Moshe Alshich
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Moshe Alshich , also spelled Alshech, (1508–1593), known as the ''Alshich Hakadosh (the Holy)'', 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 ...
, preacher, and
biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
commentator in the latter part of the sixteenth century.


Life

The Alshich was born in 1508 in the Ottoman city of
Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
, and was the son of Hayyim Alshich. studied in Saloniki under the exiled hakhamim Joseph Taitatzak and Joseph Karo, author of the "
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 ...
". Following Karo 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 ...
, in modern-day Israel, where he taught notable students including Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Yom Tov Tzahalon. Although the Alshich belonged to the circle of the Kabbalists who lived at the city, his works rarely betray any traces of the
Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
. He is celebrated as a teacher, preacher, and casuist. Little is known of his life. In his works he avoids mention of himself, telling only of his course of study; thus in the preface to his commentary on the Pentateuch he says: Alshich travelled through
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, and
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Legend has it that his son was taken as a child and became a Muslim, and the Arizal authored a special prayer for the son's return. He died in Safed in 1593.


Significance

Only a few rabbis were granted the title "''Hakadosh''" throughout Jewish history. Alongside the Alshich were the '' Shelah HaKadosh'', the '' Ari HaKadosh'' and the '' Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh'', all of them distinctive personalities in their times. Various reasons have been suggested as to why the Alshich received the "''HaKadosh''" ("Holy") title. His homiletical commentaries 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 () ...
and the Prophets enjoy much popularity and are still studied today, largely because of their powerful influence as practical exhortations to virtuous life.


Works

These lectures were afterward published as "Commentaries" (perushim) on the books of the Holy Scriptures, and Alshich gives a remarkable reason for their publication: "Many of those who had listened to my lectures repeated them partly or wholly in their own names. These offenses will be prevented by the publication of my own work". These lectures, though somewhat lengthy, were not tedious to his audience. The author repeatedly declares that in their printed form (as "Commentaries") he greatly curtailed them by omitting everything which was not absolutely necessary, or which he had already mentioned in another place. Like
Abravanel The Abravanel family ( ''ʾAbravanʾēl'' or ''ʾAbarbənʾēl''), also spelled as ''Abarbanel'', ''Abrabanel'', ''Avravanel'', ''Barbernell'', or ''Barbanel'' literally meaning ''Ab'' ("father") ''rabban'' ("priest") ''el'' ("of God") is one of ...
and some other commentators, Alshich headed each section of his comments with a number of questions which he anticipated on the part of the reader; he then proceeded to give a summary of his view, and concluded with answering all the questions seriatim. His Commentaries abound in references to
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 ...
,
Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
; or ''midrashot' ...
Eliyahu Munk (Translated and edited by) ''Midrash of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on the Torah (Vol 1-2-3)'', Lambda Publishers, Inc.
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 ...
/ New York, 2000
and Zohar, but contain scant references to other commentaries, such as the works of Abravanel, Gersonides or
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 ...
. His explanations are all of a homiletical character; his sole object being to find in each sentence or in each word of the Scriptures a moral lesson, a support for trust in God, encouragement to patient endurance, and a proof of the vanity of all earthly goods as compared with the everlasting bliss to be acquired in the future life. He frequently and earnestly appeals to his brethren, exhorting them to repent, and to abandon, or at least restrict, the pursuit of all worldly pleasures, and thus accelerate the approach of the Messianic era. Alshich possessed an easy and fluent style; his expositions are mostly of an allegorical character, but very rarely approach mysticism. In his commentary on the Song of Solomon, he calls ''peshaִt'' (literal explanation) and ''sod'' (mystical interpretation) the two opposite extremes, while he declares his own method of introducing allegorical exposition to be the safe mean between these extremes. Alshich wrote the following commentaries, most of which have appeared in several editions: #"Torat Mosheh" (Commentary on the Pentateuch), first ed. Belvedere near Constantinople, about 1593. Complete, with Indexes, Venice, 1601. #An abstract of this commentary was prepared by Jos. b. Aryeh Loeb, and has appeared in various forms (entitled: "Qitsur Alshich 'al ha-Torah"), Amsterdam, 1748. #"Marot ha-Tsobeot" (Collected Visions), on the prophets and their prophecies, Venice, 1803–7. #Extracts from this commentary are included in "Minhah Qe'tannah," a commentary on the earlier prophets; published in the Biblia Rabbinica (Qohelet Mosheh), Amsterdam, 1724. #"Romemot El" (Praises of God), on the book of Psalms, Venice, 1605. #"Rab Peninim" (Multitude of Pearls), on Proverbs, Venice, 1601. #"Helqat Mehoqeq" (The Lawgiver's Portion), on Job, Venice, 1603. #"Shoshanat ha-'Amaqim" (Lily of the Valleys), on the Song of Solomon. This commentary was the first to appear in print, and was edited by Alshich himself in 1591. According to this commentary, the Song is an
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
, and represents a dialogue between God and exiled Israel on the latter's mission. #"'Ene Mosheh" (Eyes of Moses), on Ruth. Alshich says of the
book of Ruth The Book of Ruth (, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings ( Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books ...
, "Surely from it we might take a lesson how to serve God"; and illustrates this statement throughout his commentary, Venice, 1601. #"Devarim Nihumim" (Comforting Words), on the " Lamentations of Jeremiah". The title is not merely a euphemism for Lamentations; the author repeatedly attempts to show that there is no cause for despair, God being with Israel, and though the Temple is destroyed the Shekinah has not departed from the Western Wall, Venice, 1601. #"Devarim Tovim" (Good Words), on
Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...
. Alshich calls
Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...
, on account of its deep thoughts, "Waters without end" (oceans). He endeavors in the commentary to illustrate, as the central idea of the book, the dictum, "All is vain, except the fear of the Lord, which is the essential condition of man's real existence," Venice, 1601. #"Massat Mosheh" (Moses' Gift), on the
book of Esther The Book of Esther (; ; ), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Megillot, Five Scrolls () in the Hebr ...
, presented by the author to his brethren as a Purim gift, Venice, 1601. #The commentaries of Alshich on these last-named five books (" megillot", "scrolls") appeared in an abridged form, edited by Eleazer b. Hananiah Tarnigrad, Amsterdam, 1697. #"Habatselet ha-Sharon" (The Rose of Sharon), on the book of Daniel, Safed, 1563, and Venice, 1592. #A commentary on the "Hafִtarot" called "Liqqute Man" (Gatherings of Manna), was compiled chiefly from "Marot ha-Tsobeot," by E. M. Markbreit, Amsterdam, 1704. #"Yarim Mosheh" is the title of a commentary on Abot, gathered from the works of Alshich by Joseph B. M. Schlenker, Fürth, 1764. #A commentary of Alshich on the Haggadah appears in the edition of the Haggadah called "Beit Horim" (House of Free Men). The commentary is full of interesting remarks and earnest exhortations (Metz, 1767). Even in the introduction the laws for Passover and the order for the evening are treated allegorically, and made the vehicle for religious meditation. It is, however, not likely that Alshich wrote these notes for the Haggadah. They were probably gathered from his works long after his death, as otherwise the Haggadah would have been published with his commentary much earlier. #" Responsa"; as a casuist he was frequently consulted by other rabbis, and his decisions were collected in a volume of responsa (Venice, 1605; Berlin, 1766). His contemporaries frequently quote his opinions. During his lifetime Azariah dei Rossi produced his "Meor Einayim" (Light for the Eyes), in which the author rejected some beliefs generally received as traditional; Alshich, at the request of his teacher, R. Joseph Caro, wrote a declaration against the "Meor Einayim" as being contrary and dangerous to the Jewish religion (''Kerem Chemed'', v. 141). #Alshich wrote also a poem, " Dirge on the Exile of Israel," in a very simple style in ten rhyming verses. It has been introduced into various earlier morning rituals, such as "Ayelet ha-Shachar" (The Morning Dawn). It is also contained in the collection of prayers and hymns called "Sha'are Zion" (The Gates of Zion).


Burial place

He is buried in Old Cemetery of Tzfat / Safed. Other notable rabbis also buried in Old Cemetery of Tzfat / Safed: * Ari HaKadosh * Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz * Moses ben Jacob Cordovero * Joseph Karo


References

* *


External links


''Ma'aleh Bet Ḥorin''
Haggadot with commentary provided by Moshe Alshich, at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York {{DEFAULTSORT:Alshich, Moshe 1508 births 1593 deaths 16th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire Rabbis in Safed Rabbis in Ottoman Galilee Kabbalists Burials at the Old Jewish Cemetery, Safed Shelichei derabonan (rabbis)