אלכסנדרי זוסלין הכהן

Rabbi Alexandri Zuslin HaKohen (Alexander Suslin, or Süsslein, אלכסנדרי זוסלין הכהן; killed 5109, 1349), known by the acronyms Maharzach, Razach and Maharach, was a rishon of Ashkenaz in the first half of the fourteenth century and the author of the Sefer HaAguddah. Some have proposed that he was born in Erfurt, though this has not been proven. He lived in Worms and in Frankfurt am Main, perhaps in Mainz as well, and served as rav in Cologne; at the end of his life he came to Erfurt, where he was killed in the massacre of 1349, one of the many attacks on Jewish communities across Europe in the years of the Black Death (Plague).

In his sefer he refers to his teachers many times simply as “rabbotai.” While rav in Cologne he sent a question to his teachers in the “upper district,” the southern Rhine, which may point to teachers in Frankfurt, Mainz or Worms, Cologne being counted in the “lower district.” Once he mentions having seen a deed of “Rabbi Yitzchak HaLevi,” which may be Rabbi Yitzchak ben Yehudah HaLevi, author of the Paaneach Raza, or Rabbi Yitzchak of Düren, from whom he brings a further teaching he heard; that Rabbi Yitzchak married the daughter of Rabbi Yakar bar Shmuel of Cologne, so Rabbi Alexander may have learned from him there. The Aguddah also brings a ruling sent by Rav Bonfat, who seems to have been his teacher or colleague.

The Sefer HaAguddah follows the order of the masechtot of the Talmud and sets out concisely the most important rulings of the earlier authorities, grounded in the Gemara, so that they can be found and applied in practice; later poskim held it in high regard. The greatest of his talmidim was the Maharam HaLevi of Vienna, who learned under him and cites his rulings and minhagim. Rabbi Avraham of Zonsheim, author of Tikkun Tefillin, also names “Rabbi Zuslan” in his introduction as one of his teachers.

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