David ha-Levi Segal (c. 1586 – 20 February 1667), also known as the Turei Zahav (abbreviated Taz [ט"ז]) after the title of his significant halakhic commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, was one of the greatest Polish rabbinical authorities.
He became a reputed Talmudic scholar, and married the daughter of Rabbi Joel Sirkis of Brest who was also known as the Bach (ב"ח), and quoted his father-in-law frequently in his works.
In Ostrog, Segal wrote a commentary on Joseph Caro's Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah), which he published in Lublin in 1646.
His third son from his first marriage, Isaiah, and his stepson, Aryeh Löb, were the two Polish scholars who were sent — probably by Segal, or at least with his consent — to Turkey in 1666 to investigate the claims of the pseudo-Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi.
The two returned with a present for Segal from Shabbetai Tzvi — a white silk robe, along with a letter in which the latter promised to avenge the wrongs of the Jews of Poland.
Two years before the publication of this work, Judel of Kovli, in Volhynia, a kabbalist and Talmudic scholar who wrote a commentary on Orach Chaim, gave money to have it published together with the Taz.
Part of the Taz on Shulchan Aruch (Chosen Mishpat, to chapter 296), appeared separately in Hamburg in the same year, with notes by Tzvi Ashkenazi.