Rabbeinu Gershom ben Judah
960 – 1028 French/German (Ashkenazi Jewish) Rabbi, halakhic authority, 'Light of the Exile'
Rhineland sage whose bans on polygamy and coerced divorce reshaped Ashkenazi Jewish law.
- Religion
- Judaism (Rabbinic)
- Affiliations
- Mainz yeshiva
Gershom ben Judah led the Jewish academy of Mainz and was honored with the title 'Meor HaGolah', Light of the Exile. He is credited with rabbinic decrees, most famously a ban on polygamy among Ashkenazi Jews and a rule against divorcing a wife without her consent. His enactments shaped European Jewish family life for centuries.