Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 21 February 1619) was a

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 Torah commentator, best known for his Torah commentary .Although most write this as ''Keli Yakar'', "the second word should be ''Yekar''" (יְקָר), as the vowelization appears in (Marc Shapiro, Seforim Blog
The Pew Report and the Orthodox Community (and Other Assorted Comments), part 1
endnote 4
Jewish Encyclopedia
. He served as the Rabbi of Prague from 1604 to 1619.

Biography

He was born in

Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, ; ; ) is a town of inhabitants in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County. Łęczyca is a capital of the historical Łęczyca Land. Or ...

(also known as Luntschitz) and studied under Solomon Luria 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 ...

, and subsequently served as ''

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

'' (dean) of the ''

yeshiva 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 stu ...

'' in

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(Lemberg). In 1604 he was appointed rabbi of

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 ...

, a position he filled until his death. In the introduction of his he relates that the name Shlomo was added to his name during life-threatening illness, a common practice in Judaism. One of his students was Aaron Samuel ben Moses Shalom of Kremnitz.

Works

Luntschitz is best remembered for his homiletical work, most prominently (, an allusion to

Proverbs A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

20:15) on the

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 () ...

which first appeared in Lublin in 1602. It is still printed in many editions of the Pentateuch and continues to be highly popular. He composed two penitential prayers in commemoration of the 1611

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

that hit Prague on the 2nd of Adar on the Jewish calendar. In addition he wrote: * (, cf. Proverbs 21:22), comprising () and two works of Torah homilies. It was first published in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in 1580. * (, a reference to Judges 8:2), four volumes of sermons published in Lublin 1590. * (,

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

1:6), sermons (Prague, 1617). Known for its criticism of pilpul. * (, also Proverbs 20:15), a continuation of in style and reach, Prague 1610. * (, Proberbs 10:17), sermons for and , Lublin 1595. * (,

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

33:17), not extant but mentioned in the introduction of .

References

Literature

* Leonard S. Levin: ''Seeing with Both Eyes: Ephraim Luntschitz and the Polish-Jewish Renaissance''. Brill, Leiden/Boston 2008, .

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luntschitz, Shlomo Ephraim 1550 births 1619 deaths 16th-century Polish rabbis 16th-century Polish writers 17th-century rabbis from Bohemia Bible commentators Rabbis from Prague