Shmuel Eidels (1555 – 1631) ( he, שמואל אליעזר הלוי איידלס Shmuel Eliezer HaLevi Eidels) was a renowned

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) 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 ce ...

ist famous for his commentary on the Talmud, ''Chiddushei Halachot''. Eidels is also known as Maharsha (, a Hebrew

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi Shmuel Eidels").

Biography

The Maharsha was born in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. His father, Yehuda, was a Talmudist and both parents were descendants of rabbinic families—his mother Gitel was a cousin of Rabbi Yehuda Loew, the Maharal of Prague, and his father "was a direct descendant of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid." From early childhood, the Maharsha's remarkable talents were evident. When he came of marriageable age, the Maharsha was offered many prestigious

shidduch The ''Shidduch'' ( he, שִׁדּוּךְ, pl. ''shidduchim'' , Aramaic ) is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage. The practice In the past a ...

im (marriage partners), but he rejected them, asserting that he wanted to devote himself solely to Torah study. He married the daughter of Edel Lifschitz of Posen and the late Moshe Lifschitz, rabbi of Brisk. He then moved to Posen and, with his mother-in-law's financial help, established a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...

there. She supported it for over 2 decades, including "taking care of every bachur's needs." In appreciation of her support he adopted her name. After her death, he served as rabbi in the following prominent communities: Chelm (1610),

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...

, Tiktin and

Ostroh Ostroh ( uk, Остро́г; pl, Ostróg) is a historic city located in Rivne Oblast ( province) of western Ukraine, on the Horyn River. Ostroh is the administrative center of the Ostroh Raion (district). Administratively, Ostroh is incorporat ...

. Eidels was also active in the Council of Four Lands. His son-in-law was R. Moses ben Isaac Bonems of Lublin, who authored his own novellæ on the

, published with the ''Ḥiddushe Halakhot'', last recension (''Mahdura Batra''). The Maharsha died "5 days in(to) the month of

Kislev Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), also 'Chisleu' in the King James (authorized English) Bible, is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the H ...

, year" 5392.

Works

Chiddushei Halachot ( - "Novellae in

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...

") is an "incisive and keenly analytical" commentary on the Talmud,

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

and

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

together, and with a focus on Tosafot. It is said that if one grasps the Maharsha, then one has understood the Tosafot. This commentary was quickly accepted and was printed in almost all editions of the Talmud. ''Chiddushei Halachot'' is based on Maharsha's teaching in his yeshiva, and he refrained from printing his commentary on those pages that were studied while he served on the Council of Four Lands. The Maharsha also wrote an extensive commentary on the

aggadot Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

of the Talmud known as the Chiddushei Aggadot ( - "Novellae in

Aggadah Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism ...

") reflecting a wide knowledge of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

. ''Maharsha on Aggados'' is a multi-volume translation by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel. Upon the publication of his works, the Maharsha wrote that he regretted publishing the commentaries as two different works, rather than as one large intertwined work in the style of the Halacha and Aggada found in the Talmud; the Maharsha called upon future publishers to combine his works into one. Per the Maharsha's wishes, virtually all printed editions of his commentary found on the back of Gemaras today features the two works combined into one long running commentary with different fonts to differentiate between the Chiddushei Halachot and Chiddushei Aggadot. In the book Leader of the Generation: Rabbi Ezra Attieh, it is stated that of all the commentaries written on the Torah, that of the Maharsha was the favorite of Rabbi Ezra Attieh.

Legacy

The

Great Maharsha Synagogue The Great Maharsha Synagogue () was a synagogue in Ostroh, named after Rabbi Shmuel Eidels. It was built after 1627 under a restriction "prohibiting the erection of synagogues taller than churches." The synagogue was damaged during the Khmelnyts ...

in Ostroh (Ukraine) was named in his honour.

References

External links

Short biography of Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Edeles (MaHaRSHA)
chabad.org

ou.org

jewishhistory.org.il

{{Authority control 17th-century Polish–Lithuanian rabbis 16th-century Polish rabbis Polish Orthodox rabbis Rabbis from Kraków 1555 births 1631 deaths Exponents of Jewish law