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 ...

Meir Arik (1855–1925) was a famous Galician

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 () ...

scholar.

Biography

Arik was a talmid of the "Kochav MiYaakov," R. Yaakov Weidenfeld. He was so highly respected by the leading Rabbis of his generation that following the death of Rabbi Schwadron, the Belzer Rav directed all

halakhic ''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 (''mitzv ...

questions to Rabbi Arik. Rabbi Arik was the

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 ...

for the Galician town of

Buchach Buchach (, ; ; or ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of Ternopil Oblast (Oblast, province) of Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Buchach urban h ...

. However, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Arik fled to the

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 ...

n city 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. ...

. Upon his return to Galicia after the war, Arik assumed the post of Chief Rabbi of

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

. In addition to his insights on various tractates of both the

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 ...

and

Babylonian 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 modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

and his halakhic responsa, he also arranged and published a volume with the title of 'Chidushei HaRaMaL' ( Kolomye 1890). In 1912, he was appointed rabbi of Buchach, but with the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914, he fled to Vienna, and on his way he spent six months in Karoli in the apartment of the city's rabbi, Rabbi Shaul Barach. In his escape, he lost five large volumes of questions and answers, the loss of which he deeply regretted. When he returned in 1922 in the summer to Galicia, he was appointed rabbi in Tarnov (Tarna).

Legacy

Arik's students include Rabbi Reuvein Margolies and Rabbi

Meir Shapiro Yehuda Meir Shapiro (; 3 March 1887 – 27 October 1933) was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing the Cha ...

who were acknowledged leaders of their generation, as well as Rabbi Zev Wolf Leiter, dayan of Trembovla and later Av Beis Din of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, PA, as well as his nephews, the late Klausenberger Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Wilner and Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Arik. Arik's opinions are cited extensively by his contemporaries, as well as later halachic authorities including the Chelkas Yaakov, Kinyan Torah beHalacha, and Mar'eh Yechezkel.Rabbi R. Yechezkel Hochberg

Written works

Arik wrote the following works: * Tal Torah (טל תורה) on the

and

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

* Minchas Kena'os (מנחת קנאות) on Tractate

Sotah Sotah ( or , "strayer") is a tractate of the Talmud in Rabbinic Judaism. The tractate explains the ordeal of the bitter water, a trial by ordeal of a woman suspected of adultery, which is prescribed by the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible ( ...

* Minchas Pittim (מנחת פיתים) on

Shulchan Aruch 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 ...

* Imrei Yosher (Munkacs 5673; c. 1912 CE) - legal responsa covering a wide range of contemporary issues

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arik, Meir 1855 births 1926 deaths Rabbis from the Austrian Empire 20th-century Russian rabbis Chief rabbis of populated places Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Polish Hasidic rabbis Ukrainian Hasidic rabbis