The Enduring Legacy of the Shelah Hakadosh
Looking at the world around him, Harav Yeshaya Halevi Horowitz saw many Jews who were observant but weak in their yiras Shamayim and passion for Yiddishkeit. Now that he was moving to Eretz Yisrael, he felt it was the right time to compose what would become his legacy to Klal Yisrael: the Shnei Luchos Habris. The sefer was unique in its synthesis of Kabbalah, Mussar, and Halachah, and its influence was exceptional. Rav Yeshaya also beseeches Rabbanim to inspire and strengthen their kehillos with these ideas.
For centuries, Shnei Luchos Habris was one of the most studied texts in homes worldwide. The work has had and continues to profoundly impact Jewish life, and Rav Yeshaya is called by the acronym of this sefer, Shelah Hakadosh
.
The Shelah Hakadosh (1560-1630) was a descendant of the famous Horowitz family, one of the largest and most prominent Ashkenazi families in Europe. The Horowitz family were Leviim who took their name from the small town of Horovice (Horowitz) in Bohemia.
The Shelah’s son, Harav Sheftel Halevi Horowitz (1590-1660), who lived during and after the terrible destruction of Tach v’Tat (1648- 1649), provided a detailed yichus in his ethical will to his son, stating the following:
As is well known, the third destruction in the year 1648 caused massive loss of life. Also, it caused confusion about family identity. The Sages of that time tried to salvage the family lineages, but there was a limit to how much they could do, and there is reason to fear that in later times, people will claim to be part of a distinguished family or place a blemish in a holy seed. Therefore, it is essential for anyone who lives in such a time to write a clear pedigree and leave it for his children so that they may know precisely from whom they are descended. I, therefore, wish to tell you, my beloved young and wise son Yeshaya, that you are my son. I am the son of the Gaon and pious Rav Yeshaya, author of Shnei Luchos Habris, grandson of Rav Avrohom, son of Rav Sheftel, author of Emek Brachah; Rav Sheftel was the son of Rav Yeshaya, and he (Rav Yeshaya) was the son-in-law of the prince Akiva of Oben who is buried in the holy community of Prague near the grave of my mother. My mother, Chaya, was said in her time to have performed all the good deeds of the matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel, and Leah. She was the daughter of a Torah scholar, who was also a great philanthropist…all of them were of pure family lineage. I have written this not to boast of it, but just to say that you and my daughter should know who you and your ancestors are.
Rav Yeshayah Halevi Horowitz is assumed to have been born in Prague. His father, Rav Avraham, was a renowned Gaon and a talmid of the Rema, Harav Moshe Isserles.
At some point the family left Prague and moved to Cracow, Poland. There, the Shelah studied under Harav Shlomo Leibush of Lublin, whom he considered his primary Rebbi for the rest of his life. The Shelah also traveled to Lublin, where he studied under the Maharam of Lublin.
The Shelah married Chaya, the daughter of one of the leaders and baalei tzedakah of Vienna’s community.
Rav of Frankfurt, A Pogrom, And Return to Prague
The Shelah’s greatness was recognized early on, and while still a young Rav, he participated in the Vaad Arba HaAratzos (Council of the Four Lands) meetings with the greatest Rabbanim of his generation.
He served as a Rav in Dubno, Ostrow, Posen and Cracow. In 1606, he became the Rav in the renowned community of Frankfurt, where he established a yeshiva and taught many talmidim.
In 1614, the Jewish community of Frankfurt, along with the Shelah, were forced out of the city by a pogrom led by an antisemitic and influential thug, Vincent Fettmilch. Under Fettmilch’s influence, the Jews of Frankfurt were attacked, their stores and property looted, and the shul destroyed. The Jews were forced out of the ghetto into a cemetery and told to leave Frankfurt or face terrible consequences. They escaped to the nearby cities of Offenbach and Hanau.
When the emperor heard about this, he was furious, since the Jews were considered his property. He sent his soldiers to regain control of the city and arrest Fettmilch, and also bring the Jews back and restore their property. Fettmilch was captured, and his public execution took place on the 20 Adar, kept for years to come by Frankfurt Jews as “Purim Vincent.” Interestingly, the day before it was kept as a fast day, similar to Taanis Esther.
The Shelah, however, did not join the other Jews of Frankfurt in their return; instead, he relocated to his hometown of Prague. There he became the Chief Rabbi alongside Harav Efraim Luntschitz, the Kli Yakar. When the Kli Yakar passed away in 1619, the Shelah remained the city's Chief Rabbi.
Two Dreams: Moving to Eretz Yisrael And Writing Shnei Luchos Habris
The Shelah had a lifelong dream of living in Eretz Yisrael. After his wife passed away in 1620, he decided to realize his dream. In part to console his children, grandchildren, and talmidim, he began to write to Shnei Luchos Habris to give guidance from afar. Until this point, he had had minimal time to write; yet, when he saw that many Jews had become lax in their avodas Hashem, he decided it was of supreme importance to write this sefer to strengthen them.
The sefer is tremendously deep and was accepted and treasured by Klal Yisrael. In fact, for many years, Shnei Luchos Habris was more widely studied than even the sefarim of Shelah’s predecessor in Prague, the Maharal, since it contained more practical instructions.
His son, Rav Sheftel, Chief Rav of Posen, published the Shnei Luchos Habris in 1648 in Amsterdam after his father died. Fifty years later, in 1698, the Shnei Luchos Habris was reprinted in Amsterdam for a second time, with an exquisitely designed cover page by Harav Avraham ben Yaakov Hager. It had many haskamos, all of which referred to the Shelah as “HaKadosh,” and that appellation has remained attached to his name for all time. The sefer was in great demand and was learned by many.
Its goal was to inspire the masses in Yiddishkeit, and many of the sefer’s ideas were adopted by Chassidus when the Baal Shem Tov founded it. In fact, the Baal Shem Tov observed that he himself was born in the year of the second printing of the sefer (1698), “which was printed to enlighten the world with light of Torah and yiras Shamayim.”
Its message was so much a part of early Chassidus that the Baal HaTanya, Harav Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was described as a “Shelah Yid.” The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Harav Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, wrote that the Shelah was republished in 5458, which is the gematria of nachas (the last three numbers are nun plus ches plus saf — 458) and a sign that the sefer caused nachas in Shamayim.
On his way to Eretz Yisrael, the Shelah stopped in Germany, Italy, and other communities.
There are letters from the Shelah to his son describing his travels. In one letter he wrote, “A fast warship [pirates] gave chase to capture our ship, but the Almighty saved us again. He sent a strong wind that drove our sails at full speed ahead, causing trouble for the warship. At last, we reached the coast of Syria in good time before Yom Kippur.”
The Shelah also wrote to his son describing his travels through Damascus and on to Eretz Yisrael. He said that while in Damascus, he was asked if he would remain there and become the Chief Rabbi, and that messengers from Tzfas also came, asking if he would become the Rav of their city. Then another messenger arrived, this time from Yerushalayim, to plead with the Shelah to become their Rav. This messenger brought with him a lengthy, signed document that appointed the Shelah head of the Beis Din and Rosh Yeshivah of Yerushalayim.
The Shelah accepted the position in Yerushalayim and thanked and praised Hashem for “allowing [him] the privilege of spreading Torah learning in Eretz Yisrael and, especially, in the holy city of Yerushalayim, and bringing Jews closer to the service of Hashem with all their heart ....”
Taken Captive
The year the Shelah arrived in Yerushalayim was a Shemittah year. Because the previous year had been one of drought, people sought to be lenient in observing Shemittah. The Shelah paskened that they could not be lenient, but seeing the intense poverty, he founded a tzedakah campaign called YaChaTz, an acronym for the names of Yerushalayim, Chevron, and Tzfas. He dispatched messengers to cities in the Diaspora and to their Rabbanim to raise funds for Eretz Yisrael.
In addition to completing the Shnei Luchos Habris while in Eretz Yisrael, the Shelah wrote a siddur with a kabbalistic commentary. He called it Shaar Hashamayim because the word haShamayim equals the name Yeshayah (395) in gematria, and because he had arrived in Yerushalayim the week of Parashas Vayeitzei, which contains the words, “V’zeh shaar haShamayim.”
This siddur influenced the later Ashkenazi nusach and was printed by his great-grandson, Rav Avraham, in 1717, with the haskamos of the Bach, Tosfos Yom Tov, and others.
Regarding the siddur, the Bach wrote, “There is no doubt that whoever davens from this siddur, his tefillah will be accepted.” Some understood this promise to apply only to that specific edition of the siddur, and that edition continues to be much sought after.
During the early part of his stay in Yerushalayim, the city governor was Mahmoud Pasha, a fair ruler, and the Jews lived in relative peace. But in 1625, a wealthy Arab named Ibn Farouk bribed the governor in Damascus to appoint him ruler. Farouk was blind in one eye and an evil and cruel man. During the last Shabbos of the month of Teves, he entered Yerushalayim with 300 soldiers and began his reign of terror, persecuting the Jews and extorting all the money he could from them.
On Shabbos, 11 Elul, he sent soldiers into both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi shuls and arrested 15 Rabbanim, including the Shelah, demanding an enormous ransom for their release. The Rabbanim remained in prison until Rosh Hashanah, when they were released after tremendous efforts on their behalf and an enormous ransom. Afraid this could happen again, the Shelah and others left Yerushalayim and moved to Tzfas. He then moved on to Teveria, where he would stay until the end of his life.
Before his petirah at the age of 70, the Shelah directed that after he passed away, the following announcement should be made in the shuls and Batei Medrash of Teveria and Tzfas: “Let it be known that Rav Yeshayah Halevi Segal Horowitz has died, and he directed that no hespeidim should be said in his honor. [Instead], special prayers should be said during the shivah and on the yahrtzeit.”
The Shelah was niftar on 11 Nisan and is buried in Teveria, very close to the kevarim of Rabi Yochanan ben Zakkai and the Rambam.
Tefillas HaShelah
For many, the name of the Shelah is synonymous with his tefillah regarding one’s children, known as Tefillas HaShelah, which is printed in the Shnei Luchos Habris. The Shelah wrote that “my heart tells me” that Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan is an auspicious time to pray for the physical and spiritual welfare of one’s children and grandchildren, since Sivan was the month in which the Torah was given. The custom of saying Tefillas HaShelah, especially on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan, has become very widely accepted.
The Shelah’s Enduring Legacy
As mentioned, the Shelah exhorted Rabbanim to strengthen their kehillos in avodas Hashem. A fascinating story regarding Harav Yosef Shmuel of Cracow is brought down in the introductory biography of the sefer Be’er Yitzchak in its 1898 printing:
Rav Yosef Shmuel would take copious notes in the margins of his Gemara, listing all the other places in Shas where the subject is mentioned. His notes were gathered into a compilation known as the Masores HaShas, which is included in every Gemara today so that lomdim will have the references to learn the topic fully.
In addition to his own learning and his responsibilities as a Rav, Rav Yosef Shmuel taught many talmidim, creating the next generation of outstanding talmidei chachamim.
Not only that: The Chidah wrote a biography of Rav Yosef Shmuel where he said that he had learned all of Shas 42 times, fulfilling the passuk of “V’dibarta bam” — since the word “bam” equals forty-two. The Chidah also testifies that for 25 years, Rav Yosef Shmuel learned while standing and that all of his learning was lishmah!
Yet, when Rav Yosef Shmuel was niftar, and his talmidim returned from his levayah, they were astonished to see their Rebbi sitting in his seat, ready to learn. Trembling, they looked at each other, wondering how this could be.
Rav Yosef Shmuel spoke to them softly. “Do not be afraid,” he said. “I will soon go back to my eternal rest. I came down to let you know what has been happening with me in the Beis Din shel Maalah, up there in the World of Truth.
“When I arrived ... they called out loud, ‘Make way for Rav Yosef Shmuel’ and immediately my court case began. The verdict was that I should sit in Gan Eden next to the Shelah Hakadosh. But the Shelah protested that I could not be there. The Shelah explained, ‘I wrote the sefer Shnei Luchos Habris which is full of mussar, to teach all Jews ethics and the correct way to serve Hashem. Many are the tears that I shed while writing this sefer, begging Hashem that it should fulfill its purpose in arousing the hearts of those who learn it to better their ways.
‘However, Rav Yosef Shmuel here spread Torah to multitudes of people, learned all of Shas with his distinguished group of talmidei chachamim, yet not once did he teach them mussar or exhort them to better their avodas Hashem. How can he sit next to me here in Gan Eden?”
Rav Yosef Shmuel told his speechless talmidim that the Beis Din shel Maalah sat in judgment again. “They decided that my rightful place could not be taken away from me, yet they said the Shelah was correct in stating that I did not teach you mussar. The Beis Din shel Maalah paskened that I must correct this by coming down and directing my talmidim that from now on, before you begin your daily learning, you should study mussar and avodas Hashem. In doing so, you will enable me to rest in peace and enjoy my reward in Gan Eden.”
Shaken by this heavenly message, the talmidim immediately accepted his words and committed to studying the Shelah’s words of mussar every day before their shiur. With that, their Rebbi disappeared, returning to his seat in Gan Eden beside the Shelah Hakadosh.
This story is a remarkable depiction of the eternal legacy of the Shelah. Its message reminds us of the vital importance of positively influencing those around us in avodas Hashem through limud haTorah, being dikduk b’mitzvos, learning mussar, teaching mussar, and utilizing the power of prayer for our children, students, and friends with the enduring tefillah of Tefillas HaShelah.
Zechuso yagen aleinu.
Originally published in Hamodia: https://thinktorah.org/the-enduring-legacy-of-the-shelah-hakadosh/
Rabbi Menachem Levine is the CEO of JDBYYTT, the largest Jewish school in the Midwest. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Am Echad in San Jose, CA from 2007–2020. He is a popular speaker and has written for numerous publications. Rabbi Levine’s personal website is https://thinktorah.org
Hamodia version can be found at:
https://thinktorah.org/the-enduring-legacy-of-the-shelah-hakadosh/
I discuss the Shelah contributions to spreading Lurianic Kabbalah in the following lecture:
https://thinktorah.org/kabbalah-messianic-fervor-and-the-debacle-of-shabtai-tzvi/