HOROWITZ, MESHULLAM ISSACHAR BEN ARYEH LEIB HA-LEVI

HOROWITZ, MESHULLAM ISSACHAR BEN ARYEH LEIB HA-LEVI (1808–1888), Galician rabbi. Horowitz was born in Stanislav. Reluctant to enter the rabbinate, he was finally persuaded to do so by his father, and served as rabbi of Zabrze from 1827 to 1842, of Tysmenitsa from 1843 to 1845, and of Stanislav from 1845 until his death. He was an opponent of Ḥasidism, particularly of the "courts of the rabbis" which at that time began to intervene unduly in political matters. He stressed this point of view at a large rabbinical assembly in Lemberg in 1885. He refused to cooperate with the government in matters affecting the internal affairs of the communities, and when at that assembly it was proposed to formulate communal enactments in German he demanded that they be drawn up in Hebrew. Of his works the following may be mentioned: reponsa Bar Livai (2 pts., 1861–71): the first part contains casuistic discussions, while the second gives practical halakhic rulings. A third volume of Bar Livai (1910) on Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim and Yoreh De'ah, was published after his death. He also wrote Kelei Ḥemdah (1885), a commentary on the Pentateuch. Many of his works, including glosses on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, are still in manuscript. His rulings tended to be lenient. In his clarification of halakhic problems he relied only on the Talmud and on the early *posekim, eschewing the ingenious argumentation of later authorities.

Horowitz had five sons, Eleazar, Isaac, Saul, Jacob Yokel, and Joseph, all of whom were born in Zalozhtsy and became rabbis. eleazar (1831–1912) was rabbi of Mariampol, Galicia, from 1851 to 1856, and of Rohatyn from 1866 until his death. He was inclined to Ḥasidism. He was the author of: Devar Halakhah (1863), comprising 82 halakhic rulings, and of Ateret Zekenim (glosses to the Torah) which was published as an appendix to the Penei Aryeh (1876) of his grandfather, Aryeh Leib b. Eleazar Horowitz. isaac (1828–1899) was appointed rabbi of Ottynia in 1852, then of Zurawno, and in 1888 succeeded his father at Stanislav where he died. He was the author of the responsa Toledot Yiẓḥak (1866) and of Me'ah She'arim (1887) on talmudic topics. He avoided the current casuistic method of study which he regarded as a deviation from true Torah. He protested against "the distorted cleverness" of those following this method, whose aim is merely to show their superiority over their fellows and who study in order to raise difficulties and to get the better of their fellows. saul (1831–1912) was appointed rabbi of Ujscie Zielone in 1853, and of Tysmenitsa in 1883. He was the author of Besamim Rosh ha-Ḥadashot (1875), containing 62 responsa. His son, Ḥayyim aryeh, was rabbi of Cracow and the author of the responsa Ḥayyei Aryeh (1890). jacob yokel (1834–1915) served for a time as rabbi of Delatyn and later in Stanislav. At the outbreak of World War i he fled from the Russians to Stryj, where he died. He was the author of Avnei ha-Shoham (1880), studies in halakhah and of Shirat Dodim (1894), a commentary on the Song of Songs with a ḥasidic approach. His son joseph was appointed av bet din in Ujscie in 1882, where he served several years. He wrote a book about his father Alon Bakhut (1888). david ben eleazar, the son of Eleazar, was appointed rabbi of Koslov (1909) and later of Stanislavov, where he remained until his death. He was the author of Imrei David (1934), comprising 229 responsa on the four parts of the Shulḥan Arukh. In addition to his profound rabbinic scholarship he possessed an elegant Hebrew style which is reflected in the introduction to his work.

bibliography:

M. Berger, Ro'ei Yisrael, in: Meshullam Issachar Horowitz, Bar Livai, Mahadura Tinyana (1910) introd. (Meshullam, Issachar); Ḥ.D. Friedberg, Toledot Mishpaḥat Horowitz (1928²), 18 no. 30; Z. (H.) Horowitz, Kitvei ha-Ge'onim (1928), 91–96; idem, Toledot Mishpaḥat Horowitz (c. 1930), 4; idem, in: mgwj, 74 (1930), 15 no. 1; Gelber, in: Arim ve-Immahot be-Yisrael, 5 (1952), 26f., 74ff.; idem, in: Kehillat Rohatyn ve-ha-Sevivah (1962), 55; J. Horowitz, ibid, 74–91; Rubinstein, in: Hadorom, 5–6 (1958), 7–10 (on Meshullam and Issachar); J.L. Maimon (ed.), Arim ve-Immahot be-Yisrael, 5 (1952), 93–97.

[Yehoshua Horowitz]