Yoel Sirkis
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Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (
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 ...
: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his
magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
BAyit CHadash), was a prominent
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 ...
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 ...
and
halakhist ''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 commandm ...
, who lived in
central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
and held rabbinical positions in
Belz Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the adminis ...
, Brest-Litovsk and
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 ...
, and is considered to be one of the greatest
Talmudic 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 ...
scholars of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. He is known for his liberal rulings in his
responsum ''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 ...
in which he challenges the rabbinic status quo.


Biography

Born in
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in 1561, his father Samuel Sirkis was a rabbi in Lublin and his mother Sarah Jaffe was a member of the
Jaffe family The Jaffe family (Hebrew: יפה) is an Ashkenazi Jewish Rabbinic family originally from Dampierre, France. The family descends from the 12th century Tosafist, Elhanan Jaffe of Dampierre (died 1184). Members of the family have produced numero ...
, through her father
Moses Jaffe of Kraków Moses ben Eliezer Jaffe II of Kraków (Hebrew: משה בן אליעזר יפה השני מקראקוב; died 1520) was a 15th and 16th century Bohemian rabbi and scholar. He is also the maternal grandfather of Joel Sirkis. Born in Hořovice, Kin ...
, making
Mordecai Jaffe Mordecai ben Avraham Yoffe (or Jaffe or Joffe) ( 1530 – 7 March 1612; Hebrew: מרדכי בן אברהם יפה) was a Rabbi, Rosh yeshiva and posek. He is best known as author of ''Levush Malkhus'', a ten-volume codification of Jewish law tha ...
, the Bach's second cousin. At age fourteen he went to the
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 ...
of Naftali Zvi Hirsch Schor, a leading student of
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 ...
. After remaining there for some time he went to Brest-Litovsk, where he attended the
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 ...
of Rabbi Phoebus. While still in his youth, he was invited to the rabbinate of
Pruzhany Pruzhany ( be, Пружа́ны, ; russian: Пружаны, pl, Prużana, yi, פרוזשענע, Pruzhene) is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of the district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 18,500 people ...
. He later occupied the rabbinates of Lukow,
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
, Medzyboz,
Belz Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the adminis ...
, Szydlowka, and Brest-Litovsk, finally settling 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 ...
in 1619, where he married Bella, the daughter of Abraham of Lwow and was appointed
Av Bet 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, ...
of Kraków and head of the yeshivah. Many of his students became leading rabbis in Poland, the most famous being his son-in-law, David ben Samuel ha-Levi, as well as
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 aut ...
and
Menachem Mendel Krochmal Menahem Mendel ben Abraham Krochmal (c. 1600 – 1661) was a Moravian rabbi born in Kraków. His teacher in the Talmud was Joel Sirkes, author of ''Bayis Chadash''. Krochmal soon distinguished himself so highly that with the permission of his ma ...
. In 1631 he wrote his magnum opus, ''Bayit Ḥadash'' (lit "new house"), a critical and comprehensive commentary on the ''
Arba'ah Turim ''Arba'ah Turim'' ( he, אַרְבָּעָה טוּרִים), often called simply the ''Tur'', is an important Halakhic code composed by Yaakov ben Asher (Cologne, 1270 – Toledo, Spain c. 1340, also referred to as ''Ba'al Ha-Turim''). The f ...
'' of
Jacob ben Asher Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343), also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash (Rabbeinu Asher), was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim ("Master of the Columns"), after ...
, in which he traced each law to its Talmudic source and followed its subsequent development through successive generations of interpretation. His work received the approval of the greatest rabbinic scholars of his time, even those outside of Poland. The Bach was also an adherent of
Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
, yet he rejected kabbalistic practices that were contrary to the
halakhah ''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 commandm ...
. He was also critical of those who relied solely on the ''
Shulchan Aruch 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 ...
'' for
halachic ''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 commandm ...
decisions, rather than 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 ...
and the
Geonim ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders o ...
.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: * J. M. Zunz, '''Ir ha-Ẓedeḳ'', p. 62, Lemberg, 1874; * Güdemann, ''Quellenschriften zur Gesch. des Unterrichts'', p. 232, Berlin, 1891; * R. N. Rabbinoviez, ''He'arot we-Tiḳḳunim'', p. 9, Lyck, 1875; * B. Friedberg, ''Gesch. der Hebr. Typographie in Krakau'', p. 27, Cracow, 1900; * idem, ''Epitaphien von Grabsteinen des Israelitischen Friedhofes zu Krakau, Nebst Biographischen Skizzen'', p. 14, Drohobycz, 1897; * Ch. N. Dembitzer, ''Kelilat Yofi'', part ii., p. 18b, Cracow, 1893; * B. Katz, ''Le-Ḳorot ha-Yehudim'', Berlin, 1899.
The Bach's responsum provides a concise overview of the social and economic conditions of Polish Jewry, as well as the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in early 17th century Poland. One of his responsa, in particular, was censored by the Christian authorities because the work addresses the case of a Jew who was martyred for allegedly stealing a small statue of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. The Polish authorities also demanded the surrender of another Jew accused of receiving the stolen item from the martyr, and threatened to exterminate all the Jews of
Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
if they refused to surrender the individual. To this, the Bach suggests that the community was permitted to surrender the individual if he was proven to have taken the stolen statue from the martyr. The Bach also discusses cases of
apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
from
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, in which he states: “''It is common knowledge at present that the majority of apostates have converted solely out of their lust for robbery, promiscuity, and consuming forbidden foods in public.''” Both his responsum and the ''Bayit Ḥadash'' display the Bach's liberal attitude towards Judaism and his deprecation of undue religious stringency, one stating: “''He who wishes to be stringent, let him be stringent for himself only''.” The Bach allowed the acceptance of
emoluments Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in additio ...
and special privileges by rabbis in return for their services. He extended the permission to sell leavened food to a non-Jew before
Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
to include the sale of the room in which such food was found. He permitted the reading of secular, non-Hebrew books on the Sabbath and liberalized certain laws to allow for the greater enjoyment of the festivals. He allowed Jewish physicians to violate the Sabbath when treating non-Jewish patients. He permitted church melodies in the synagogue if they were universal in appeal. He excused people sensitive to colds or those lacking warm clothing from the obligation to dwell in booths during
Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
and permitted women to dress in men's clothing during extreme weather conditions when this type of attire was more comfortable. The descendants of the Bach served prominent and important rabbinic positions all over Poland and
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. His son-in-law was David HaLevi Segal, and among the Bach's descendants is the prominent Ukrainian rabbi
Betzalel HaLevi of Zhovkva Bezalel b. Judah ha-Levi Horowitz of Zolkiew also called Bezalel Zolkiewer was Polish Talmudist of the second half of the eighteenth century, chiefly known for his commentary on Pirkei Avoth entitled ''be-Shem Bezalel'' ( Frankfurt on the Oder, 178 ...
(1710-1802), who was the maternal grandfather of the Hasidic master,
Simcha Bunim of Peshischa Simcha Bunim Bonhardt of Peshischa (Yiddish: שמחה בונם בונהרט פון פשיסכע, ; – September 4, 1827) also known as the Rebbe Reb Bunim was the second Grand Rabbi of Peshischa ( Przysucha, Poland) as well as one of the key le ...
(1765-1827).


Works


Bayit Chadash
(בית חדש) - A commentary on the Arba'ah Turim of
Jacob ben Asher Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343), also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash (Rabbeinu Asher), was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim ("Master of the Columns"), after ...
.
Hagahot haBach
(הגהות הב"ח) - Suggestions for textual emendations in the Talmud,
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 ...
,
Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...
,
Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...
and
Rosh Rosh ( he, ראש, , link=no, "head" or "leader") may refer to: *Rosh (biblical figure), a minor Biblical figure, mentioned in the Book of Genesis and possibly a nation listed in Ezekiel *"The Rosh", Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (1250–1328) a prominent ...
.
Meshiv Nefesh
(משיב נפש) - A commentary on the
Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the ...
. *