Responsa that throw light on Jewish suffering during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), especially those dealing with agunot (nos. 42, 45, 57, 58, 59, 70, 78, 88, 101, 103, 106, 123, 127). Several responsa dealing with organizational problems in the communities (nos. 1, 2, 16, 18, 19, 24, 28, 34, 37, 109) reveal the Author's independent attitude vis-a-vis plutocratic communal leadership and his sympathy with the poorer classes.

R. Menachem Mendel b. Abraham Krochmal (c. 1600–1661), chief rabbi of Moravia. A native of Cracow and pupil of R. Joel Sirkes, in his youth he was already the leader of a circle of scholars which included R. Gershon Ashkenazi (Uli), who later became his son-in-law and succeeded him as Landesrabbiner, and R. Menahem Mendel Auerbach. From 1630 he attended the Council of Four Lands and in 1636 became rabbi of Kromeriz (Kremsier). In 1646 he was in Cracow but became rabbi of Prostejov (Prossnitz) in the same year. Two years later he was elected rabbi of Mikulov (Nikolsburg), and Landesrabbiner of Moravia in 1650, an appointment he held until his death. Krochmal presided over several synods of Moravian Jewry and formulated the Shai Takkanot which regulated the organization of the Moravian communities until the 1848 revolution.