Ephraim Zalman Tevias-Schorr

Polish rabbinical scholar and author. From 1613 to 1624 he was ABD and rabbi in Grodno (Horudno), Szczebrzeszyn (Shebrshin), Brest-Litovsk and Lublin. In 1618 he was one of the rabbis who signed the 'Takana' of the Council of Four Lands. The esteem in which he was held can be guaged from the fact that his 'haskama' (approbation) to the 'Ikarim' of Joseph Albo with the commentary 'Ez Shatul' (Venice, 1618) appears before that of R'Meir, MAHARAM of Lublin. The identity of R'Efraim's first wife is not known however, the children she bore him were: Miriam Mirl Shor daughter (name unknown) Zemach Shor (Appx 1600 to 1662) M'Hesa Shor (died Appx 1650) At 70 years of age (Appx 1615) the widowed R'Efraim married Hanele, the daughter of King's Minister Shaul (Yudiche) Wahl of Brest (scholar, businessman and advisor to Polish kings and nobles) the son of R'Shlomo Yehuda Katznelenbogen of Padua and Florence. Their son, who also became a renouned scholar was R'Yacov Shor (Appx 1615 to 1655).For more about R'Yacov see Profiles! In his later years R' Efraim was Rabbi, AB"D and head of his own Academy (Yeshiva) in Lublin; he died in Lublin on 18 Tishrei 5394. R'Efraim's fame as a scholar rests on his work 'Tevuot Shor' (Lublin, 1615-16) a digest of the voluminous 'Bet Yoseph' of Josef Karo (which was based on the 'Arba Turim' of Jacob b'Asher) in which Shor adds new sources and comments on some of the sources of the 'turim' provided by Karo and b'Asher. His responsa and decisions are frequently quoted by his contemporaries. He was referred to by the name of his work, but later, in order to distinguish him from his relative Alexander Schor, who also wrote a work under the same title, he was referred to as 'the Elder Tvuot Schor'.