Samson of Chinon


Samson ben Isaac of Chinon was a French Talmudist who lived at Chinon. In Talmudic literature he is generally called after his native place, Chinon, and sometimes by the abbreviation MaHaRShaḲ. He was a contemporary of Peretz Kohen Gerondi, who declared Samson to be the greatest rabbinical authority of his time.As reported by Isaac ben Sheshet, Responsa, No. 157

Works

Samson was the author of the following works:
The "Sefer Keritut," owing to its easy style and its author's great authority, became a classic.
Samson wrote also responsa, several of which are quoted by Joseph Colon and Solomon ben Adret. According to Gross, Samson was the author of the supercommentary on Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch found by Judah Mosconi at Perpignan between 1363 and 1375. As regards the word, which appears in the manuscript after the name Samson of Chinon, Gross believes that Samson settled at Marseilles after the banishment of the Jews from France.