View source for Elijah Loans

{{About other people|Eliyahu Baal Shem that born in 1555|Elijah Baal Shem|Eliyahu Baal Shem}}{{Infobox Rabbi
| name = Elijah ben Moses Ashkenazi Loans
| birth_date = 1555
| birth_place = [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]
| death_date = 1636
| death_place = [[Worms, Germany]]
| buried = [[Jewish Cemetery, Worms]]
| title = Elijah [[Baal Shem]] of Worms
}}

'''Elijah ben Moses Ashkenazi Loans''' also known as '''Elijah [[Baal Shem]] of [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]''' (1555 &ndash; July 1636) was a German [[rabbi]] and [[Kabbalist]].

== Life ==
He was born in [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]. He belonged to the family of [[Rashi]], on his mother's side was the grandson of [[Johanan Luria]] and a grandson of [[Josel of Rosheim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=LOANS, ELIJAH BEN MOSES ASHKENAZI - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10049-loans-elijah-ben-moses-ashkenazi |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>  

After studying in his native city under the direction of [[Jacob Ginzburg]] and [[Akiba Frankfort]], Loans went to [[Kraków]], where he attended the lectures of Rabbi [[Menahem Mendel|Menahem Mendel Avigdors]]. He also studied in the Yeshivah of the [[Maharal]]. While there he prepared for publication the "''[[Darkhei Moshe]]''" of [[Moses Isserles]]. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Loans was called to the rabbinate of [[Fulda]], which he left in 1612, occupying successively the rabbinates of [[Hanau]], [[Friedberg, Hesse|Friedberg]] (1620), and Worms (1630), in which last-named city he remained until his death.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia">{{Jewish Encyclopedia|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=484&letter=L&search=elijah%20loans|title=Loans, Elijah ben Moses Ashkenazi|author=K. I. Br.|accessdate=Jan 21, 2015}}<br />

'''Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:'''
* [[Moses Mannheimer]], ''Die Juden in Worms'', p.&nbsp;61, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1842
* [[L. Lewysohn]], ''Nafshot Ẓaddiḳim'', p.&nbsp;59, ib. 1855
* [[Eliakim Carmoly|Carmoly]], in ''{{abbr|Jost's Annalen|Jost's Israelitische Annalen}}'', i. 94
* [[Moritz Steinschneider|Steinschneider]], ''{{abbr|Cat. Bodl.|Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Bodleian Library}}'' col. 942
* [[Leopold Zunz|Zunz]], ''{{abbr|Z. G.|Zur Geschichte und Literatur}}'' p.&nbsp;402
* [[Heimann Joseph Michael|Heimann, Michael Joseph]] (1891). ''Or ha-Ḥayyim''. Frankfort-on-the-Main. No. 401.
</ref> One of his students was [[Juspa Schammes]] the chronicler of the Jewish community of Worms and the synagogue caretaker (''shammes'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reuter |first=Fritz |title=Warmaisa: 1000 Jahre Juden in Worms |date=2009 |publisher=Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-8391-0201-5 |edition=3. Aufl |location=Norderstedt |pages=55}}</ref>

== Works ==
Loans was a diligent student of Kabbalah, and for this reason was surnamed "Ba'al Shem". He was also accomplished in music and [[calligraphy]], and various legends circulated regarding his personality. He was the author of the following works: ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/6478 Rinnat Dodim]'' ([[Basel]], 1600), a commentary on [[Song of Songs]]; ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/6161 Mikhlal Yofi]'' (Amsterdam, 1695), a commentary on [[Ecclesiastes]]; ''Wikkuaḥ Yayin 'im ha-Mayim'' (Amsterdam, 1757), a poem with a commentary; ''Ma'agle Ẓedeḳ'' (Neubauer, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. in the Bodleian Library''" No. 1832), a commentary on Baḥya's "''Ḥobot ha-Lebabot''"; ''Ẓofnat Pa'aneaḥ'' (Neubauer, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. in the Bodleian Library''" No. 1830), a commentary on the "''Tiḳḳune Zohar''"; a commentary on ''Genesis Rabbah'' (Neubauer, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. in the Bodleian Library''" No. 149); and ''[https://tablet.otzar.org/#/book/9974/p/-1/t/1/fs/0/start/0/end/0/c Adderet Eliyahu]'' (Neubauer, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. in the Bodleian Library''" No. 1829), a commentary on the ''[[Zohar]]''.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia" />

Loans also edited the "''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Ammude Shelomoh''" of [[Solomon Luria]] on the "''[[Moses ben Jacob of Coucy#Works|Semag]]''" (Basel, 1599), and the "''Sha'are Dura''" of [[Isaac ben Meïr of Dueren]], to which he wrote a preface (Neubauer, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. in the Bodleian Library''" No. 1600).<ref name="jewishencyclopedia" />

== Another Eliyahu baal shem ==
{{Main|Eliyahu Baal Shem Ben Yosef Yutzpa}}

There was a third [[Eliyahu Baal Shem Ben Yosef Yutzpa|Eliyahu baal shem]] who gets confused with this Eliyahu Baal Shem, who lived in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], [[Kraków|Krakow]], [[Chełm|Chelm]] and [[Prague]]. Not to be confused with [[Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chełm|Eliyahu Baal Shem of Chelm]]. He was born to [[Rabbi]] Yosef Yutzpa, an exiled Spanish Jew who moved to [[Kraków|Kracow]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tzadikim |url=https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/49-Rabbi-Eliyahu-Baal-Shem |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=dailyzohar.com}}</ref> He was a hidden [[Tzadikim Nistarim|tzaddik]] and never got married until the age of 80. He had a son 2 years later which he named after the prophet Eliyahu, after he was told by the latter that he would illuminate the world. He died at the age of 95.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 43 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=43 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> Rabbi Eliyahu [[Baal Shem]] ben Yosef Yutzpa held a [[Yeshiva|Yeshivah]] in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], which moved to [[Chełm|Chelm]], then to Prague.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 246 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=246 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> He was forced to leave [[Worms, Germany|Wormz]] on the account of [[Rabbi]] [[Pinchas Zelig]] of [[Speyer]] who was anti the publication of the [[Zohar]] in 1558 and its dissemination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 53 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=53 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> He ended up in [[Chełm|Chelm]] in [[Poland]], then [[Prague]] in bohemia. Unlike loanz who is buried in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]. Further proof that he is not loanz, is that he attended the funeral of the grandchild of the [[Judah Loew ben Bezalel|Maharal]] in [[Prague]] at the age of 108.<ref name=":0" /> He therefore could not possibly be in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]. His primary students were [[Rabbi]] [[Yoel Baal Shem]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 92 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=92 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> and [[Rabbi]] [[Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller|Yomtov Lipman Heller]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 93 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=93 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> He didn't leave any manuscripts, although his father left him with works on [[Kabbalah]] from his [[Rabbi]] in [[Spain]], [[Rabbi]] [[Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai|Meir Ibn Gabbai]]. According to one tradition Eliyahu ben Yosef Yutzpa lived till the age of 118.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{The Jewish community of Worms}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loans, Elijah}}
[[Category:1555 births]]
[[Category:1636 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century German rabbis]]
[[Category:16th-century German rabbis]]
[[Category:Baal Shem]]
[[Category:Kabbalists]]
[[Category:Rabbis from Frankfurt]]