a wealthy Jewish merchant, banker, and Talmudist who settled in Kraków in 1519, following the expulsion of the Jews from the German city of Regensburg. He was the father of Moses Isserles and the founder of the Remah Synagogue in Kazimierz, now a district of Kraków, built in 1553 on land owned by Israel ben Josef. According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, it may be concluded from the terms which his son applies to him in his preface to "Mehir Yayin" that he was the chief of the community.
