Menahem Mendel ben Abraham Krochmal (c. 1600 – 1661) was a Moravian rabbi born in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. His teacher in 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 cente ...

was

Joel Sirkes Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his magnum opus BAyit CHadash), was a prominent Ashkenazi posek and halakhist, who lived in cent ...

, author of ''Bayis Chadash''. Krochmal soon distinguished himself so highly that with the permission of his master he was able to open 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 s ...

, which sent forth scholars like

Gershon Ashkenazi Rabbi Gershon Ashkenazi was a Polish Talmudist who studied under Joel Sirkis. He was also a talmid of the Maharam Shif, and the Rabbi Heschel of Kraków. During his lifetime, Ashkenazi was a recognized authority in Talmudic law. Ashkenazi auth ...

(afterward his son-in-law), and Menahem Mendel Auerbach, author of ''Ateres Zekeinim''. The Jews of Cracow, in appreciation of his learning, made Krochmal dayan. About 1636 Krochmal left his native city and went to

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 ...

. He was appointed rabbi of Kremsir, where he also founded a yeshivah. In 1645 he returned to Cracow; in the following year he became rabbi of Prossnitz; and in 1650 he accepted a call to the district rabbinate of

Nikolsburg Mikulov (; german: Nikolsburg; yi, ניקאלשבורג, ''Nikolshburg'') is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,400 inhabitants. The historic centre of Mikulov is well preserved and i ...

. He died in Nikolsburg on January 2, 1661. Krochmal's son Aryeh Leib, who followed him in the rabbinate at Nikolsburg, published from his father's manuscripts the collection of responsa ''Tzemach Tzedek'' (Altdorf, 1775). Often it is mistakenly catalogued as being printed in Amsterdam due to the Hebrew acronym.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* Landshuth, ''Ammudei ha-'Avodah'', p. 187; *Horodetzky, in ''Ha-Goren'', ii.32; * Dembitzer, ''Kelilat Yofi'', ii.143b; *Frankl-Grün, ''Gesch. der Juden in Kremsier'', i.89; *Kaufmann ''Gedenkbuch'', p. 373 *

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Menachem Mendel Krochmal
17th-century Polish rabbis 1600s births 1661 deaths Czech Orthodox rabbis Chief rabbis of Moravia Rabbis from Nikolsburg Rabbis from Kraków {{poland-rabbi-stub