Judah ben Qalonymos ben Meir

Judah ben Qalonymos ben Meir was a German scholar and judge in Speyer, Germany, where he studied with Ephraim of Regensburg. In 1196, Judah wrote an elegy about the anti-Jewish decree passed in Speyer that year. He is best known for his quasi-historical work Order of Tannaim and Amoraim, in which he lists names of rabbinic figures from the Talmud. Judah also composed several other works, which have been lost, including The Lexicon Book (Sefer ha-agron), a practical dictionary of the names of minerals, animals, and vegetables in the Talmud; a book on benedictions; and Tosafot (“additions”) on several talmudic tractates.