Israel Isserlin (ישראל איסרלן; Israel Isserlein ben Petachia; 1390 in
Maribor,
Duchy of Styria – 1460 in
Wiener Neustadt
Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...
,
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
) was a
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ist, and
Halakhist, best known for his ''Terumat HaDeshen'', which served as one source for ''
HaMapah'', the component of the ''
Shulkhan Arukh
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...
'' by
Moses Isserles
). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no).
Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה ...
. He is also known as Israel of Neustadt, Israel of Marpurk, and ''Maharai''.
Personal life
Even though
Regensburg in Bavaria is often quoted in literature as Isserlein's birthplace it is now clear that he was born in the Styrian
Maribor, present-day
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, in the last decade of the 14th century. As a son of R. Petachia of Maribor he came from a well-known scholarly family. His grandfather Rabbi Chaim, named Henschel of Hainburg or Hetschlein of Herzogenburg was well-versed in Jewish learning, which held especially for Isserlein's great-grandfather R.
Israel of Krems. R. Shalom of Neustadt was related to him.
He is considered to be the most influential rabbi of the Empire in the second third of the 15th century and the last great rabbi of medieval
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. With his wife Schoendlein he had four sons named Petachia (Kachil, Khatschel), Abraham, Shalom, Aaron, and a daughter Muscat, who died in her childhood.
After the early death of his father, it appears, he and his mother moved to
Krems, where his uncle R. Aron Bluemlein of Krems/Vienna was teaching, and was together with his mother a victim of the
Vienna Gesera in 1421. He studied also in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and in
Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...
and probably also in Italy.
Soon after the Gzerah he returned to Maribor, where he started to serve as a rabbi; already in 1425 his correspondence and socializing with other scholars of his age is attested. Such a scholar was, for instance, Anshel of Maribor (Anshel Marpurk). His authority also included ordination of other rabbis. Responsa of rabbis
Israel Bruna
Rabbi Israel of Bruna (ישראל ברונא; 1480–1400) was a Moravian-German rabbi and ''Posek'' (decisor on Jewish Law). He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the Hebrew acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna". Rabbi Bruna is best known ...
, Moses Mintz and Jacob Moelin or the Maharil of Mainz quotes Isserlein with great respect. For an unknown reason he moved to
Neustadt, where he is attested in 1445, even though due to the fact that he frequently traveled between Maribor and Neustadt, we can assume that he actually took residence in Neustadt around 1450. He dealt with money-lending only marginally and with small sums of money. In Neustadt, as before in Maribor, he started to run a
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; 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 st ...
until 1460, when he died. Because of his activities he is also named R. Israel Marpurk and R. Israel of Noyshtat. On many occasions he signed himself as 'The small one and the young one in Israel' (Ha-katan ve-ha-tzair she-be-Israel).
His pupils were coming from Austria,
Bohemia,
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, and the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, among them Israel Bruna, Moses Mintz, and Joseph b. Moses. He is considered as an ideal type of medieval rabbi, who demanded from the community and its members a strict observance of ritual laws, social justice and fairness in business and commerce. He was prone to mysticism, studied kabbalistic works and accepted some kabbalistic customs as his own, even though he was also acquainted with the contemporary Christian scientific literature. He often served as an arbitrator between different communities and his decision was considered final. With the appearance of the press and the codification of ''halachah'' his responsa were included in numerous collections, the most prominent being the ''Shulchan Aruch''. His works include: Trumat ha-Deshen, 354 responses, edited by himself, and Psakim u-Chtavim, 267 responses, edited by his pupils after his death (both printed in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
already in 1519), ''Beurim'', commentaries on
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 ...
's Commentary on
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "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. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, ''36 Shearim'' (36 Gates), laws on
Kashrut, and ''Seder Gitin'', a handbook for divorces.
His oldest son Petachia or R. Kachil studied at his father's yeshivah, where he served as his secretary. In his father's name he even answered a question of R. Abraham from Poland. He married in Maribor. On 3 June 1489 he was still involved in lending money. On 12 November 1489 and on 8 March 1493 he is mentioned in Graz, with Nassan (Natan), son of Khatschl of Maribor or R. Kachil or Petachia, son of R. Israel Isserlein.
His wife, Schoendlein, was also learned and wrote a full ''Teshuva'' in
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
on Hilchot
Niddah
Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirem ...
in the name of her husband.
Works
Terumat HaDeshen
''Terumat HaDeshen'' is a work in two parts. The first part of is a collection of 354
responsa by R' Isserlein.
The work is named for the practice in the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
of removing a part of the previous day's ashes from the furnace – 354 is the
numerical value
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
of ''Deshen'' (Hebrew: דשן). ''Terumat HaDeshen'' serves as an important source of the practices of the
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
. The work was therefore used by R'
Moses Isserles
). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no).
Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה ...
as one basis for ''HaMapah'' – the component of the ''Shulkhan Arukh'' which specifies divergences between
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
and Ashkenazi practice.
The second part of ''Terumat haDeshen'', entitled ''Pesakim u-ketavim'', contains 267 decisions largely on points of the marriage law.
According to
Shabbatai ha-Kohen
Shabbatai ben Meir HaKohen ( he, שבתי בן מאיר הכהן; 1621–1662) was a noted 17th century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as the ''Shakh'' ( he, ש"ך), which is an abbreviation of his most important work, ''Siftei Kohen'' ...
(the "Shach"), it was "known" that Rabbi Isserlein was not answering questions posed to him in the ''Terumat HaDeshen'', rather he actually wrote the questions and answers himself. Therefore (Shach concludes) unlike with other responsa, the parameters of the questions posed in the ''Terumat HaDeshen'' are themselves binding when alluded to in the answer. However, with the printing of the work ''
Leket Yosher'' of Joseph (Joselein) ben Moses in 1903, it became apparent that the responsa were in fact based on actual questions, as the individuals who asked the questions are clearly identified there.
[See ''Leket Yosher'', introduction, p. XIV]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isserlin, Israel
1390 births
1460 deaths
15th-century Austrian rabbis
German Orthodox rabbis
Austrian Orthodox rabbis
Slovenian rabbis
Austrian people of German descent
Clergy from Regensburg
Writers from Maribor
People from Krems an der Donau
Authors of books on Jewish law