Baal HaLevushim

Rabbi Mordecai ben Avraham Yoffe (or Jaffe) (c. 1530, Prague - March 7, 1612, Posen)

(Hebrew: מרדכי בן אברהם יפה) was the author of Levush Malkhut, a ten-volume codification of religious laws that particularly stressed the customs of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

Although Rabbi Yoffe was a towering religious figure, his appointment generated a sharp controversy within the community because he was a relative of the Yehudichis.

In 1549, opponents of the appointment took their complaint to Queen Bona. She summoned both sides to a hearing, but because only one party appeared she transferred the arbitration of the dispute to rabbis from other communities.

In the wake of this case, the queen decided to formalize the election of rabbis and regulate their rights and obligations. A few years later, in 1553, she also formalized the status of the heads of the communities and stipulated procedures for appealing their decisions to the rabbis.

In time, Rabbi Yoffe came to be revered for his incisive wisdom. In addition to his religious occupations, he tended devotedly to the public's needs, finding the time to attend the fairs at Yaroslav and Lublin, where community leaders and rabbis from large communities met to discuss matters of general interest. These meetings were the forerunners of the Council of the Four Lands and the Council of Lithuania.

His father, Abraham b. Joseph, was a pupil of Abraham ben Abigdor. Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria were Jaffe's teachers in rabbinics, while Mattithiah b. Solomon Delacrut was his teacher in Cabala.

Jaffe studied also philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics. He was head of a yeshivah in Prague until 1561, when, by order of the emperor Ferdinand, the Jews were expelled from Bohemia.

Jaffe then went to Venice and studied astronomy (1561-71). In 1572 he was elected rabbi of Grodno; in 1588, rabbi of Lublin, where he became one of the leaders of the Council of Four Lands.

Later Jaffe accepted the rabbinate of Kremenetz. In 1592 he was called as rabbi to Prague; from 1599 until his death he occupied the position of chief rabbi of Posen.

Mordechai Joffe himself could count amongst his ancestors Rashi and before him Hillel, Elnathan (governor of Judea) and ultimately back to King David.

He has living descendents today who value his contribution to Judaism, seeing it as an acknowledgement that all Jews may observe in some form or another.

--------------------

Called Baal Hamalbushim

--------------------

http://www.judaicaplus.com/tzadikim/tz_viewer.cfm?page=yaffe.htm

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/מרדכי_יפה

1913-1996- Eger Family Association- pg. 3

1913-1990- Eger Family Association - אילן אא

-------------------- רבי מרדכי נולד בשנת ה'ר"ץ בפראג. אביו, רבי אברהם, היה רבה של בוהמיה כולה. למד תורה אצל רבי שלמה לוריא (מהרש"ל) ורבי משה איסרליש (הרמ"א) בלובלין ובקרקוב. לאחר נישואיו שב לפראג והקים בה ישיבה, אך בשנת 1561 גורשו היהודים מפראג ומבוהמיה כולה והוא עבר לאיטליה.

באיטליה התגורר רבי מרדכי למעלה מעשר שנים במנטובה ובונציה, והשתלם במתמטיקה, אסטרונומיה, פילוסופיה, ובמדעים נוספים. המסורת מספרת כי לימודי הקבלה אצל רבי מתתיהו דלקרט היו בשנות מגוריו באיטליה, וכי התגורר בביתו. באחד הימים ישב רבי מרדכי שקוע בלימודו בבית רבו ולא הבחין כי ילד קטן שניצב לידו בירך על המזון, ולא ענה "אמן" אחר ברכתו. רבו, שביקש להעמידו על חשיבות עניית "אמן", נידה אותו למשך חודש שלם.

בין השנים 1572-1578 שב רבי מרדכי לפולין, והתמנה לרבה של העיר הורודנה במקומו של רבי נתן שפירא שנפטר בשנת 1577. בהורודנה בנה רבי מרדכי בית כנסת מפואר. בעקבות מחלוקת בעיר עבר רבי מרדכי בשנת 1588 ללובלין, ובשנת 1590 לקרמניץ.

בשנת 1592 עזב המהר"ל את רבנות פראג, ורבי מרדכי מילא את מקומו. לאחר ששב המהר"ל לפראג בשנת 1599 התמנה רבי מרדכי לרבה של פוזנא שבפולין, בה כיהן עד יום מותו, ג' באדר ב' שע"ב (1612). -------------------- From EilatGordinLevitan website:

[The Harkavy family was a ] Russo-Jewish family. It originated, according to a tradition current in the family, with Mordecai Jaffe, author of the "Lebushim." The immediate ancestor was Joseph of Turetz (d. 1778), Turetz being a town near Nowogrudok, in the province of Minsk. The first member of the family to assume the name "Harkavy" was Gershon of Nowogrudok (d. 1824), son of Joseph of Turetz.

From the Jewish Encyclopedia:

Mordecai Jaffe:

Codifier of rabbinical law; born in Prague about 1530; died at Posen March 7, 1612. His father, Abraham b. Joseph, was a pupil of Abraham ben Abigdor. Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria were Mordecai Jaffe's teachers in rabbinics, while Mattithiah b. Solomon Delacrut was his teacher in Cabala. Jaffe studied also philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics. He was head of a yeshibah in Prague until 1561, when, by order of the emperor Ferdinand, the Jews were expelled from Bohemia. Jaffe then went to Venice and studied astronomy (1561-71). In 1572 he was elected rabbi of Grodno; in 1588, rabbi of Lublin, where he became one of the leaders of the Council of Four Lands. Later Jaffe accepted the rabbinate of Kremenetz. In 1592 he was called as rabbi to Prague; from 1599 until his death he occupied the position of chief rabbi of Posen.

The "Lebush."

The "Lebush" is the achievement with which Jaffe's name is principally associated, and he is best known as the "ba'al ha-Lebushim" ("the author of the 'Lebushim'"). It is a rabbinical code, arranged in the order adopted in the Ṭurim and the Shulḥan 'Aruk, and divided into five parts. The titles of the work and its various parts were derived by Mordecai, with allusion to his own name, from Esther viii. 15. The reason advanced by Jaffe for the compilation of the work was his desire to give a digest of the latest decisions and minhagim, mainly those of German and Polish authorities and including those of his teachers, in order to shorten the course in his yeshibah (introduction). The appearance of Joseph Caro's "Bet Yosef" appended to the Ṭurim was hailed with joy as a great event in rabbinical circles. Even Jaffe thought, at the time, that this work was final. The "Bet Yosef," however, was too scientific and voluminous for the general use of an ordinary rabbi. Jaffe was on the point of publishing his work, when Caro anticipated him with the Shulḥan 'Aruk, to which Isserles later added annotations and the minhagim prevailing in Germany, Poland, and Russia. The two extremes presented by the copiousness of the "Bet Yosef" and the brevity of the Shulḥan 'Aruk left many dissatisfied, and Jaffe accordingly continued his work on his own lines, avoiding both the exuberant, argumentative style and the too terse and legal manner of Caro. Another advantage possessed by the "Lebush" was that it included parts of the Ṭurim omitted by Caro, and the latest minhagim collected by Isaac Tyrnau. The "Lebush," while its author was alive, enjoyed great popularity; but after his death Caro's code gradually superseded it, not only in the Orient but also in Europe, for the reason that the rabbis were obliged to consult the "Bet Yosef" for the sources, while the layman was content with the shorter Shulḥan 'Aruk.

His Method.

Nevertheless, for scholars who study the spirit of the Law, the "Lebushim" are a valuable contribution to halakic literature. As Jaffe rightly observes, the Shulḥan 'Aruk is "a table well prepared with all kinds of refreshments, but it lacks the salt of reasoning." Jaffe seasoned his work with the "salt of reasoning" by giving logical explanations at the beginning of almost every section.

In treating ritual-legal matters from a cabalistic standpoint, Jaffe is an exception among the codifiers. Even Caro, in Safed, the seat of Cabala, refrained from infusing Cabala into his code. Jaffe's method was to a certain extent an innovation, and tended to draw together the Talmudists and cabalists, otherwise in danger of an open breach.

In his "Lebush Tekelet," § 36, Jaffe treats the form of the script alphabet cabalistically. In addition to the "holy and true science" of Cabala, Jaffe was well versed in the secular sciences of his time. In § 94, by means of a map, he indicated the site of Jerusalem, and directed the worshipers of his own country to face the Temple, to the east, "a degree southward." In §§ 427-428 (written in 1579) he gives a minute, scientific explanation of the calendar, with tables and illustrations. That he wasfamiliar with the Russian language is evident from his "Lebush Buẓ we-Argaman," § 129.

His "Lebush Ḥur," corresponding to Oraḥ Ḥayyim, part ii., begins with § 242, on "Sabbath rules." Jaffe quotes the Talmud freely and explains, "Whoever strictly observes the Sabbath, his worship of idols is forgiven," as follows: Sabbath is based on the belief in the creation of the world by the Almighty, in the deliverance from Egypt, and in the revelation of the Torah on Sinai. Therefore it is to be presumed that in one who strictly observes the Sabbath the worship of idols is merely a formality, an involuntary act due entirely to the pressure of circumstances. Perhaps Jaffe intended this for the Maranos.

(see image) Page from the First Edition of Mordecai Jaffe's "Lebushim," Lublin, 1590.(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

In his "Lebush 'Aṭeret," corresponding to YorehDe'ah, Jaffe follows the restrictions of his teacher Isserles, as opposed to Caro, his reason for doing so being "the lack of knowledge of physical science in our time." In a case in which the upper jaw of an animal has been removed (by accident or design), Caro is inclined to pronounce it kasher, but is reluctant to do so because Maimonides decided otherwise (§ 33). Jaffe, however, says that authoritative physicians concur in the rabbinical opinion that the absence of the upper jaw is certain to result in the death of the animal from tuberculosis, and that therefore it can not be slaughtered as kasher meat (ib.).

Liberal Interpretation.

Regarding wine of Gentiles, Jaffe, like Isserles, is somewhat lax. Caro prohibits "honey wine" (mead) made by a Mohammedan; Jaffe permits it (§§ 123-126). The principal reason for the existing prohibition is that wine is intoxicating and promotes companionship, causing an intimacy that is apt to lead to intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles. But at the present time, when business with the Gentile is generally opened with an introductory libation, it would be impossible to expand or enforce the rule. Besides, Jews are now socially too much separated from the Gentile to fear assimilation. Hence there is no necessity to expand the prohibition to include any other intoxicating beverage than wine, which was the original Gezerah; and this can not be permitted in the absence of an authoritative synod (ib.).

In regard to loans and interest, Jaffe considered a Karaite as an Israelite, and significantly said that "the Karaites are in a measure under duress, being wrongly brought up from infancy to discard the rabbinical traditions" (§ 159). He was very strict against usury, and would not allow any pretext or evasion, as the evil is contagious; "permit an opening of the size of a pinhole, and it will enlarge from day to day until it becomes as wide as the entrance of the Temple corridor" (§ 160). In the next paragraph he attacks an alleged ruling by Rashi to the effect that the prohibition against interest can be avoided by an intermediary between debtor and creditor. Caro, in "Bet Yosef," does not hesitate to say that an unscrupulous scribe inserted the ruling, and "hung himself on a tall tree" (that is, a recognized authority) by attributing it to Rashi. Jaffe is of the same opinion, and criticizes his teacher, Isserles, for adding this ruling to the Shulḥan 'Aruk; he can not comprehend how his "holy mouth" could have uttered such a thing, as there is not the slightest excuse or basis for the subterfuge, which makes the prohibition of usury a mockery and a laughing-stock in the eyes of the common people. He goes on to threaten: "If I ever get into power I will order the obliteration of that paragraph from the books" (ib.).

The "Lebush Buẓ we-Argaman," corresponding to Eben ha-'Ezer, contains rules, regulations, and forms for the writ of divorce. In connection with this appears an interesting alphabetical list of names, male and female, with their spellings, appended to § 129.

The "Lebush 'Ir Shushan," corresponding to Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, is devoted to civil laws. Speaking, in the first section, of judges and judgment, he says: "Judgment is one of the fundamental principles of creation; as the Mishnah says, 'The triple basis of the world is truth, judgment, and peace'" (Abot i. 18). The maxim "The law of the government is law" is fully treated in § 369, and defined democratically by the statement that "only that government is legitimate in which the king's seal of authority is voluntarily acknowledged by his subjects; otherwise he is not their king, but a robber gathering imposts by force, whose edicts have no legal value."

Jaffe's other works are: "Lebush Orah," a commentary on Rashi to the Pentateuch (Prague, 1603); "Lebush Simḥah," sermons (in manuscript); and "Lebush Or Yeḳarot," consisting of three independent treatises: (1) "Lebush Yeḳarah," on Recanati; (2) "Lebush Eder ha-Yeḳar," on the Jewish calendar, following Maimonides; (3) "Lebush Pinnat Yeḳarot," on Maimonides' "Moreh" (Lublin, 1594). He also annotated the Talmud, and his notes were first published at Vienna in 1830.

Jaffe's opinion was sought on many questions of law, and his responsa were highly valued.

Authority at Lublin Fair.

Lublin was one of the great fair-towns and commercial centers of Poland, and thousands of Jews from neighboring countries attended its fairs. Disputes growing out of their transactions there required adjudication by an authority of more than local standing, and Mordecai Jaffe, who had already established a reputation in Lithuania as rabbi of Grodno, was chosen as judge. The reputation he had won did much also to increase and extend his influence in the Council of Four Lands; and even after his return to Prague he was recognized as its principal leader (D. Gans, "Ẓemaḥ Dawid," p. 46a, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1692; see also Harkavy in Hebr. transl. by Rabinowitz of Grätz, "Gesch." vol. vii. ["Ḥadashim wegam Yeshanim," p. 18]).

His last responsum, referring to a conditional divorce, is printed in the collection of R. Meïr of Lublin (No. 125). Jaffe dictated this opinion from his death-bed two days before he died. In it he said: "I am now lying on my bed, subject to the judgment of the King of Kings, hoping that He will heal and cure me of my illness." His signature was so faint that he directed his secretaries to authenticate it (ib.).

Jaffe had five children, two sons and three daughters: Perez Jaffe (d. 1647; see D. Kaufmann in Nissenbaum's "Le-Ḳorot ha-Yehudim be-Lublin," Warsaw, 1899); Aryeh Löb; Walka, the wife of R. Samuel Wahl; Bella, the wife of Jehiel Michael ha-Levi-Epstein, son of Abraham Epstein, rabbi of Brest; and a third daughter, the wife of Benjamin Wolf Günzburg, rabbi of Mayence.

Bibliography: Graetz, Hist. iv. 645;

Perles, Gesch. der Juden in Posen, in Monatsschrift, xiii. 409-416;

Horodetzki, Rabbi Mordecai Jaffe, in Ha-Eshkol, iii. 69-90, iv. 191-193.H. R. J. D. E.

-------------------- http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%99_%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%94 ויקיפדיה

מרדכי יפה נולד בשנת ה'ר"ץ (1530) בפראג. אביו, אברהם יפה, היה רבה של בוהמיה כולה. מרדכי יפה למד תורה אצל הרב שלמה לוריא (מהרש"ל) ורבי משה איסרליש (הרמ"א) בלובלין ובקרקוב. לאחר נישואיו שב לפראג והקים בה ישיבה, אך בשנת 1561 גורשו היהודים מפראג ומבוהמיה כולה והוא עבר לאיטליה.

באיטליה התגורר רבי מרדכי למעלה מעשר שנים במנטובה ובונציה, והשתלם במתמטיקה, אסטרונומיה, פילוסופיה, ובמדעים נוספים. המסורת מספרת כי לימודי הקבלה אצל רבי מתתיהו דלקרט היו בשנות מגוריו באיטליה, וכי התגורר בביתו. באחד הימים ישב רבי מרדכי שקוע בלימודו בבית רבו ולא הבחין כי ילד קטן שניצב לידו בירך על המזון, ולא ענה "אמן" אחר ברכתו. רבו, שביקש להעמידו על חשיבות עניית "אמן", נידה אותו למשך חודש שלם.

בין השנים 1572-1578 שב רבי מרדכי לפולין, והתמנה לרבה של העיר הורודנה במקומו של רבי נתן שפירא שנפטר בשנת 1577. בהורודנה בנה רבי מרדכי בית כנסת מפואר. בעקבות מחלוקת בעיר עבר רבי מרדכי בשנת 1588 ללובלין, ובשנת 1590 לקרמניץ.

בשנת 1592 עזב המהר"ל את רבנות פראג, ורבי מרדכי מילא את מקומו. לאחר ששב המהר"ל לפראג בשנת 1599 התמנה רבי מרדכי לרבה של פוזנא שבפולין, בה כיהן עד יום מותו, ג' באדר ב' ה'שע"ב (1612).

מספריו ניכרת בקיאותו הרבה ושליטתו הרחבה. עסק בפרשנות המקרא, בהלכה, בדרשנות, בפילוסופיה, במדעים, ובקבלה.

יחסו ללימוד "חכמות חיצוניות" היה חיובי, והוא חלק בעניין זה בתקיפות על רבו הרמ"א ששלל לימוד זה וראה בו ביטול תורה.

רבו בקבלה היה רבי מתתיהו דלקרט, ודרכו כשיטת הקבלה הספרדית הקדם-לוריאנית.

בין תלמידיו נמנה רבי יששכר בר איילנבורג, מחבר ספר "באר שבע".

Yoffe Margulies AB"D Horodne,Lublin,Kremenitz,Prag and Posen

according yo Gary Binetter- born 1530 Mikulov,

wrote sefer "Baal Levushim" based on the pasuk from Megillat Esthe