Rabbi Yitsḥak Yehudah Schmelkes (1827–1905), a talmudic scholar of Galicia, was born in

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, Ukraine), the son of Ḥayyim Samuel Schmelkes, claiming descent from Eleazar b. Samuel Schmelke Rokeaḥ. He was the head of the rabbinical court in Lviv from 1869-1893. His ''Beit Yiẓḥak'' (6 vols., 1875–1908), on the four parts of the '' Shulḥan Arukh'', was widely acclaimed. His opinion on halakhic questions was sought by many prominent contemporary scholars.

Biography

A pupil of Joseph Saul ha-Levi Nathanson, head of the local ''

bet din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

'', Schmelkes was hailed in his youth as a brilliant talmudic student. He served as head of the ''bet din'' in a number of towns before being appointed in Lemberg, where he remained until his death.

Intellectual Property

Dating back to 1518 with the invention of the printing press, rabbinic authorities have issued exclusive printing privileges. These privileges typically grant the printer an exclusive right to print the book for a period of ten to twenty years or until the first edition has been sold—a time suitable for the author or heirs to have recovered their investment in preparing the manuscript for publication. In the 19th century, after the introduction of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

in contemporary secular law, rabbinic authorities argued over the application of copyright in Jewish law. According to Schmelkes' teacher Rabbi Nathanson, a copyright was a property right arising out of the right of ownership. Schmelkes argued that an author’s exclusive right to publish their manuscript derived from the author's copyright in secular law, not from the author's property right in controlling access to the physical manuscript. Rabbi Schmelkes position is held by the majority in contemporary arguments over intellectual property in rabbinic law.

Electricity on Shabbat

For appliances that do not produce light on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, turning on an electric current may violate other prohibitions in rabbinic Jewish law. For example, the Talmud prohibits the creation of a fragrant scent in one's clothing on Shabbat because, according to

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

"creating anything new" is prohibited under a Rabbinic category called ''molid''. Rabbi Schmelkes suggested applying ''molid'' to the generating of electric current.Rabbi Michael Broyde & Rabbi Howard Jachter
The Use of Electricity on Shabbat and Yom Tov
part II, section A. ''Journal of Halacha & Contemporary Society'' No. XXI - Spring 1991 - Pesach 5751.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmelkes, Isaac Judah 1828 births 1906 deaths Orthodox rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe)