EZRA OF MONTCONTOUR

EZRA OF MONTCONTOUR (late 12th and early 13th century), French tosafist. Ezra studied under judah b. isaac Sir Leon of Paris. meir b. baruch of Rothenburg studied under Ezra (see his responsum, Cremona, 312). Ezra was head of a yeshivah at Montcontour. He was generally referred to as "the prophet" by the rishonim and this is how he is mentioned in the tosafot (Git. 88a; Shev. 25a; Tos. R. Perez to BK 23b, etc.). However, mention of "Ezra" without any title might also refer to him. The epithet might stem from his connections with the kabbalists. Traditions handed down by his contemporaries relate that Ezra, like his friend jacob of Marvege, attained an "ascent of the soul." There is no evidence, however, that he himself was a kabbalist. According to these same traditions, Ezra was the grandson of abraham ibn ezra . -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Weiss, in: HHY, 5 (1921), 46–47; Marx, ibid., 197; Scholem, in: Tarbiz, 2 (1930/31), 244f., 514; Fried, ibid., 514; Ur-bach, Tosafot, 278f. (Israel Moses Ta-Shma)