Joel Sirkis | |
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.jpg) Grave of Joel Sirkis | |
| Title | HaBach (הב׳׳ח) |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Joel Sirkes c. 1561 |
| Died | March 14, 1640 |
| Spouse | Baila |
| Children | Esther Sirkis, Samuel Tzvi Hersch Sirkis, Rivka Sirkis, Judab Leib Sirkis, Menachem Sirkis, Kalisch Sirkis, Abraham Sirkis |
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| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Main work | Bayit Chadash, Teshuvot ha-Bach |
| Buried | Remah Cemetery |
| Dynasty | Jaffe |
Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as theBach (an abbreviation of hismagnum opusBAyitCHadash), was a prominentAshkenaziposek andhalakhist, who lived inCentral Europe and held rabbinical positions inBelz,Brest-Litovsk andKraków, and is considered to be one of the greatestTalmudic scholars ofPoland. He is known for his liberal rulings in hisresponsum in which he challenges the rabbinic status quo.[1]
Born inLublin,Poland in 1561, his father Samuel Sirkis was a rabbi in Lublin and his mother Sarah Jaffe was a member of theJaffe family, through her fatherMoses Jaffe of Kraków, makingMordecai Jaffe, the Bach's second cousin.[2] At age fourteen he went to theyeshiva ofNaftali Zvi Hirsch Schor, a leading student ofMoses Isserles. After remaining there for some time he went toBrest-Litovsk, where he attended theyeshiva of Rabbi Phoebus. While still in his youth, he was invited to the rabbinate ofPruzhany. He later occupied the rabbinates ofLukow,Lublin,Medzyboz,Belz,Szydlowka, and Brest-Litovsk, finally settling inKraków in 1619, where he married Bella, the daughter of Abraham of Lwow and was appointedAv Bet Din of Kraków and head of the yeshivah. Many of his students became leading rabbis in Poland, the most famous being his son-in-law,David ben Samuel ha-Levi, as well asGershon Ashkenazi andMenachem Mendel Krochmal. In 1631 he wrote his magnum opus,Bayit Ḥadash (lit "new house"), a critical and comprehensive commentary on theArba'ah Turim ofJacob ben Asher, in which he traced each law to its Talmudic source and followed its subsequent development through successive generations of interpretation. His work received the approval of the greatest rabbinic scholars of his time, even those outside of Poland. The Bach was also an adherent ofKabbalah, yet he rejected kabbalistic practices that were contrary to thehalakhah. He was also critical of those who relied solely on theShulchan Aruch forhalachic decisions, rather than on theTalmud and theGeonim.[1][3][4]
The Bach's responsum provides a concise overview of the social and economic conditions ofPolish Jewry, as well as the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in early 17th century Poland. One of his responsa, in particular, was censored by the Christian authorities because the work addresses the case of a Jew who was martyred for allegedly stealing a small statue ofJesus. The Polish authorities also demanded the surrender of another Jew accused of receiving the stolen item from the martyr, and threatened to exterminate all the Jews ofKalisz if they refused to surrender the individual. To this, the Bach suggests that the community was permitted to surrender the individual if he was proven to have taken the stolen statue from the martyr. The Bach also discusses cases ofapostasy fromJudaism, in which he states: “It is common knowledge at present that the majority of apostates have converted solely out of their lust for robbery, promiscuity, and consuming forbidden foods in public.” Both his responsum and theBayit Ḥadash display the Bach's liberal attitude towards Judaism and his deprecation of undue religious stringency, one stating: “He who wishes to be stringent, let him be stringent for himself only.”[5]
The Bach allowed the acceptance ofemoluments and special privileges by rabbis in return for their services. He extended the permission to sell leavened food to a non-Jew beforePassover to include the sale of the room in which such food was found. He permitted the reading of secular, non-Hebrew books on the Sabbath and liberalized certain laws to allow for the greater enjoyment of the festivals. He allowed Jewish physicians to violate the Sabbath when treating non-Jewish patients. He permitted church melodies in the synagogue if they were universal in appeal. He excused people sensitive to colds or those lacking warm clothing from the obligation to dwell in booths duringSukkot and permitted women to dress in men's clothing during extreme weather conditions when this type of attire was more comfortable. The descendants of the Bach served prominent and important rabbinic positions all over Poland andUkraine. His son-in-law wasDavid HaLevi Segal, and among the Bach's descendants is the prominent Ukrainian rabbiBetzalel HaLevi of Zhovkva (1710–1802), who was the maternal grandfather of the Hasidic master,Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827).[6][7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."SIRKES, JOEL B. SAMUEL".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. RetrievedSep 13, 2016.| International | |
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