Avraham Gombiner

Abraham Abele Gombiner, known as the Magen Avraham, born in Gąbin (Gombin), Poland, was a rabbi, Talmudist and a leading religious authority in the Jewish community of Kalisz, Poland, during the seventeenth century. His full name was Avraham Abele ben Chaim HaLevi. There are texts that list his family name as Kalisz, after the city of his residence. After his parents were killed in 1655 during the aftermath of the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648, he moved to live and study with his relative in Leszno, Jacob Isaac Gombiner. From there, he moved to Kalisz, where he was appointed as rosh yeshiva and judge in the tribunal of Rabbi Israel Spira.