Menachem ben Solomon HaMeiri, commonly referred to as HaMeiri, the Meiri, or just Meiri, was a famous medieval Provençal rabbi, and Talmudist. Though most of his expansive commentary, spanning 35 tractates of the Talmud, was not publicly available until the turn of the 19th century, it has since gained widespread renown and acceptance among Talmudic scholars.
Title page of a 1795 edition of Beit HaBechirah
The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.
An early printing of the Talmud (Ta'anit 9b); with commentary by Rashi
A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the Cairo Geniza
A full set of the Babylonian Talmud
Koren Talmud Bavli