, near Munich.

During the Maharam’s years of imprisonment, his disciple Rebbi Shimshon ben Tzadok was permitted to visit him and recorded 590 of his master’s customs and rulings, which later became his Sefer Tashbeitz. Another of the Maharam’s students, Rebbi Meir ben Yekusiel, author of Hagahos Maimoniyos, also visited his master in Ensisheim.

After seven years in prison, the Maharam passed away on 19 Iyar, 1293. Yet, even after the Maharam’s death, the greedy Rudolph I refused to release his body until the ransom was paid. The Maharam’s body was not released for fourteen years, until Rebbi Alexander Ziskind Wimpen raised the money to redeem his body in 1307. The Maharam was buried in his hometown of Worms, and several years later, Rebbi Alexander Ziskind Wimpen was buried next to him in fulfillment of his final request. n

Nosson Wiggins (@jewishhistorysheimhagedolim) is the author of two books on the subject of Jewish history, “The Tannaim & Amoraim” and “The Rishonim” (Judaica Press). He researches Jewish History at the Klau Library, HUC-JIR in his hometown of Cincinnati and leads tours of Klau’s Rare Book Room. He is a passionate enthusiast of Jewish history and when he’s not in the hospital working as a nurse, he can be found researching and writing posts for his Substack, “Jewish History—Sheim Hagedolim.”