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Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzberg

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Aryeh Leib ben Asher Ginzburg[1][2] (Hebrew: אריה ליב גינסבורג) (known as the Sha'agat Aryeh or the Turai Even after his works; c. 1695 – June 23, 1785), was a Litvak rabbi, Talmudic commentator, and posek of the Acharonim period. He served as a rosh yeshiva in Lithuania and later as the Av Beit Din and rosh yeshiva in Metz, France. He is best known for his works Sha'agat Aryeh and Turai Even.

Rabbi
Aryeh Leib ben Asher Ginzburg
שאגת אריה‎
TitleChief Rabbi of Metz
Personal
Born
Aryeh Leib ben Asher Ginzburg

c. 1695
Minsk, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Died23 June 1785(1785-06-23) (aged 90)
Metz, Kingdom of France
ReligionJudaism
ChildrenRabbi Asher Leib
Parent
  • Rabbi Asher Ginzburg (father)
DenominationOrthodox Judaism
OccupationRabbi, Rosh Yeshiva
PositionRosh Yeshiva
YeshivaYeshiva of Metz
Began1765
Ended1785
OtherRabbi of Volozhin (1745–1765)
Yahrtzeit15 Tammuz 5545
BuriedJewish Cemetery, Metz
ResidenceMinsk, Volozhin, Metz

Biography

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Aryeh was born to Rabbi Asher, who served as the mara d'atra (rabbinic authority) of the city of Minsk. His grandfather was Rabbi Leib, known as "Baal HaTosafot" (Master of Tosafot).[3] Even in his youth, he was recognized as an illui (prodigy). When his father began serving as the rabbi of Minsk, he assisted him in communal matters and established a renowned yeshiva there, teaching with an emphasis on pilpul (analytical debate) and fine distinctions.[4]

Around the year 1745, he moved to Volozhin, where he founded a yeshiva for select students. From 1765 until the end of his life, he served as the rabbi, Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinic court), and rosh yeshiva in Metz (in northern France). It is said that the position of Metz’s rabbi was offered to him at the age of seventy. The townspeople were initially hesitant to accept such an elderly rabbi, but Rabbi Aryeh Leib assured them that he would serve for many years. Indeed, he passed away in Metz after approximately twenty years in this role, at the age of about ninety.[4]

Most of his life, Rabbi Aryeh Leib lived in poverty.[5]It is said that he completed the entire Talmud one thousand times. In Hasidic circles, this story is often cited either to encourage study or to compare it to more in-depth, slower learning approaches.[6] It is also told that whenever he encountered doubt in a particular halachic issue, he would mentally review the entire Talmud to find proofs for and against a resolution on the matter.[7]

Rabbi Aryeh Leib was particularly strict about the prohibition of Chadash (new grain) even outside of Eretz Yisrael. This meant he would not eat grain that took root after the sixteenth of Nisan until the sixteenth of Nisan (or the seventeenth outside of Israel) in the following year, as he elaborates in a special treatise printed at the end of his work Sha'agat Aryeh.[8] Practically speaking, most grain in Europe fell under this category, and many were lenient, but he maintained his strict stance. A well-known anecdote relates that during his years of poverty, he frequently engaged in "galut" (voluntary wandering). While traveling from city to city, he carried a sack of barley and his own pot, asking hosts to prepare his grain in his pot because he could not eat anything else due to his adherence to the prohibition of "chadash."[8]

Rabbi Aryeh Leib was a staunch opponent of the pilpul (analytical debate) method of study that was prevalent in his time. Similar to the approach of the Vilna Gaon (who came after him), he advocated for interpretation and halachic rulings based on the straightforward meaning of the sources. Nonetheless, during his tenure at the yeshiva in Minsk, he taught using the pilpul methodology and intricate distinctions, which led to a dispute with the city's rabbi, Rabbi Yechiel Heilprin, author of Seder HaDorot, who preferred a straightforward approach emphasizing clarity and knowledge. As a result of this conflict, either Heilprin’s supporters eventually drove Ginsburg from the city, or he chose to leave.[9] Legend has it that the Shaagas Aryeh was run out of the city on an oxen cart.[10] Due to the insult, as he left the city he remarked "What, Minsk isn't burning yet?" For years, fires that broke out were attributed by the Jews of Minsk to the curse of the Shaagas Aryeh.

Notably, he excluded pilpul-style debates from his written works, which he considered mere intellectual exercises, stating:[11]

"For the wind carries them away; they are vanity and chasing after the wind."

He studied the Talmud and earlier commentators (Rishonim) independently, without relying on the interpretations of later authorities (Acharonim). He is reported to have met the Vilna Gaon when the Gaon was a child.[12]

Rabbi Aryeh Leib was the teacher of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and Rabbi Simcha of Volozhin, and he was among the opponents of the Hasidic movement. He did not hesitate to challenge opposing views, even sharply, and was willing to issue lenient rulings in cases where he was convinced that the matter was permitted, even if everyone else followed a stricter approach.[13] The Hasidim regarded the Sha'agat Aryeh as "the definitive talmid hakham (great Torah scholar) of the generation." According to legend, the Besht sought out the Sha'agat Aryeh and "served him by putting on his shoes."[14]

Due to his assertive nature, Rabbi Aryeh Leib often encountered significant disagreements with the city leaders over his halachic rulings.[15]

Death

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The entrance to the new Jewish cemetery in Metz, where he was buried

Rabbi Aryeh Leib passed away at the age of 90, when his bookshelf collapsed on him.[16] His students were able to rescue him after an hour or so and he related to them that he had been covered by the books of the authors with whom he had quarreled. He had asked forgiveness from all of them and they all complied save for one, Mordecai Yoffe (known as the Levush) who refused. He knew therefore that he was not long for this world, and pronounced the verse in Hebrew "Aryeh shoag mi loi yiroh"; i.e. that Aryeh (the lion, meaning himself) shoag (roars), but mi (an acronym of Mordecai Yoffeh, but can also mean 'who') loi yiroh (is not afraid).[17] It is speculated that this story is the source of the urban myth surrounding the death of the French-Jewish composer Charles-Valentin Alkan, whose family originated from Metz.[18]

He died on either the 15th or 25th of Tammuz, 1785 (Hebrew year 5545), in the city of Metz, France, and was buried in the Jewish cemetery there.[19]

Works

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Gvurot Ari by the Shaagas Aryeh, Vilna 1862 , 1st ed.

Rabbi Aryeh Leib is best known for his sefer Sha'agat Aryeh, published in 1756 in Frankfurt an der Oder. This work is structured as a collection of halachic Questions and Answers (She'elot U'Teshuvot), though the questions discussed are not ones he was asked but rather halachic topics he investigated and presented in this format.[9]

The original edition of Sha'agat Aryeh contained numerous abbreviations, which made it challenging to study. Some suggest that he used abbreviations to save paper due to his poverty. The book primarily addresses questions related to the laws in the section of Orach Chaim in the Shulchan Aruch.

Parts of his works were later republished by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the "Chofetz Chaim").

Among his other works:

  • Turai Even – Novellae on three tractates: Rosh Hashanah, Chagigah, and Megillah.
  • Gevurot Ari – Novellae on three tractates: Ta'anit, Yoma, and Makkot (as well as some additional insights on Beitzah and Nazir).

Students

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  • His son, Rabbi Asher Leib, served as the Av Beit Din of Walderstein and Karlsruhe in Germany.
  • Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the foremost student of the Vilna Gaon, studied for a time in his yeshiva.
  • Rabbi Aharon Worms, rabbi and Av Beit Din in Metz, author of Me’orei Or.[20]
  • His nephew, Rabbi Raphael Ziskind, rabbi of the Ah"u congregations.

Further reading

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  • Y. M. Ta-Shma, "The Vilna Gaon and the Author of Sha'agat Aryeh, the Pnei Yehoshua, and the Book Tziyun LeNefesh Chayah: On the Development of New Trends in Rabbinic Literature before the Enlightenment," Sidra, vol. 15 (1999), pp. 181–191.
  • Binyamin Richler, "The Book Me’onot Arayot by Rabbi Asher, Father of the Sha'agat Aryeh: A 'Lost' Work Rediscovered," Yeshurun, vol. 31, pp. 67–68.

References

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  1. ^ It is commonly assumed that his surname was Ginzburg. However, the genealogical researcher Rabbi Dov Berish Weber demonstrates that this is a misunderstanding introduced due to a misinterpretation by David Magid in his book Toledot Mishpachat Ginzburg. See Rabbi Dov Berish Weber (2009). "Additional Notes on the History of the Metz Community". Jerushatenu (in Hebrew). Vol. 3. Bnei Brak: Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz. pp. 351–352..
  2. ^ נוספות לתולדות קהילת מיץ", ירושתנוג (תשס"ט), עמ' שנד–שנו.
  3. ^ This title referred to his sharpness and erudition in Torah study.
  4. ^ a b Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (August 1, 2022). "Journey to France: Metz - The Life of the Shaagas Aryeh, Rav Aryeh Leib Wallerstein". YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "Shaagas Aryeh". Chabad.org. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Shick, in his book Shichot Moharash, encourages students to aspire to this accomplishment. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh draws a comparison between Rabbi Aryeh Leib’s thousand completions and the Alter Rebbe’s sixteen.
  7. ^ See: Malchuty.org
  8. ^ a b "Shaagat Aryeh, Frankfurt am Oder, 1756 - First Edition". Winners Auctions. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  9. ^ a b YIVO: Gintsburg, Aryeh Leib ben Asher
  10. ^ "Research into the Life and Family of the Shagas Aryeh" (Hebrew)
  11. ^ Sarei HaMeah, vol. 1, ch. 6
  12. ^ "Shaagat Aryeh: Insights and Commentary". Sefaria. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Rabbi Dovid Katz. "The Shaagas Aryeh". Outorah. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  14. ^ "Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzburg". Daily Zohar. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "YIVO | Gintsburg, Aryeh Leib ben Asher".
  16. ^ Yerushalmi Hyman, Gvilim, Linman, 1942.
  17. ^ Eleff, Zev (2012), The Wages of Criticism in Jewish Review of Books, Winter 2012 no. 8, accessed 6 March 2013.
  18. ^ Conway, David (2012), Jewry in Music, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 230.
  19. ^   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Aryeh Loeb ben Asher". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  20. ^ Kol Beit Va’ad LaChachamim, Monroe, 2009.
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  • "Research into the Life and Family of the Shagas Aryeh" (Hebrew)
  • Shagas Aryeh Research Project - With a focus on Genealogy
  • Feuerwerker, David (1976), L’Émancipation des Juifs en France. De l’Ancien Régime à la fin du Second Empire. Albin Michel: Paris, ISBN 2-226-00316-9
  • Finkelman, Shimon (1986), Shaagas Aryeh. Illustrated by Yosef Dershowitz. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. 1986. ISBN 089906793X, ISBN 9780899067933.
  • Gelbein. Moshe (2004). Jewish parables: a mashal for every occasion. ArtScroll series. ArtScroll (Mesorah). Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. ISBN 9781578193172. See p. 158.
  • Himelstein, Shmuel (2003) Wisdom & wit: a sparkling treasury of Jewish anecdotes and advice.Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. ISBN 1578193869, ISBN 9781578193868. See p. 295.
  • Horowitz, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok (foreword) (2002), A Chassidic journey: the Polish Chassidic dynasties of Lublin, Lelov, Nikolsburg and Boston. Feldheim Publishers. 2002. 1583305688, ISBN 9781583305683. See p. 227.
  • Kolel 'Iyun ha-daf (Jerusalem). Insight to the daf. Jerusalem; Tashen. 2007. ISBN 9781583309094. See p. 18.
  • Yerushalmi, Shmuel. The Life and teachings of Rav Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzburg (1695-1785) [The Shaagas Aryeh]. In Hebrew. Vagshal.
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