Isaiah or Yeshayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz () (c. 1555 – March 24, 1630), also known as the ''Shelah HaKaddosh'' ( "the holy ''Shelah''") after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent

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 of t ...

and mystic.

Biography

Isaiah Horowitz was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

around 1555.
''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography: His first teacher was his father, Avraham ben Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz, a notable scholar and author, and a disciple of Moses Isserles (Rema). Horowitz studied under Meir Lublin, Joshua Falk and Nasan Nota Shapirah He married Chaya, daughter of Abraham Moul, of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and was a wealthy and active

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, supporting

Torah study Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...

, especially in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. In 1590, in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, he participated in a meeting of the Council of Four Lands, and his signature appears on a decree that condemns the purchase of rabbinic positions. In 1602, Isaiah Horowitz was appointed Av Beit Din in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and in 1606 was appointed Rabbi of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 1614, after serving as rabbi in prominent cities in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, he left following the Fettmilch Uprising and assumed the prestigious position of chief rabbi of

. In 1621, after the death of his wife, he moved to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, was appointed rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem, and married Hava, daughter of Eleazer. In 1625, he was kidnapped and imprisoned, together with 15 other Jewish rabbis and scholars, by the

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

(Ibn Faruh) and held for ransom. After 1626, Horowitz moved to

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, erstwhile home of Kabbalah, and later died in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

on March 24, 1630 (

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...

11, 5390 on the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

). In his many kabbalistic, homiletic and halachic works, he stressed the joy in every action, and how one should convert the evil inclination into good, two concepts that influenced Jewish thought through to the eighteenth-century, and greatly influenced the development of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

. Famous descendants of Isaiah Horowitz included Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin (known as "The Seer of Lublin"), the prominent Billiczer rabbinical family of Szerencs,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and the Dym family of rabbis and communal leaders in Galicia, Aaron HaLevi ben Moses of Staroselye (a prominent student of

Shneur Zalman of Liadi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, (; September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) commonly known as the Alter Rebbe or Baal Hatanya, was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He ...

), the Fruchter-Langer families, Rabbi Meir Zelig Mann of Memel, Lithuania (b. 1921, d. 2008), and, on their mother's side, the important Yiddish writers Daniel Charney, Shmuel Charney, and Baruch Vladek, as well as

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

Works

His most important work ''Shenei Luḥot HaBerit'' (, '' Two Tablets of the Covenant'', abbreviated ''Shelah'' ), is an encyclopedic compilation of ritual,

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

, and mysticism. It was originally intended as an ethical will - written as a compendium of the Jewish tradition. The title page of the first edition states that the work is "compiled from both

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

Written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or ora ...

, handed down from Sinai". The work has had a profound influence on Jewish life - notably, on the early Hasidic movement, including the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

;

was described as a "''Shelah Yid''", and ''Shelah'' clearly echoes in his work, '' Tanya''. The work was first published in 1648 by his son, Shabbethai Horowitz, and has been often reprinted. An abbreviated form by Jehiel Michel Epstein appeared in 1683. (See also שני לוחות הברית article in the Hebrew Wikipedia). Horowitz also wrote the ''Sha'ar ha-Shamayim''

siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...

(prayer book) which had an influence on the later Ashkenazi '' nusach''.

Tefillat HaShlah - The Shelah's Prayer

Rabbi Horowitz wrote that the eve of the first day of the month of Sivan is the most auspicious time to pray for the physical and spiritual welfare of one's children and grandchildren, since Sivan was the month that the

was given to the Jewish people. He composed a special prayer to be said on this day, known as the ''Tefillat HaShlah'' "the Shelah's Prayer". In modern times, the custom of saying this prayer on the appointed day has become very popular among Orthodox parents.

Burial place

Isaiah Horowitz is buried in HaRambam compound / complex in

/ Tveria. Other notable rabbis also buried in HaRambam compound / complex: *

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

* Maimon Ben Yosef, the father of Maimonides *

Eliezer ben Hurcanus Eliezer ben Hurcanus (or Hyrcanus) () was one of the most prominent Judean ''tannaitic'' Sages of 1st- and 2nd-century Judaism, a disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, Avot of Rabbi Natan 14:5 and a colleague of Gamaliel II (whose sister, ...

* Yohanan ben Zakkai *

Joshua ben Hananiah Joshua ben Hananiah ( ''Yəhōšūaʿ ben Ḥănanyā''; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the eighth-most-frequently mentioned sage in t ...

Footnotes

External links

Sources

Short biography of Rabbi Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (The Shelah)
chabad.org
The Enduring Legacy of the Shelah Hakadosh
amodia

ou.org

jewishvirtuallibrary.org
Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz –The Shelah
meaningfullife.com

horwitzfam.org
Tefillat HaShlah Custom in Modern Life
mavenmall.com

Resources

* (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

), seforimonline.org
''"Shney Luchot Habrit"''
Translator Rabbi Eliyahu Munk, Urim Publications 2000. * Isaiah Horowitz: The Generations of Adam. Ed. by Miles Krassen. New York 1996.
Text of Tefillat HaShlah
(Hebrew), he.wikisource

Literature

*"Life and teachings of Isaiah Horowitz", Rabbi Dr. E. Newman, Judaica Press 1972. {{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Isaiah 1550s births 1630 deaths Year of birth uncertain Rabbis from Prague 17th-century rabbis from Bohemia 17th-century German rabbis Rabbis in Safed Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Kabbalists Authors of books on Jewish law Rabbis from Frankfurt 17th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire