Rabbi Israel of Bruna (ישראל ברונא; 1480–1400) was a

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 me ...

n- German

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and ''

Posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities ...

'' (decisor on

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comm ...

). He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna". Rabbi Bruna is best known as one of the primary

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

authorities quoted 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 ...

in 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 Is ...

''.

Biography

Rabbi Bruna was born in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. He studied under the leading

rabbis of his time:

Jacob Weil Jacob Ben Judah Weil, later known as Mahariv ( he, יעקב בן יהודה ווייל) was a German rabbi and ''posek'' who as one of the '' Rishonim'', was an active Talmudic authority during the first half of the fifteenth century. Early life ...

and Israel Isserlin, who

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

him and spoke very highly of him. "He was a brilliant student, who devoted himself, body and soul, to the study of the

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 center ...

." He was then elected rabbi of Bruna. After the expulsion of the Jews from that city (1454) he settled at

Ratisbon Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the ...

, Bavaria, where he opened a ''

yeshivah 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 stud ...

''. His later life has been described as "eventful and troublesome". *His position in Ratisbon caused some controversy, dividing the community. Rabbi Anschel Segal, who already was operating a ''yeshivah'' there, felt Rabbi Bruna should have opened his ''yeshivah'' elsewhere. Among Rabbi Anschel's followers there were some who resorted to painting the word "heretic" on Rabbi Bruna's seat in the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...

, and when he preached, they would stage a walkout. Rabbi Bruna, however, bore the attacks and insults with humility, and on the death of Rabbi Segal, he was accepted by the whole community. *In 1474, following a dispute between

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III ( German: ''Friedrich III,'' 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. He was the fourth king and first emperor of the House of Habsburg. He was the penultimate emperor to be cro ...

and Duke Ludwig of Landsberg over a tax placed on the Jewish community, Bruna was imprisoned by the Emperor to compel him to use his authority in the Emperor's favor; he was released after thirteen days in prison. *Rabbi Bruna was later threatened with execution based on a charge of

Blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

, brought by a convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism, monotheistic religion based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, life and Teachings of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Major religious groups, world's ...

, Hans Vagol. The community appealed to Frederick III, as well as to King Ladislav of Bohemia, both of whom declared Rabbi Bruna innocent.

Works

Rabbi Bruna was one of the greatest

ic authorities of his time: rabbis and scholars from various cities and countries sent him their queries on all matters relating to Jewish law. These ''

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 ...

'', ''Teshuvot Mahari Bruna'', are his best known work. Importantly, they served as a source of ''

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comma ...

'' for

' ''HaMapah'' - the gloss on the ''

'' describing differences between ''

'' and ''

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 ...

'' practice. See also History of Responsa: Fifteenth century

References

External links

Israel Bruna Ben Hayyim
jewishencyclopedia.com
Rabbi Israel Brunna
chabad.org

chaburas.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruna, Israel 1400 births 1480 deaths Clergy from Brno People from the Margraviate of Moravia 15th-century German rabbis Moravian rabbis