Rav Moshe Isserles zt"l
הרב משה בן ישראל איסרליש זצ"ל
Iyar 18 , 5432
Rav Moshe Isserles zt"l
Rabbi Moshe Isserles known by the abbreviation Rema, was born in Cracow, Poland in the year 5280 (1520), and died at the age of 52, on Lag-Baomer.
His father Yisrael was a learned as well as a wealthy man, and one of the elders of the community. When his son the Rema was 33 years old, he built the famous Rema synagogue in Cracow, which was still in existence when the Nazis occupied that ancient city.
His chief teacher was the celebrated Rabbi Shalom Schechna of Lublin, who later became also his father-in-law.
At the age of 30, the Rema returned from Lublin to his native city of Cracow, and founded there a great Yeshivah. Being quite wealthy, the Rema supported the pupils of his Yeshivah at his own expense.
The Rema was regarded as one of the greatest scholars of his time, and his decision upon a point of Jewish law was unanimously adhered to in all Polish and German communities.
Rabbi Moshe Isserles is the author of many important works on Jewish law and philosophy, and he became famous as a codifier, whose decision was the last word in Jewish law. His chief work in the field of Halacha (code) was a commentary on the Turim of Rabenu Yakov ben Asher entitled "Darkei Moshe", and his Mappah ("Table Cloth") for the Shulchan Aruch ("Prepared Table") written by his contemporary Rabbi Yoseph Caro. This work was published in his lifetime.
Another important work is his. Shaalos Uteshuvos (responsa), containing 132 questions addressed to him by various Rabbis on points of law, and his answers. This work was published after his death. As most of these questions were of a practical nature concerning everyday-life, many Rabbis found in this work an important and most reliable guide.
Altogether ten of his works were printed, and several others were not printed. His works give proof of the Rema's many-sided learning and greatness, in Talmud as well as in philosophy, astronomy and history.
The Rema died on the 18th of Iyar (Lag Baomer) in the year 5332 (1572) in Cracow. The famous Rabbi Shlomo Luria (RaSHaL) who was one of the Rema's noted pupils said of him: "From Moses (Maimonides) to Moses (Isserles) there was none like Moses (Isserles)," and this was also inscribed upon his tombstone.
On Lag Baomer, his Yahrzeit, many Jews from Cracow and the surrounding towns and villages, would visit his kever in pious reverence.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111847/jewish/Rabbi-Moshe-Isserles-The-Remo.htm
Stories of Rav Moshe Isserles zt"l
In Adas Tzaddikim it relates that when the Rema became Av Beis Din Cracow, he took Rav Chaim as his segan (assistant rav)and that when the Rema traveled, Rav Chaim acted as chief rabbi in the Rema’s place as Av Beis Din.
It happened, that Rav Chaim’s wife passed away. The Rema was so dependent on Rav Chaim and the communal responsibilities so great that all shidduch suggestions for Rav Chaim were discounted. Everyone anticipated the Rema’s approval of some match. Rav Chaim, seeing how things were going, took matters into his own hands. Tradition has it that he made a secret match through a shadchan with a local baker. The simple, but pious, baker supplied his illustrious son-in-law to be, with all the seforim he would need along with a hidden room to study undisturbed. The Rema returned one day to find Rav Chaim melancholy. He surmised that it was for lack of a suitable match and proposed that he would indeed find Rav Chaim a new wife. Rav Chaim staged that he wished to visit his family and left with intentional fanfare. He was escorted by the Rema and the townspeople out of the city limits where he dressed in simple clothes, gathered a minyan at the baker’s residence and married his daughter in a clandestine chuppah. After the wedding, he set himself up in the room provided by his father-in-law and studied happily and undisturbed for some two years until he was discovered.
There was a plague in Cracow and someone assumed that the secretive baker’s son-in-law whom no one knew must be the culprit behind some crime that made Cracow guilty. Such was the desperate calculation of people trying to find some reason why the plague had struck their city. Rav Chaim was summoned before the Rema, and was found to have been hiding all this time! Consequently, Rav Chaim was released and cleared of all charges.
“Why did you hide; what was your sin? And why are you laughing?” asked the Rema when he saw Rav Chaim laugh.
“I hid because the communal responsibilities were too much for me and it disturbed my Torah study,” Rav Chaim explained. “I laughed because these simple people were so quick to judge me and I can see they were just all too happy to whip me soon as you gave them the word. Apparently, my sin was that my Torah study was so good that I almost grew arrogant. But then, Hashem put me in a situation where I would be shamed!”
When the Rema went to visit him to see what he meant, he overheard Rav Chaim studying with someone else. But when he came inside, Rav Chaim was alone.
“I command you to reveal who was here!” said the Rema.
Rav Chaim admitted he had been studying with Eliyahu HaNavi.
“And he is still here with us,” said Rav Chaim.
Eliyahu then told the Rema that he studied with Rav Chaim, not because Rav Chaim was greater than the Rema, but because the Rema’s greatness and strength in Torah was too much for him [Eliyahu Hanavi]!
The Ben Ish Chai, in his sefer of commentaries on Aggodos HaShas, cites Rav Avrohom Palagi, who told:
There was a dispute between Moron the Bais Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo, mechaber of the Shulchon Aruch and the Rema, Rav Moshe Isserles, regarding permission for an aguna to remarry. The Rema permitted her to remarry, whereas the Bais Yosef had forbidden it. The angelic Maggid that taught the Bais Yosef revealed to him that actually the Bais Yosef was initially correct and that her husband was still alive and, of course, she was forbidden to remarry. However, explained the angelic Maggid, as soon as the holy Rema ruled she was permitted, the husband passed away and this released her. Because Hashem does not allow Tzaddikim to err, he saved the Rema from error; as soon as he wrote his psak, the husband died and she was permitted to remarry! (Ben Yehoyoda to Maseches Yevomos p.121, citing the sefer Vayaan Avrohom p. 62)
The Pshervorsker Rebbe told:
When the Rema was chief Rav of Cracow, there was a Jewish resident named Yankel whom everyone nicknamed Yankel Treiger – Yankel Shikir – Yankele Shabbos! In trade, he was a vasser treiger – a water carrier and a porter for heavy loads – and this explained that nickname. His other nicknames were given for his other well-known practice – his drinking. Every Erev Shabbos, a familiar scenario played itself out: Yankel Treiger became Yankel Shikir, as he gathered his savings from his earnings that week and headed off to the local tavern to buy honey mead and drink himself into a stupor. As he drank, with each sip he would say, “Ahh, Shabbos, Shabbos! Shabbos is coming!” And this explained his final nickname, Yankele Shabbos.
This Erev Shabbos began as usual. Yankel Treiger was seen heading to the tavern. As the coins jingled merrily in his pocket waiting to be spent, he heard a voice of despair above him from the window open to the street. “There he goes to spend his money on booze and get shikir while my children and I starve this Shabbos!”
Yankel froze. He had a good heart and it had just broken when he heard that sad sigh. He turned and saw the face of a mournful Jewish mother staring at him from the window. Without a second thought or moment’s hesitation, he gave his hard-earned coins to the overjoyed mother, who did not starve that Shabbos. That Shabbos, Yankele Shabbos earned his name and that poor family had food to eat.
On that Shabbos, Yankele Shabbos came home and passed away. On Motzo’ei Shabbos his spirit came back and visisted the holy Rema and told him the entire tale. “In Shomayim I heard that that woman was a gilgul of Esther HaMalka. She came back as a poor woman because when the Bais Din Shel Maala heard her case, the prosecution insisted that she was a wealthy queen and she needed to prove her loyalty to Torah as a pauper. Now, as for me, a sinner I wasn’t and a not a Tzaddik either. I was bereft of merits and mitzvos except this tzedoka that I gave on Erev Shabbos, and so they gave me the job to be the Shliach Bais Din. And so I come now to you, honorable Rav, in my capacity as messenger of the heavenly Court, to warn you to collect tzedoka from the poor! You always give tzedoka and collect from the wealthy, but I am here to teach you to collect from the poor as well!” At first the Rema thought Yaakov was jesting until he realized that he had passed away – and then he took the warning seriously. From then on, when the Rema collected tzedoka, he collected from the poor as well as the wealthy. (BeOholei Tzaddikim Cracow #20)
The Rema was a wealthy individual and it was his custom to pay a certain Jew to be his personal critic (mochiach). It was the critic’s job to observe the Rema’s behavior and to criticize him, giving him mussar and tochocha (reproof) about any misdeed or action that was found lacking. Once, before Shacharis, the Rema was studying a difficult Tosafos and he busied himself to answer and reconcile the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam. After he finally succeeded, he noticed that he had been so preoccupied with his study that he did not notice the passage of time until he was late for Shacharis!
Feeling that this was truly improper for the chief Rav of Cracow to come late to shul and knowing that his personal critic would give it to him, he felt nonetheless that he had no choice but to go and try to excuse himself. As he entered the shul, he expected the critic to approach but the latter stayed in his place.
After davening, the Rema himself approached the critic and asked him why he had not criticized his lateness.
“Rebbe, I quit, I shall no longer serve as your critic,” said the mochiach.
“But, why?” asked the Rema in astonishment.
“Before you came to shul, Rebbe, you were preceded by a personage of holy stature who approached me and asked me not to criticize you. He identified himself to me as none other than the Tosafist Rabbeinu Tam himself, and asked me to pardon you on the grounds that you were so engaged in answering the difficulties in his Talmudic comments that I should let you off the hook. Rebbe, that’s it, I am through! Anyone whom Rabbeinu Tam vouches for and asks me not to criticize – I will never criticize again!” (Sifsei Tzaddikim).
In the center of the Jewish quarter of Cracow there are two small low walls of stone and these are their story: During the reign of King Sigmund II there was a tax collector named Shlomo Zeligman who was a Kohen. This Kohen decided to ignore the Torah law that forbids a Kohen to marry a divorcee and he announced his intentions to the Rema, the chief Rav of Cracow. The Rema not only forbade the unholy marriage, he declared a vow of excommunication, a cherem (ban) on anyone who would serve as a witness to such a sinful union. Incensed, Shlomo used his connections and approached His Majesty the king himself and denounced the Rema for not marrying him and his wife-to-be. The king sent soldiers and ordered the Rema to appear before him.
The Rema did not deny the charges and explained to the king that it was against the Torah. Nonetheless, the king commanded the Rema to marry the couple at once. He was escorted by the soldiers to the square in the center of the Jewish quarter, where stood the couple beneath the wedding canopy waiting for the Rav to officiate.
The Rema was shocked that a large crowd had gathered around to witness the event and he approached the two, thundering toward the crowd, “Stand back and distance yourselves from these two wicked sinners at once!”
The crowd was taken aback and quickly stepped back at the holy chief Rav’s warning. No sooner had the Rema turned away from them and occupied himself with his holy thoughts than a great cry and uproar issued from the onlookers – the ground had opened up beneath the couple and they had been swallowed up by the earth itself!
The crowd quickly dispersed. Meanwhile, news of the miracle spread quickly, and the king, fearing divine wrath, sent his soldiers back to the Rema with an apology and the soldiers brought the chief Rav back to the king. There, the Rema declared that the king was not rebellious against the Torah, for he did not know or understand the laws, and so he was blameless. The king was so relieved that he asked the Rema what token he wished for, and the Rema asked that two stone walls be built to mark the graves of the two dead sinners so no Kohen would accidentally tread over their graves and become tomei. (Tiferes Avos)