Rabbi Israel of Bruna (ישראל ברונא; 1480–1400) was a

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ''

Posek In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are incon ...

'' (decisor on

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

). He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the

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 ...

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna". Rabbi Bruna is best known as one of the primary

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

authorities quoted by

Moses Isserles Moses Isserles (; ; 22 February 1530 / 25 Adar I 5290 – 11 May 1572 / 18 Iyar 5332), also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and '' posek'' (expert in Jewish law). He is considered the "Maimonides o ...

in the ''

Shulkhan Arukh The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in V ...

''.

Biography

Rabbi Bruna was born in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in the

Bohemian Kingdom The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the predecessor state of the modern Czech Republic. The Kingdom of Bohemia was an Im ...

, although often anachronically he is stated as "been born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

". He studied under the leading

rabbis of his time: Jacob Weil and Israel Isserlin, who

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

him and spoke very highly of him. "He was a brilliant student, who devoted himself, body and soul, to the study of the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

." He was then elected rabbi of his hometown of

, known in Talmudic Hebrew literature as "Bruna". After the expulsion of the Jews from that city (1454) he settled at Ratisbon,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, where he opened a ''

yeshivah A yeshiva (; ; 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 are studied in parallel. The studyin ...

''. His later life has been described as "eventful and troublesome". *His position in Ratisbon caused some controversy, dividing the community. Rabbi Anschel Segal, who already was operating a ''yeshivah'' there, felt Rabbi Bruna should have opened his ''yeshivah'' elsewhere. Among Rabbi Anschel's followers there were some who resorted to painting the word "heretic" on Rabbi Bruna's seat in the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, and when he preached, they would stage a walkout. Rabbi Bruna, however, bore the attacks and insults with humility, and on the death of Rabbi Segal, he was accepted by the whole community. *In 1474, following a dispute between

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (German language, German: ''Friedrich III,'' 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, crowned by the p ...

and Duke Ludwig of Landsberg over a tax placed on the Jewish community, Bruna was imprisoned by the Emperor to compel him to use his authority in the Emperor's favor; he was released after thirteen days in prison. *Rabbi Bruna was later threatened with execution based on a charge of

Blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

, brought by a convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, Hans Vagol. The community appealed to Frederick III, as well as to King Ladislav of Bohemia, both of whom declared Rabbi Bruna innocent.

Works

Rabbi Bruna was one of the greatest

ic authorities of his time: rabbis and scholars from various cities and countries sent him their queries on all matters relating to Jewish law. These ''

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

'', ''Teshuvot Mahari Bruna'', are his best known work. Importantly, they served as a source of ''

Halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

'' for

' ''HaMapah'' - the gloss on the ''

'' describing differences between ''

'' and ''

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

'' practice. See also History of Responsa: Fifteenth century

References

External links

Israel Bruna Ben Hayyim
jewishencyclopedia.com
Rabbi Israel Brunna
chabad.org

chaburas.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruna, Israel 1400 births 1480 deaths Clergy from Brno People from the Margraviate of Moravia 15th-century German rabbis Moravian rabbis Poskim