Böhmer ( ), JOSEPH B. MEÏR:

By: Louis Ginzberg

Lithuanian rabbi and Talmudist; born at Skudy in 1796; died May 7, 1864, at Slutsk. One of the most eminent pupils of R. Ḥayyim of Volozhin, Böhmer attained such a reputation as Talmudist that legal questions were sent to him even from Palestine and Babylon. Following the methods of his teacher, he was especially remarkable for his strictly logical treatment of the Talmud and rabbinical literature, being a decided opponent of the pilpul. Böhmer was greatly beloved and respected in his community for his personal qualities as well as for his scholarship. He officiated as rabbi for thirty-five years, and left a large collection of responsa, and scholia to the Yad ha-Ḥazaḳah and the Shulḥan 'Aruk, which are still extant in manuscript. Böhmer was succeeded in the rabbinate of Slutzk by his son Meïr.