Rabbi Elazar Rokeach, Ma'ase Roke'ach - ABD Rakow, Tarnow, Brody. Amsterdam

from at least 2 sources he was born in approximately 1685. as was written, born 1649 he would have been 86 years old when he became rabbi of amsterdam. also his english name didn't match his hebrew. now it does. see the discussion below. shlomo flam

• Chassidic Belz, Poland Ukraine video
• המעשה רוקח Hebrewbooks.org

For some reason Geni is showing "(HOROWITZ)" which is his wife's maiden name (of the של"ה family...) and I cannot get rid of that. I succeded , sept 4, 2011

The name Elazar and not Eliezer is confirmed by the prefix to the מעשה רוקח as follows

• True Story of "Teivil", HaRav Elazar's mother
• Elazar Rokeach in the Horowitz Family Tree

"Maaseh Rokeach", And Amsterdam: (Hebrew) read about the year he was born here:

http://toladot.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_25.html

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/אלעזר_רוקח_%28רב%29

Elazar Rokeach of Amsterdam Rabbi Elazar Rokeach, also known as Eleazar ben Samuel (c. 1665—1742), was the author of Maaseh Rokeach, and Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam. . . cont.

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%A8_%D7%A8%... The year was תצ"ה when he was appointed as ABD Amsterdam = 1734-35

. . . Rabbi Elazar Rokeach went from Brody to Holland to assume the chief rabbinic position in Amsterdam in 1735. . . cont.

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Moshe Flam, 11 Iyar 5773 - I cut out the English which had some inconsistencies. e.g. Passed on 10 Sivan which is definitely not shabbat Bereshit. Note that his burial place is not known. Also it is not known that he lived for more than a week in Eretz Israel once he reached it... Burial location IS NOT KNOWN but hypothesized... There is a tradition he was buried in Hebron and another that he was buried in Safed.

I saved the original text that was written here in English - in my Docs account, click the following to read it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eoj1UaWCF6KJXWj59WmIgpxhNeMsPTS...

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I'll make a short history including references and existing doubts soon. (Moshe Flam)

The image on the coin (shown in the picture) was the reason for a controversy started by Rabbi Yaakov Emdin, of which the Maaseh Rokeach was quite proud of. It ended with receiving a permit to hold this coin, and in fact the first time Jews were aloud to make images of the rabbis, something that was refracted from being done since antiquity, and allowed because the coin was not bulging out, but rather was stamped inward. The picture of "Rabbi Elozor of Brod," seems to be an image made according to this coin, and should be attributed, if I understand correctly, to the Maaseh Rokeach. I will check in "Men of Distinction" - where I think this image originated.

It is not clear when he reached Israel, when he passed away - there are two versions, although both are around סוכות time (one שבת בראשית the other claiming חול המועד) or where he is buried - one version claiming צפת - Safed, the other חברון - Hebron. Both places are being excavated, and every short while new and exciting discoveries are being made - so there is hope.

The Sefer Maaseh Rokeach was written for the purpose of connecting the oral Torah with the written torah, and to show that the oral torah and the Mishnah in particular have a holy status and deep secrets listed in its "letters" - gimatriyas and in depth understanding, just as the written Torah does.

The story with his brother and Shprintza - and Rabbi Elimelech of Lizansk - I'll interpret here.

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The Maaseh Rokeach and his history can all be found online in Hebrewbooks linked here.

http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Jewish_Dynasties From Wikipidia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Brody

"He moved from Brody to Amsterdam, Holland. The people of Brody tried unsuccessfully to stop Rabbi Elazar from moving on to Amsterdam, where he and was received with great honor both by Jewish leaders and by representatives of the Dutch government. An interesting legendary story had been told about rabbi Elazar of Brody by his descendent Rabbi Sholom Rokeach the Admor of Belz, that when Rabbi Elazar arrived in Holland, the country was suffering from a plague of worms. The entire country was facing a ruin in the threat of being devoured by the huge numbers of worms. The Dutch king heard about the newly arriving tzaddik of Brody, and asked him for prayer in order to remove this danger. Rabbi Elazar went to the fields to pray. After finishing his prayer, the entire Netherlands witnessed a wonder: the worms came out of the ground and fell fatally into the sea. As a "reward" for Rabbi Elazar's help, a special coin was issued. The commemorative coin was minted by the Dutch government for the occasion, bearing the Rabbi's face and two verses from Psalms. How much truth is in this story, we do not know, however the authority and influence of Brody Rabbi Elazar were undisputed. After leaving Brody he served for 5 years as head rabbi of Amsterdam. Later he immigrated to the Holy Land settling in Tsfat, where he died and was buried.

http://toladot.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_25.html

GEDCOM Note

Rokeach = druggist

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From An Eternal Light: Brody, in Memoriam. Chapter Two: Culture and Society: The Sages of the Brody Kloiz by I. I. Weissblum, p. 80, note 5:

The scholar Kabbalist our teacher Elazar Rokach, who was called also Margaliot from Krakow, son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Shmuel Shmelke Margaliot, ABD of the holy community of Elkish, son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Eliezer Margaliot ABD of the holy community of Lovmela (mentioned in the Responsa Beit Efraim section Orach Chaiymitem 23 and section Sha'arei Tshuva, item 551), son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Menachem Mendel Margaliot Stengen, ABD of the holy community of Przemyslany, son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Shmuel Margaliot ABD of the holy community of Pozen (mentioned in the book Vikuach Maiym Chaiym), son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Moshe Margaliot, leader in the community of Prague, son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Yitzhak Aizik Margaliot ABD if the holy community of Nuerenberg, author of Seder Gitin, son of the scholar Kabbalist our teacher Moshe Marmonda of the leaders of Livorno; the name of his wife was Margala and their sons called themselves Margaliot in her name (see details in the book Anaf Etz Avot, item 202 and following and from 134 and following - about the lives of the scholars of that lineage, described at length).
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From Majaro, Leon. The House of Rokach, translated by Simon Majaro. N. Devon, England, Majaro Publications, 2009, p. 12:

"It is difficult to establish with certainty the origin of the family. Dr. Nathan Michael Gelber, in his book on the Jews of Brody, Galicia, provides a Rokach family tree, which shows the most significant personality at the end of the 17th century in Brody to be Rabbi Eliezer Rokach who moved to Amsterdam and who, in 1740, decided to emigrate to Palestine. He settled down in Safad where he wrote a book called 'The Rokach Saga'."

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From Encyclopedia Judaica (2007):

ROKEAḤ or ROKAḤ (Landau), ELAZAR BEN SHMELKE (1665-1741), rabbi.

Rokaḥ was born in Cracow, and after serving as rabbi in Rakov (1705) and Tarnow (1709), he was appointed av bet din (c. 1714) and subsequently rabbi of Brody. The Jewish community of Brody flourished greatly during this period. It possessed a Klaus, which was composed of kabbalists and talmudic scholars, and during his period of office, the first group of adherents of *Israel Ba’al Shem Tov was established in Brody. At this time also a considerable number of scholars from Brody and the neighborhood, such as R. *Abraham Gershon of Kutow and R. *Pereẓ b. Moses, immigrated to Ereẓ Israel.

In 1735 Rokaḥ accepted a call to Amsterdam, despite the violent controversy which had raged there since the death of the previous incumbent, R. Abraham Judah of Halberstadt. Rokaḥ was very well received, and a medallion was even struck in his honor, which roused the antagonism of R. Jacob *Emden. This was not the only dispute which surrounded him, and as a result, in 1740 he decided to immigrate to Ereẓ Israel. He settled in Safed, where he became the head of the small Ashkenazi community, applying himself to their immediate needs to such an extent that they accorded him the title “the Nasi of Ereẓ Israel,” which was given to those who devoted themselves to the support of the yishuv in the country.

Rokaḥ was a determined and unwearying opponent of every sign of the Shabbatean heresy. While still in Brody, he violently attacked Moses Ḥayyim *Luzzatto, whom he accused of this heresy, and gave his approval to the banning of his works. In Safed he became so involved in a conflict with a group of Shabbateans there that he thought of emigrating from Ereẓ Israel, but he died suddenly exactly a year after his arrival here.

With his death the position of the Ashkenazi community deteriorated and they appealed for help to the *Council of Four Lands, mentioning the great help which Rokaḥ had obtained for them as a result of his contacts with Poland and Amsterdam.

Among Rokaḥ’s works are Ma’aseh Roke’aḥ on the composition of the Mishnah (Amsterdam, 1740) and on the Pentateuch (Lemberg, 1850), and Arba’ah Turei Even (Lemberg, 1789).

[Jacob Barnai]

ונפל מילתא בדעתי שמי ושם הקודש של אבי זצלה"ה הוא אלעזר בן שמואל עולה תשל"ז ועם הד' אותיות עולה במכוון לארץ הקדושה

תשלז =737 עם 4 האותיות 741

לארץ הקדושה =741

בן שמואל= 52+377=429

חסר 308 להשלים ל737

שהוא אלעזר ולא אליעזר

על שנת לידתו ראה בקישור הבא:

. . . לרגל מלאות מאתיים ושבעים שנה לפטירתו של רבי אלעזר מבראד אב"ד אמסטרדם, בעל המעשה רוקח

בשנת תצ"ה נבחר לרבנות הקהילה האשכנזית באמשטרדם במקומו של ר' אברהם ברלינר שנפטר בשנת ת"צ.