BUNZLAU (BUMSLO), MEÏR BEN EPHRAIM FISHEL (called also Meïr Fishels and Meïr Fisheles):

By: Louis Ginzberg, Israel Berlin

Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist; born at Bunzlau (Jewish-German, "Bumslo"); died Nov. 23, 1770, at Prague, where he had been for forty years "rosh bet din" and director of a Talmudic academy. His works were never published, since all the manuscripts were destroyed by fire in 1754.

The epitaph of Bunzlau testifies to the unbounded love and admiration which he enjoyed among his contemporaries. In addition to his study of the Talmud he devoted himself to the Cabala, and, it is said, was also well versed in secular sciences. He was reputed to be an eminent preacher, his popularity not being confined to his own community, since his fame as a Talmudist had spread abroad. A very important decision of Bunzlau concerning the treatment of a first-born animal has been preserved in Ezekiel Landau's "Noda' be-Yehudah" (Yoreh De'ah, §§ 82 and 83). Two of his responsa in the "Noda' be-Yehudah" l.c. (§§ 72 and 89) testify to his humane disposition and true scholarship.

L. G. I. Ber.