Jacob Ben Judah Weil, later known as Mahariv (Hebrew: יעקב בן יהודה ווייל) was a German rabbi and posek who as one of the Rishonim, was an active Talmudic authority during the first half of the fifteenth century.
[2] Weil, however, initially did not accept the position lest he offend an older scholar, Solomon Cohen (also rendered Zalman Katz), who had been appointed rabbi of that city long before.
Weil approved of the pilpulistic method only as an aid to study, but rendered legal decisions purely on the basis of logic[3] (Responsa, No.
Weil was especially severe on contemporary rabbis who regarded themselves as having peculiar privileges transcending the rights of the laity, declaring in a responsum (No.
After his father in law refused to repay the debt of a man who paid the ransom of his mother in law, Weill ruled that "since I am close to the case, it is my responsibility to take action and to nullify his evil decree (not to repay the debt) so that a mishap does not occur in Israel and the door is not closed on those who perform good deeds and the name of heaven is not desecrated ... and if he does not obey this strict ruling he is to be cursed and excommunicated and separated from all that is holy" (Resp.