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 ...

Shlomo HaKohen ( he, שלמה הכהן; 1828–1905) was the famed

Av Beis Din The ''av beit din'' ( ''ʾabh bêth dîn'', "chief of the court" or "chief justice"), also spelled ''av beis din'' or ''abh beth din'' and abbreviated ABD (), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, ...

(supreme justice of a rabbinical court) 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 a ...

(decider of

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

) of

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. In 1828, Shlomo was born to Rabbi Yisroel Moshe HaCohen, a dayan in the rabbinic court in Vilna. As a young child, Shlomo was known for his diligence and devotion to Torah study. When Shlomo was thirteen years old, he became deathly sick and his doctors told him that he must stop studying

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 s ...

because the intensity of his studies was adversely affecting his weak heart. Nonetheless, Shlomo refused to relent, and continued to study Torah, as he reasoned that Torah is his life. HaKohen's glosses on 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 ...

were published in the

Vilna Edition Shas The Vilna Edition of the Talmud, printed in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, is by far the most common printed edition of the Talmud still in use today as the basic text for Torah study in yeshivas and by all scholars of Judaism. It was typeset by ...

under the name "Cheshek Shlomo" (חשק שלמה). Rabbi Shlomo's halachik

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 ...

were published under the title "Binyan Shlomo" (שו"ת בנין שלמה). HaKohen was a childhood friend of Rabbi Alexander Moshe Lapidus, also a native of Vilna. Rabbi Shlomo also corresponded with Rabbi

Chaim Hezekiah Medini Chaim Hezekiah Medini (Jerusalem 1834 – Hebron, 1904), also known by the title of his chief halakhic work, ''Sdei Chemed'', was a rabbinical scholar during the nineteenth century. Biography His name was originally Hezekiah; Chaim, "life", was a ...

, who frequently praised and quoted from Rabbi Shlomo in his magnum opus, ''Sdei Chemed''. His responsa have gained a position of prominence in halachic literature, and are frequently quoted. Rabbi Shlomo HaKohen was the editor of the

, where he pored through various manuscripts to verify and establish an accurate version of the Talmud without the mistakes so prevalent in previous editions of the Talmud. As a critical scholar, Rabbi Shlomo HaKohen researched the text of

Ketuvim The Ketuvim (; hbo, , Modern: ''Kəṯūvīm'', Tiberian: ''Kăṯūḇīm'' "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bi ...

based on various writings of the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( he , ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman'') known as the Vilna Gaon (Yiddish: דער װילנער גאון ''Der Vilner Gaon'', pl, Gaon z Wilna, lt, Vilniaus Gaonas) or Elijah of ...

. Rabbi Shlomo HaCohen was allegedly an enthusiastic supporter of the Mizrachi

Religious Zionism Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, Romanization of Hebrew, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religiou ...

movement. However, claims that Rabbi Shlomo honored

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...

by greeting him with a Torah scroll in hand and described him as the equivalent of the Jewish kings of the Biblical era are false. Rabbi Shlomo HaKohen was a great-grandfather of Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz.Sunset
,

Hanoch Teller Hanoch Teller (born 1956) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, lecturer, and producer who popularized the Jewish literary genre of true, contemporary stories to convey inspirational and ethical themes. Author of 28 books,Levin, Menucha Chana. "Boo ...

External links

* Responsa ''Binyan Shlomo''
Volume 1Volume 2

Responsa ''Atzei Broshim
(on

Yoreh Deah Yoreh De'ah ( he, יורה דעה) is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marriage, ...

)

References

Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis 1828 births 1905 deaths Rabbis from Vilnius 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis Authors of books on Jewish law {{Judaism-bio-stub