Moshe Schick (1 March 1807 – 25 January 1879; , alternatively spelled as ''Shick'', ''Shik'', ''Shieck'') was a prominent Hungarian Orthodox rabbi. In rabbinical commentary Shik is commonly known as the Maharam Schick (מהר"ם שיק); ''Maharam'' is 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 for ''Moreinu Harav Moshe'' (מורינו הרב משה), which means "Our Teacher Rabbi Moses".

Biography

Schick was born in Birkenhein,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(contemporary Brezová pod Bradlom, Slovakia), the son of Rabbi Joseph Schick. The family were descended from Rabbi Hanoch Heinich Schick of Shklov. He was a cousin of Elijah Schik. At the age of 11, Moshe Shick was sent to study with his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchak Frankel, the '' Av Beth Din'' in Regensdorf. When he was 14, he was sent to learn under Moses Sofer in Pressburg, where he stayed for six years. Sofer called his prodigious student "a treasure chest full of holy books". When he was 20, Moses Shick married his cousin, Gittel Frankel. They had several children. He was appointed Rabbi of Yeregin in 1838, where he opened a

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 ...

. He taught students there for three decades. In 1861 he became Rabbi of Huszt, present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and moved his 800-student yeshiva with him. Schick was a leading figure in the Orthodox camp during its struggle with the Neologs, who promoted educational, social and moderate religious reform and embraced the

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

policy of the government. On 28 December 1867, shortly after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, the Jews of Hungary were legally emancipated. Minister of Religion József Eötvös sought to establish a national Jewish organization which would represent the various communities before the government. The Orthodox, fearing the institution will be dominated by their rivals, held a rabbinical assembly in Pest between 24 November and 3 December 1868. Samuel Benjamin Sofer was elected president, and Schick had no official position, yet he emerged as leader. It was he who decided to send Eötvös a letter declaring that the Orthodox will not accept the resolutions of the upcoming National Jewish Congress – which was convened in Pest, between 10 December and 23 February 1869, to form the new organization – unless it would conform with their rabbis' opinions. Schick and Sigmund Kraus, a lay activist, led the Orthodox campaign to secede from the directory. On 15 November 1871, the new Minister of Religion Tivadar Pauler recognized the Central Bureau of the Autonomous Jewish Orthodox Communities in Hungary (Magyarországi Autonóm Orthodox Izraelita Hitfelekezet Központi Irodája), which was separate and independent from the Neolog-oriented National Jewish Bureau (Az Izraeliták Országos Irodája).Margit Balogh, Jenő Gergely. ''Egyházak az újkori Magyarországon, 1790-1992: kronológia''. MTA Történettudományi Intézete, 1993 .. p. 94.

Works

Maharam Shik authored

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 ...

on all four parts 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 ...

and the

613 Mitzvot According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments (). Although the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the . Th ...

; these ''She'elot U'Tshuvot - MaHaram Shik'' contain over 1000 discussions, on all issues of life, and are published in 3 volumes. Other works include: *''Chidushe ha-Maharam Shik'' – Novellae on 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 ...

*''Derashot Maharam Shik'' – Sermons *''Sefer Maharam Shik al ha-Torah'' – Torah Commentary *''Maharam Shik al taryag mitsvot'' – on the 613 commandents *''Chidushe Aggados Maharam Shik'' – on Maseches Avos

References

External links

* , tzemachdovid.org
Rabbi Moshe Shik - ''Maharam Shik''
(Hebrew), mytzadik.com
''She'elot U'Tshuvot - MaHaram Shik''
(Hebrew), hebrewbooks.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Shik, Moshe 1807 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Hungarian rabbis Hungarian Orthodox rabbis People from Brezová pod Bradlom