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Padua, Jacob Meïr

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Russian rabbi; born in Brest-Litovsk; died there Dec. 12, 1854. He was a descendant of the Katzenellenbogen family which had been prominent in Brest for more than three centuries. His father, Ḥayyim (d. 1837), and his grandfather, Aaron b. Meïr (d. 1777), author of "Minḥat Aharon," both lived in that city, which chose Jacob Meïr Padua as its rabbi after the death of his relative Aryeh Löb Katzenellenbogen in 1837. He was at that time rabbi of Pinsk-Karlin, government of Minsk; and he did not enter upon the duties of his new rabbinate until 1840. In 1852, when there was a great dearth, which caused much suffering among the poor, Padua permitted Jews to eat peas and beans at the Passover; and he defended his action, which was a departure from Orthodox practise, in one of his responsa (No. 48). He held the rabbinate of Brest-Litovsk until his death.

Padua was the author of "Meḳor Ḥayyim" (2 parts, Sudzilkow, 1836), on Shulḳan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, and on some Talmudical subjects, with an appendix containing responsa by his above-mentioned grandfather; "Ketonet Passim" (Königsberg, 1840), on Joseph Ḥabiba's Alfasi commentary, "Nimmuḳe Yosef," with an appendix, "Ḥiẓẓe Yehonatan," on R. Jonathan's Alfasi commentary to the tractate 'Erubin. His responsa, entitled "Teshubot Maharim" (Warsaw, 1854), appeared in the year of his death.