שמואל החסיד

Rav Shmuel HeChassid of Speyer (c. 4880/1120–c. 4935/1175), called in English sources Samuel ben Kalonymus he-Chassid of Speyer, stood at the head of the Chassidei Ashkenaz, and was father to Rav Yehuda HeChassid of Regensburg. He was born in Speyer to Rav Kalonymus the Elder, of the Kalonymus family that had come from Italy to Germany in the tenth century and gave the kehillot of northern Italy and of Ashkenaz their rabbanim and leaders for centuries afterward. His father passed away in 4886/1126; Rav Elazar of Germaiza writes that Rav Shmuel was then still a young boy, so the secrets of kabbalah were entrusted first to Rav Elazar the Chazan of Speyer, and were given over to Rav Shmuel himself once he came of age. As a young man he took upon himself the wanderings of exile and a life of self-denial, reaching, it appears, as far as Narbonne.

He headed a yeshiva in Speyer, though his own labor was chiefly in the hidden Torah, in kavanot and in avodat Hashem, and the Maharshal called him chassid, kadosh v’navi — which is why he is also called “the Prophet.” An old tradition tells that he fashioned a golem which went with him on his journeys and served him, but could not speak. His eldest son, Rav Avraham, learned nigleh from him and led the yeshiva in Speyer; his second son, Rav Yehuda HeChassid, author of Sefer Chassidim, carried on his father’s path. His daughter Golda married Rav Moshe HaDarshan, and their son was Rav Elazar HaDarshan of Wurzburg, who composed the kinah Tzion Ateret Tzvi.

The opening chapters of Sefer Chassidim are ascribed to him, as is Sefer Shaked, of which several passages survive in manuscript, along with remnants of a commentary on the order of the tefillot. The rishonim mention his commentary on the Mechilta and quote from his commentary on the Sifra, and his explanations on Tamid; he is cited in the Tosafot and by the Rashbam in his commentary on Pesachim. He composed the hoshana “K’hoshata av hamon,” said in the minhag of western Ashkenaz, and Shir HaYichud is attributed to him — a hymn on the oneness of Hashem in seven parts for the seven days of the week, built on the pattern of the Keter Malchut of Rav Shlomo ibn Gabirol, speaking of the Creator by way of negation, that He is not as man is. The Maharshal held that it should not be said; others ruled otherwise, among them Rav Shmuel Yehuda Katzenellenbogen, who wrote a commentary on it. Among his descendants was Rav David HaLevi Segal, the Taz.