David B. Samuel ha-Levi was a L’viv rabbi, the author of the religious treatise “The TaZ” (“Turei Zahav”, or “Rows of Gold”), one of the greatest Ashkenazi scholars and interpreters of Jewish religious laws of the 17th century. He was born in Volodymyr, Volhynia. His grandfather was rabbi Isaac Bezalel. Along with rabbis Sakhno from Lublin, Moses Isserles from Krakow and Lurie from Ostroh, he is considered the founder of the Polish tradition of the Talmud study.

David’s elder brother Isaac was the author of a hymn celebrating the return of the Golden Rose Synagogue (the Turei Zahav Synagogue) to the L’viv Jewish community in 1609. In 1652 David became the Rabbi of L’viv. After Shabbetai Tzvi declared himself Messiah in 1665 in Smyrna, he sent his son Isaiah and stepson Aryeh Löb, who were accomplished Jewish scholars, to Turkey to investigate Tzvi’s claims.

David B. Samuel ha-Levi died in L’viv in January 1667. He was solemnly buried in the Stary Kirkut cemetery. His wife Rebecca was the daughter of the Krakow rabbi Joel Sirkis.