Spira Family

Also known as Spira-Wedeles. There are a number of Spira families but for our purposes there are just two of interest. One we call here Spira of Prague and the other we call Spira of Speyer. The following diagram shows the descent from the earliest Spira of Prague down to Moritz Reis. The == means ‘a marriage’ and the >> is the product of that marriage, i.e. a child.

Yoseph Yerushalmi Joseph Jerusalem Spira OR Nathan II Spira == ? >> Rabbi Jechiel Michel Jerusalem (Spira) == daughter of Rabbi Asher Anshel >> Rabbi Benjamin Wolf Spira, Chief Rabbi of Prague and Bohemia ( – 1630) == Chawa Horowitz (dau. of David Fleckels / Flekeles Horowitz) >> Aaron Shimon Spira Wedeles, Chief Rabbi of Prague and Bohemia (1599 – 1679) == Chaja Neuhaus ( – 1676) >> Rabbi Benjamin Wolf Spira – Wedeles (1640 – 1715) == Sheva Scheba Kalisch ( – 1710) >> Shifra Spira Wedels = Salomon Levy Oettingen Levy (1660 – 1712) >> Bele Oettingen-Levy (1692 – 1773) == Isaac Schimon Bondi (1689 – 1754) >> Simon Isaak Bondi (ca. 1711 – 1733) == Magdelene Frankel-Teomim (1713 – 1778) >>Jonas Bondi (1732 – 1765) == Bella Schifra >> Chayle Bondi == Koppel Kolb (Loeb) of Bamberg (1747 – 1835) >> Moises Loeb / Moritz Reis (1782 – 1855) == Émilie Bickartt (1784 ) >> Jonas Reis (1809 – 1877) == Marian Samuel (1825 – 1900)

Some biographical information about this Prague based family above is given below.

And then there is the second Spira family – Spira of Speyer – that descends from Rabbi Samuel Zalman Shapira, [1st Shapira – of Speyer], Samuel ben Kalonymus the Hasid of Speyer. This family then divides and becomes the descent line of the LURIA family and the OPPENHEIM family as follows:

Rabbi Samuel Zalman Shapira, [1st Shapira – of Speyer], Samuel ben Kalonymus the Hasid of Speyer (1120 – 1175) == ? >> Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, Rabbi Yehuda Kalonymus HaChasid (Kalonymus), Halevi (1150 – 1217) >> Rabbi Samuel (Shmuel) Spira (Shapira, Speyer) (ca. 1345 – 1414) == Vergentlin Hanna Julia Minna Treves (ca. 1350 – 1427) >> Miriam Speyer / Spira / Shapira Rabbanit Miriam == Rabbi Aharon ben Nethanel Luria, [the 1st Luria] ABD Heilbronn ca. 1390 – 1478 >>> [SEE LURIA DESCENT TO MORITZ REIS]

A Son [of Shmuel] Shapiro (Spira) [i. e. a brother of Rabbinat Miriam (above)] == ? >> Gutlin / Guetlein Spira “Reislin” == Rabbi ? of Haguenau (ca. 1410 – ) >> Reisel Reislin Hagenau of Hagenau Reislin (ca. 1455 – ) >> Gerson Loans (Loanz) >> Joseph Gershon Tuerkheim / Türkheim Loanz Josel (Joselmann, Joselin) Of Rosheim (Joseph Ben Gershon Loanz) (ca. 1480 – 1554) == Sara? >> Gerson Gersel Türkheim (? – 1597) == ? >> Jutlin Türkheim == Elias Moses Ballin / Belin ( -1587) >> Fromet Ballin == Loewb Moses Oppenheim ( ? – 1655) [SEE OPPENHEIM DESCENT TO MORITZ REIS]. (I think this descent line is a bit weak especially re Josel of Rosheim).

There is some confusion as to who the father of Miriam Speyer / Spira / Shapira Rabbanit Miriam was. He was either as we have him above i.e. Rabbi Samuel (Shmuel) Spira (Shapira, Speyer) (ca. 1345 – 1414) or possibly Solomon Spira (also known as Samuel Speyer) of Speyer and Landau, who was the ABD (Av Beit Din) of Heilbronn which would make Rabbi Samuel Miriam’s grandfather. Or, the two names all point to one and the same person. Nobody seems to be sure.

Spira (Wedeles) of Prague:

Benjamin Wolf Spira: Son of Jehiel Spira; died at Prague 12 October 1630. He was for more than thirty years associate rabbi and director of a Talmudic academy in that city. Although universally respected, his extraordinary modesty prevented him from accepting the chief rabbinate of Prague; but he took charge of it temporarily from 1629 until his death.

Aaron Simeon Spira-Wedeles son of the above Benjamin Wolf Spira;. Aaron was rabbi at Frankfort, Lemberg, Brez in Lithuania, Lublin, Cracow, Vienna, Prague (1640), and also rabbi of Bohemia; born 1599; died on 3rd December, 1679, at Prague. He led an ascetic life, and collected many pupils about him. He wrote “Moreh Yeḥezḳiel Ḳaṭon” (Prague, 1695), penitential prayers (“seliḥot”) on the sufferings of the Jewish community of Prague when that city was besieged by the Swedes in 1648. He was imprisoned for two years because of a false accusation that he had arranged for the killing of a person to be baptized. After paying 8,000 guilders, he finally received a charter from Leopold I. His sarcophagus shows a pictorial representation of the process.

Elijah Spira: was another son of Benjamin Wolf Spira’s and brother of the above. He continued the family legacy. He was a rabbi in Tiktin and later became a preacher and director of a large Talmudic academy in Prague. Elijah authored several works, including “Eliyahu Zuṭa,” a commentary on a part of Mordecai Jafe’s “Lebush” related to the Shulḥan ‘Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim (published in Prague in 1689 and 1701). Elijah Spira’s best-known work is “Eliyahu Rabbah,” which contains discussions on the Shulchan Aruch’s Orach Chaim. Originally intended as a commentary on the Levush, it was printed posthumously and became widely recognized as a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch.

In 1691, Schifra, a daughter of Rabbi Wolf Wedeles (Spira), married Salomon Levy Oettingen Levy. She became a widow in 1712. Salomon and Shifra had a daughter Belle Oettingen-Levy who married Rabbi Isaac Bondi. Simon Isaak Bondi was the son of this marriage. After Salomon Levy-Oettingen died, Shifra married Prague’s chief rabbi David Oppenheim as his second wife (he being a widower at the time).

Some Spira Graves:

There is a detailed history of the Spira family of Speyer on Wikipedia. One of the better known was:

Miriam Shapira-Luria, also known as Rabbanit Miriam, born in Konstanz. She was a Talmudic scholar of the Late Middle Ages and was one of the “most noted” women Talmud scholars. Her father was Rabbi Solomon Shapira, a descendant of Rashi, an 11th century commentator. Shapira-Luria’s brother was the noted rabbi, Peretz of Konstanz. Her husband, Yochanan Luria, was a rabbi who was known to interpret the Talmud liberally. Shapira-Luria taught in Padua, Italy. She conducted a yeshiva and gave public lectures on Jewish codes of law. She was thoroughly conversant in rabbinical writings, and her “Talmudic disputations with other distinguished scholars of her time created a great sensation.” [1] Female community teachers were rare in Jewish tradition but “not unheard of”. Shapira-Luria was also known for her beauty, and she taught Talmud to elite young men from behind a curtain so that they would not get distracted by her appearance.

Shapira-Luria was the ancestress of the Luria rabbinical family: the grandmother of Solomon Luria (Maharshal), and several generations later the grandmother of Moritz Reis.

[1] Remy, Nahida (1916). The Jewish Woman.

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