Elazar Shach

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elazar Menachem Man Shach (אלעזר מנחם מן שך) (or Rav Leizer Shach, at times his name is written as Eliezer Schach in English publications) (January 22, 1898 - November 2, 2001), was a leading Eastern European-born and educated Haredi rabbi who settled and lived in modern Israel.

He was the rosh yeshiva ("dean") of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, and founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing Lithuanian Ashkenazi Jews in the Israeli Knesset, many of whom considered him to be the Gadol HaDor ("great one of the generation") and used the honorific Maran ("[our] master") when referring to him.

He was recognized as a Talmudic scholar par excellence by scholars such as Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik (the Brisker Rav) and Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer in their approbations to his works; he authored the Avi Ezri a commentary on the Mishneh Torah.

Life in Europe

Rabbi Shach was born in Wabolnick (Vabalninkas, pronounced Vaboilnik in Yiddish), a rural village in northern Lithuania to Rabbi Ezriel and Batsheva Shach. The Shach family had been merchants for generations but Batsheva's family, the Levitans, were religious scholars who served various Lithuanian communities. Batsheva's brother, Rabbi Nisan Levitan, later became an important figure in the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. Elazar was a child prodigy, and was sent to study in the Ponevezh yeshiva at age seven. At thirteen he moved on to the Slabodka yeshiva, where he caught the attention of its dean, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, as well as Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, dean of the Slutsk yeshiva. Shach soon became one of Rabbi Meltzer's favorite pupils, beginning a lifelong relationship of friendship and respect.

When World War I began in 1914, many of the Slabodka yeshiva students scattered across Europe. Shach initially returned to his family but then began traveling across Lithuania from town to town, sleeping and eating wherever he could and studying with tremendous diligence in local synagogues, continuing to study Torah "as if there were no war" ^[1]. After the war Shach rejoined Rabbi Meltzer and his son-in-law, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, in Kletsk, Poland. When Rabbi Meltzer returned to Slutsk, Shach followed him (the Slutsk yeshiva later gained fame as the Lakewood yeshiva in America).

Rabbi Meltzer became both a father figure and patron to the young Shach, even arranging his marriage with his niece, Guttel, in 1923. Shach received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Meltzer and began teaching in the Kletsk yeshiva in 1927, where he taught for five years. He served as rosh yeshiva in Lublin, then taught Talmud at the Novardok yeshiva as well. In 1936rosh yeshiva at Hasidic Karlin yeshiva in Luninets. he became

Escaping to the British Mandate of Palestine

Shortly before the start of World War II and the Holocaust, several yeshivas began considering evacuating their rabbis, students and families.Rabbi Kotler eventually left for America, travelling across Siberia and arriving in the United States during the war. In 1939,Rav Shach first went to Vilna, where he stayed with Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Later that year both Rav Shach's mother and eldest daughter fell ill and died. In early 1940 the Shach family decided to leave Lithuania. Rav Shach's maternal uncle, Rabbi Aron Levitan, had helped Rabbi Kotler get emigration visas, but Rav Shach instead decided to go to Palestine, where Meltzer was serving as Rosh Yeshiva at Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, (Rav Shach would later serve as Rosh Yeshiva there as well). His uncle helped Rav Shach and his family get emigration certificates and took them in after they arrived at his doorstep, destitute.

Several years after the re-establishment of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, he was asked to be one of its deans. He remained in the position until his passing. At this Yeshiva, Rav Shach taught many thousands of students, many of whom eventually assumed prominent positions as Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbis.

Rabbinical career

Rav Shach was credited by many for helping revolutionize the concept of the "society of learners" in the post-war Haredi world. Under his leadership, the phenomenon of Haredi men studying in yeshivas and kollels full-time, something that had been comparatively rare in Europe before World War II, became the standard in many Haredi communities in Israel, with the financial backing of Haredi communities and subsidies to young families with many children from the Israeli government.

Political life

Rav Shach was an unwilling member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah beginning the 1970s, the position being forced on him by Rav A.Y. Karelitz, during which time he began to take special notice of the second-class situation of Sephardim in Israel, including Haredi Sephardim, who at that time were without any real political representation and generally voted for the Likud or Agudat Israel. In an attempt to give the Sephardim more political influence,Rav Shach encouraged and guided the formation of the Sephardi Shas party, under the spiritual leadership of his ally, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Shas ran for the 11th Knesset in 1984, and Shach called upon his "Lithuanian" followers to vote for it in the polls, a move that many saw as key political and religious move in Rav Shach's split with Agudat Israel. While initially Shas was largely under the aegis of Shach -- who capitalized on his influence with the Sephardic party in order to pressure Agudat Israel -- Yosef gradually exerted control over the party and moved it away from Shach, culminating with Shas' decision to support the Labor party in the 13th Knesset in 1992, something both Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel opposed.

In 1988, citing disagreements in leadership style with the various Hasidic rebbes in the Agudat Israel party, Shach officially broke away from Agudat Israel and formed the Degel HaTorahAshkenazi Haredim. He nevertheless encouraged Degel HaTorah to work in an alliance with Agudat Israel under the name of United Torah Judaism, an agreement which has continued until the present. ("Flag of Torah") party to represent the non-Hasidic

Around 1995 Shach's political involvement slowed down, following deterioration in his health, and ceased altogether afterward. Since then, his followers do not have a strong leading authority, and the two main leaders are Rabbi Elyashiv, and Rabbi Shteinman, of which Elyashiv is more dominant.

Shach was deeply opposed to Zionism, both religious and secular. He was fiercely dismissive of secular Israeli culture. For example, during a 1990 speech he derided kibbutzniks as "breeders of rabbits and pigs" who did not "know what Yom Kippur is". In the same speech he said that the Labor Party had cut themselves off from their Jewish past and wished to "seek a new Torah". Shach was also critical of democracy, once referring to it "cancer", adding that "only the sacred Torah is the true democracy." ^[2]

However, on diplomatic issues many considered Shach comparatively moderate, though "pragmatic" would be a more accurate description. Shach quickly realized the tangible political benefits that Haredi society could reap if it cultivated relationships with both poles of the Israeli political spectrum, and also supported the withdrawal from land, in principle, under the Halakhic teaching of Pikuach Nefesh ("the saving of a life"), in which the preservation of lives takes precedence over nearly all other obligations in the Torah, including those pertaining to the sanctity of land. Shach criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (at that time mainly settled by secular and Religious Zionist Jews) as "a blatant attempt to provoke the international community", and called on Haredim to avoid moving to such communities.

Opposition to the Lubavitcher Rebbe^[3]

Shach was involved in a number of public disputes with Rabbi Menachem Mendel SchneersonRebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement from the 1970s through Schneerson's death in 1994. Shach accused his followers of false Messianism. When once asked which religion was theologically closest to Judaism, Shach responded "Chabad".^[4] Shach accused Schneerson of fomenting a cult of crypto-messianism around himself.^[5] He objected to the call for "forcing" the Messiah's appearance, an idea avocated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. When certain elements in Chabad actually identified Rabbi Schneerson as the possible Messiah, Rabbi Shach advocated a complete boycott of Chabad, its institutions and projects by its constituents. ^[6] Shach very clearly pronounced his judgment of the Lubavitcher rebbe as a moshiach sheker (a false messiah) in 1988. ^[7] Shach also compared Chabad and Schneerson to the followers of the 17th century false messiah Sabbatai Zevi, a comparison disputed by Chabad representatives.^[8] the

Pointing to an assertion by the Rebbe in a passage dealing primarily with his predecessor that a rebbe is ‘the Essence and Being [of G-d] placed into a body,’ Rabbi Schach spoke of nothing less than Avodah Zara [idol worship]. His followers refused to eat meat slaughtered by Lubavich shochetim or to recognize Chabad Hasidim as adherents of authentic Judaism.^[9]

Shach once described Schneerson as "the madman who sits in New York and drives the whole world crazy."^[10].

In addition to Shach's objections to some Chabad members venerating Schneerson as the Messiah (both before and after his death), the two also disagreed on various issues of Jewish law and philosophy, but particularly politics. Chabad strongly opposed peace talks with the Palestinians or to relinquishing any Israeli territory under any circumstance, while Shach alternately supported both left and right-wing parties in the Israeli elections^{[citation needed]}. During the 1988 elections, Schneerson endorsed Agudat Israel over Shach's newly-formed Degel HaTorah party, and instructed Israeli Chabad to campaign for it. Shach's newspaper, Yated Ne'eman, ran several articles documenting various Chabad writings and statements which described Lubavitch as becoming a breakaway sect of Judaism focused around Schneerson as the Messiah.

It should be noted that in spite of his pitched battle against Lubavitch, Rabbi Shach nevertheless recited Tehillim when Rabbi Schneerson became sick. At the time he was asked for an explanation, and he obliged, “My battle is against his erroneous approach, against the movement, but not against the people in any personal way. I pray for the Rebbe’s recovery and simultaneously, also pray that he abandon his invalid way.” ^[11]

Rabbi Shach often clarified his stand, both in speech and in writing, that the slander spread against him about his persecution of chassidim was something he could never forgive, for it had transformed him into a baal machlokes, a disputant, at a time when he loved peace and pursued it to the nth degree.^[12]

Rabbi Elya Svei, one of the rosh yeshivas of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, said in his eulogy for Rabbi Shach, "Another area in which Rav Shach took the sole initiative and responsibility was in the less than popular task of protesting Messianic proclivities within Lubavitch. Rav Shach assumed the responsibility of decrying this perversion. Rav Shach started to fight this battle alone. He illuminated the truth so that others could also see the posed threat and follow his lead." ^[13]

Family

Shach had three children, all born in Kletsk in the 1920s: Miriam Raisel, Devorah, and Ephraim. Miriam Raisel died as a teenager in 1939 of pneumonia. Devorah married Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman, a Torah scholar in Israel, and had several children. Ephraim was unsatisfied with the Haredi lifestyle and eventually became a member of the Religious Zionist camp. He served in the Israel Defense Forces, received a doctorate in history and philosophy, and presently works as a supervisor for the Israel Ministry of Education.

Rebbetzin Guttel Schach died in 1969 from complications relating to diabetes.

Quotes

• "I remember how I was educated in my parents' home: when my yarmulke fell off my head, I was taught that you had to cry from distress. They were guided by a concern for the punctilious observance of mitzvos. Once I woke up after the zman Krias ShemaMagen Avraham and I burst out crying and continued to cry about it all day long." according to the

References

• Rabbi Shach and Lithuanian Anti-Zionism (E.Segal)
• From child genius to ultra-Orthodox leader, 1898-2001, by Shahar Ilan, Haaretz, 2001.

External links

• Collection of Haaretz links relating to Shach
• Obituary, by Lawrence Joffe, The Guardian
• Obituary by David Landau, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
• Obituary from Yated Ne'eman
• Rabbi Shach as a student
• Anecdote about Rabbi Shach during World War I
• Article about Rav Shach from Jewish Observer
• Eulogies for Rabbi Shach given by Rabbi Elya Svei and Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman and Article about Rabbi Shach from Yated Ne'eman
• Article about Rabbi Shach from Jerusalem Post

Asher ben Yechiel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asher ben Jehiel (Hebrew, אשר בן יחיאל, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1328) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the ROSH (Hebrew, רא"ש, literally "Head").

Biography

The Rosh was born in western Germany and died in Toledo, Spain. His family was prominent for learning and piety, his father Jehiel was a Talmudist, and one of his ancestors was Rabbi Eliezer ben Nathan (the RaABaN). Asher had eight sons, the most prominent of whom were Judah and Jacob, author of the Arba'ah Turim, a code of Jewish law. His primary teacher was the TosafistMeir of Rothenburg, then in Worms. In addition to his studies, ROSH worked in money lending, and according to his own statement, was independently wealthy. Rabbi

In 1286, Emperor Rudolf I had instituted a new persecution of the Jews, and Rabbi Meir left Germany, but was captured and imprisoned. The ROSH raised a ransom for his release, but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. Thereafter Rosh assumed Rabbi Meir's position in Worms. He was, however, forced to emigrate (in all likelihood, a victim of blackmail by the government, aimed at acquiring his fortune). After leaving Germany, he first settled in southern France, and then in Toledo, Spain, where he became rabbiRabbi Solomon ben Aderet (RaShBA). Rabbenu Asher's son Judah testified to the fact that he died in poverty. on the recommendation of

Rabbenu Asher possessed "methodical and systematic" Talmudic knowledge, and was distinguished for his ability to adumbrate long Talmudic discussions. The ROSH, influenced by his teacher Rabbi Meir, was averse to lenient decisions in halakha, even when theoretically justified. (Several of his rulings which may appear lenient, are actually strictures: his decision against praying more than three times a day is, in fact, limiting. Similarly, his assertion that the phrase halacha le-Moshe me-Sinai - "an oral law revealed to Moses on Sinai" - does not always bear a literal meaning but often signifies a universally adopted custom, is not usually taken as a liberal interpretation.) The ROSH was, however, known for his independent legal reasoning: "We must not be guided in our decisions by the admiration of great men, and in the event of a law not being clearly stated in the Talmud, we are not bound to accept it, even if it be based on the works of the Geonim." (For instance, the ROSH ruled that the liturgy of the Geonim was not subject to the Talmudic rule against change in the prayers.)

Rabbenu Asher was opposed to the study of secular knowledge, especially philosophy. He held that philosophy is based on critical research, whereas religion is based on tradition and the two are thus "incapable of harmonization". He said that "none that go unto her may return" - in fact, he thanked God for having saved him from its influence, and boasted of possessing no knowledge outside the Torah. He led the anti-Maimonists in Spain; he also attempted to issue a decree against the study of non-Jewish learning. One effect of this attitude was to limit his influence on secular Spanish Jewry. At the same time, within rabbinic circles, "he transplanted the strict and narrow Talmudic spirit from Germany to Spain", and this, in some measure, turned Spanish Jews from secular research to the study of the Talmud.

Works

Rabbenu Asher’s best known work is his abstract of Talmudic law. This work specifies the final, practical halakha, leaving out the intermediate discussion and concisely stating the final decision. It omits areas of law limited to Eretz Yisrael (such as agricultural and sacrificial laws) as well as the aggadic portions of the Talmud. Asher’s son Jacob compiled a list of the decisions found in the work, under the title Piskei Ha-ROSH (decisions of the ROSH). Commentaries on his Halachot were written by a number of later Talmudists. In yeshivot, this work is studied as a regular part of the daily talmud study.

This work resembles the Hilchot of the Rif (Rabbi Isaac Alfasi) - also an adumbration - but differs in quoting later authorities: Maimonides, the Tosafists and Alfasi himself. Rabbenu Asher's work superseded Alfasi's within a short time and has been printed with almost every edition of the Talmud since its publication. This work was so important in Jewish law that Yosef Karo included the ROSH together with Maimonides and Isaac Alfasi as one of the three major poskim (decisors) considered in determining the final ruling in his Shulkhan Arukh.

Rabbi Asher also wrote:

• Orchot Chaim, an essay on ethics, written for his sons. It begins with the comment, “Distance yourself from haughtiness, with the essence of distancing.” Orchot Chaim is today an important text in mussar study.
• A commentary on Zeraim (the first order of the Mishnah) - with the exception of Tractate Berachot.
• A commentary on Tohorot (the sixth order of the Mishnah).
• Tosafot-like glosses on several Talmudic topics.
• A volume of responsa; see History of Responsa: Fourteenth century.
• There is a volume of responsa entitled 'Besamim Rosh' which is falsely attributed to the Rosh. In fact it has been shown to be a forgery from the 19th century, and contains controversial decisions which contradict what the Rosh wrote in his (genuine) responsa. This collection was published by Saul Berlin, Levin's son. It was exposed as a forgery by Mordecai Benet (amongst others)

External links

• References
  • Asher ben Jehiel, jewishencyclopedia.com
  • Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel - The “Rosh”, ou.org
• Resources
  • Orchot Chaim Hebrew Fulltext, daat.ac.il

חיים חזקיהו מדיני

מתוך ויקיפדיה, האנציקלופדיה החופשית

הרב חיים חזקיה מדיני, (נולד בירושלים בז' בחשוון ה'תקצ"ג (1833), נפטר ונקבר בחברון בכ"ד בכסלו ה'תרס"ה (1905)). מחבר הספר שדי חמד, רבה של העיר קרסו-בזאר (בילוהירסק) שבחצי האי קרים ושל חברון.

הרב חיים חזקיה מדיני

תולדות חייו

הרב מדיני, נולד בירושלים, לאביו אליהו רפאל מדיני, בן למשפחה וותיקה בירושלים, הוסמך להוראה כבר בגיל 13. עקב קשיים כלכליים היגר לקושטא (איסטנבול) ונתמנה לדיין. בשנת ה'תרכ"ו (1866) נקרא להיות הרב הראשי בעיר קרסו-בזאר בקרים ברוסיה לקהילת קרימצ'קים - קהילה יהודית עתיקה בחצי האי קרים ודוברי הטטרית. התפרסם מאוד באזור ונערץ גם על ידי נוצרים ומוסלמים מקומיים. שם החל בחיבורו האנציקלופדי "שדי חמד".

שמו הלך למרחוק, ורבים פנו אליו בשאלות מגלויות רחוקות. וכך הוא מעיד על כך: "רבו טרדותי למעלה ראש לא במילי דמתא בלבד כי רובם באו מעלמא מכל קצווי ארץ ואינם רחוקים זה בכה וזה בכה בעניינים במינים ממינים שונים".

בי"ט בתמוז תרנ"ט (1899) שב לארץ ישראל, לאחר כשלושים ושלש שנה ברבנות בקרים. בתחילה ישב בירושלים למשך שנתיים, ואחר-כך נתמנה לרב הראשי בחברון, ושימש שם כרב עד יום פטירתו. בהגיעו לעיר פתח ישיבה בבית רומנו, ובה סיים את כתיבת האנציקלופדיה התלמודית הגדולה "שדי חמד".

הרב מדיני קרא להרחבת הקהילות היהודיות בארץ: "עושו חושו להושיט יד למפעל הקדוש הזה – ישוב ארץ ישראל ואם ראשיתו עוד מצער, אחריתו ישגה אי"ה מאוד ובגלל זה נזכה לחזות ולחדות בגאולה האמיתית".

הרב מדיני היה מכובד מאוד בין הערבים, שחשבוהו לאיש אלוהים בשל מראהו הנאה, וזקנו שהיה יורד על-פי מדותיו והגיע, יש אומרים, עד ברכיו. כאשר הובא לקבורה בבית העלמין היהודי העתיק בחברון, ליווהו גם ערבים רבים ביראת כבוד, ובלילה שלאחר הקבורה, התגנבו לבית הקברות, חפרו בקברו ורצו לפנותו לחצר מסגד סמוך. הדבר נתגלה, והקהילה היהודית הציבה שומרים לשמור במקום, במשך תקופה ארוכה. צוואתו המפורטת נדפסה בראש החלק הארבע-עשר של ה"שדי חמד".

על שמו בי"ס יסודי ממלכתי-דתי במעלה אדומים, ורחובות בערי הארץ.

ספריו

• "מכתב לחזקיהו" חדושים ושו"ת (איזמיר, ה'תרכ"ה 1865)
• "אור לי" שו"ת (איזמיר תרל"א 1871) – לזכר בנו היחיד שמת בחייו. הספר נדפס בעילום שם.
• "שדי חמד" פסקים וחידושים וכללים בערכין בסדר א"ב, בשמונה-עשר כרכים. הספר "שדי חמד" הוא מהפופולריים ביותר בספרות התורנית ולמרות היותו רב ממדים, נדפס בכמה וכמה מהדורות. הספר "שדי חמד" הוא מעין אנציקלופדיה המרכז תשובות להלכה יומיומית ומשלב בעיות אקטואליות שעמדו על הפרק. הספר מרכז את תשובותיהם של חכמי אשכנז וחכמי ספרד לפי סדר אלפביתי, מה שלא היה קיים קודם לכן. בעל שדי חמד מאריך מאוד, הספר נעשה במהדורות שונות, והרוצה למצוא ערך צריך לחפשו בחלקים שונים.

למעט הספר "פחד יצחק" שנכתב 300 שנה קודם לכן, השדי חמד הוא חלוץ בשדה האנציקלופדיות היהודיות.

• "פקועות שדה" (ירושלים ה'תר"ס 1900) תוספת ל"שדי חמד"

בקרים הדפיס גם "בקשות" ו"נעים זמירות".

הערכת פועלו

האדמו"ר האחרון של חב"ד, הרב מנחם מנדל שניאורסון מלובביץ', העריך מאוד את שיטתו של הרב מדיני, והאיץ בחסידיו ללמוד ב'שדי חמד', ולהוציאו מחדש במהדורה מפוארת.

הרבי מלובביץ' כתב על הרב מדיני כי "עוד בשחר טל ילדותו הצטיין בכשרונותיו הנשגבים, בהתמדתו הגדולה ובבקיאותו הנפלאה. בילדותו יצק מים על יד חכמים ורבנים מפורסמים... כל מעייניו היו תמיד בלימודיו ובספריו.. וישם לילות כימים לשקוד על דלתי התורה והעבודה. לבד שהיה נותן שיעורים פרטיים בתורה, וימלא כרסו בש"ס ופוסקים ראשונים ואחרונים וגם מחכמת הנסתר לא הניח ידו. וכאשר הניח לו ה' מסביב, שם ליבו להחל הבניין הנהדר אשר שאף אליו תמיד - לחבר אנציקלופדיה של הלכה, ופרי עמלו הרב היה ספרו הגדול והמפורסם 'שדי חמד', שרוב חלקיו יצאו-לאור עוד בחיי המחבר (מהם בכמה מהדורות) ומקצתם אחרי פטירתו".

עוד כותב הרבי מלובביץ' כי "בספרו זה שם לו המחבר למטרה להמציא למעיין בו כל דין והלכה (וגם כמה עניינים באגדה) על שורשיהם, יסודותיהם וענפיהם מהתלמוד ועד אחרון שבאחרונים, מסודר במשא ומתן ושקלא וטריא עם המקורות שמהם שאב אוצר ידיעותיו ופסקי דיניו. הספר 'שדי חמד' נתחבב ונתפרסם בכל המדינות, והרב המחבר נעשה כשולחני מפורסם ונאמן, אשר אליו הריצו שאלות ותשובות מכל קצווי תבל בבקשה לחוות דעתו המכרעת. גדולי עשירי רוסיא... העניקו לו ממיטב ספריהם בספרות התלמודית... והרב חיים-חזקיהו מדיני הרבה תורה ותושיה לשכלל חיבורו ככל האפשר".

חוקר תולדות גדולי ישראל, הרב ד"ר יצחק אלפסי כותב כי "בפי העם הוא נקרא החח"ם ובפי כל לומדי תורה ה"שדי חמד". יושב לו רב בקראסובזאר בחצי האי קרים, ובה קהילות של קרימצ'קאים ואשכנזים ומצודתו פרושה על כל רחבי העולם התורני, האשכנזי והספרדי ומכל עבר פונים אליו בשאלות בהלכה ובבקשות להסכמה, כעדות עצמו ש"מדי שבוע בשבוע יביא הדי-דואר טומוס מכתבים מינים ממינים שונים".

קישורים חיצוניים

• הערך מדיני חיים חזקיה ב"אנציקלופדיה יהודית" באתר דעת