(c.1150-1217)
German rabbi and mystic. He lived in Speyer and later settled in Regensburg. He was one of the most important scholars of the Middle Ages in the fields of ethics and theology, and was the main teacher of the Haside Ashkenaz movement. His writings include magical treatises and the Book of Divine Glory, a commentary on the prayers of the Jewish liturgy. He was also the principal author of the Sepher Hasidim. His teachings were popularized by Eleazar ben Judah of Worms.
Dictionary of Jewish Biography. Dan Cohn-Sherbok.