Asher ben Jehiel

Asher ben Jehiel (c. 1250–1327), known by the Hebrew acronym Rosh, was a German-born Talmudist who became rabbi of Toledo. He studied under Meir of Rothenburg; after Meir was imprisoned in 1286 Asher raised the ransom he refused and succeeded him in Worms.

Driven into exile by official extortion, he settled in Toledo. His concise abstract of Talmudic law became a cornerstone of halakhah; his son Jacob wrote the Arba'ah Turim. Opposed to Greek philosophy, Asher died in poverty in 1327.