KALMAN OF WORMS

KALMAN OF WORMS (d. 1560), Polish rabbi. Kalman is the first known rabbi of Lemberg and one of the leading Polish talmudic scholars of his time. He is known mainly from references in the works of contemporary rabbis. Joseph Katz of Cracow (the brother-in-law of moses isserles ) on one occasion enlisted his support and states: "The elder scholar… Kalman of Worms agreed with my decision…" (responsa She'erit Yosef (Cracow, 1590), no. 1). A responsum by Kalman himself, dated 1558 and signed "Kalman Wermeisa," appears in the responsa of Moses Isserles (responsum no. 15). It is possible he is the Kalman referred to in a responsum from meir katzenellenbogen of Padua (in responsa Maharshal (S. Luria) (Lemberg, 1859), 38a, no. 37). Both David Gans and Jehiel Heilprin, in Ẓemaḥ David and Seder ha-Dorot respectively, mention Kalman of Worms among the foremost scholars of the first half of the 16th century. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ḥ.N. Dembitzer, Kelilat Yofi, 1 (1888), 37a–b; S. Buber, Anshei Shem (1895), 200f., no. 498. (Alexander Tobias)