Chaim ben Betzalel of Friedberg

Rabbi Chaim ben Betzalel of Friedberg, older brother of the famed Maharal of Prague (Yehuda Loew ben Betzalel), was born in Poland then moved to Germany in 1549, where he studied in Worms for about fifteen years before relocating to Friedberg. He was a teacher and community leader in Friedberg, even as he never accepted a formal position as a judge or local rabbi. A colleague of the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles), Rabbi Chaim disagreed sharply with Rema’s efforts to publish a simplified guide to Jewish law, publishing his objections in a work titled Vikuach Mayim Chaim. He also wrote on ethics, Hebrew grammar, philosophy, and other subjects.