Megilath Eivah.

HELLER, YOM TOV LIPMANN.

n.p

Late 18th-century

Undated autobiographical account that most certainly precedes the first edition, Breslau, 1837. R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (1579-1654) was born in Wallerstein, Bavaria. The most profound influences on his intellectual life were his paternal grandfather R. Moses Wallerstein and R. Judah Löw (Mahara”l) of Prague. He is most famous for his commentary to the Mishnah, “Tosaphoth Yom Tov.” Megilath Eivah is an account of the tribulations the author endured a result of his imprisonment under suspicion of treason against Ferdinand II. Upon Heller’s eventual release and his reappointment as Rabbi of Cracow, he established an annual celebration on the day he won back his freedom. Centuries later, his numerous descendants still commemorate Rosh Chodesh Adar as per their ancestor’s instructions. See C. U. Lipschitz & N. Rosenstein, The Feast and the Fast (Brooklyn,1984)