HaRav Shabty Ashkenazi HaCohen Katz, the "SHaCH"

• Eli Handel - The wives and children of this profile are NOT well merged, so it would seem that additional Shach trees should NOT be merged onto this one until someone who knows the genealogy of the Shach's family can sort out the situation.

On 27 Iyar 5769 I found nineteen Shach's on Geni, but I think that they should NOT all be merged into the big tree. For example, some people uploaded several separate GEDCOMs in different styles each one referring to the same people, and it seems better to leave those trees alone.

Shabbty ben Meir ha-Kohen - The Shach (Hebrew: שבתי כהן‎) (1622–1663?) was a noted 17th Century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as the Shakh, (Hebrew: ש"ך‎) which is an abbreviation of his most important work, Siftei Kohen (Hebrew: שפתי כהן‎) (literally Lips of the Priest), and his rulings were considered authoritative by later halakhists.

Biography

Shabbty ha-Kohen was born either in Amstibovo or in Vilna, Lithuania in 1623 and died at Holleschau, Moravia on the 1st of Adar, 1662. He first studied with his father and in 1633 he entered the yeshivah of Rabbi Joshua Höschel ben Joseph at Tykotzin, moving later to Cracow and Lublin, where he studied under Naphtali ben Isaac ha-Kohen.

Returning to Vilna, he married the daughter of the wealthy Shimon Wolf, a grandson of Moses Isserles, and shortly after was appointed to the Beit Din as one of the assistants of Moses ben Isaac Judah Lima, author of Chelkat Mechokek. In 1655, during fighting between Polish forces and the invading Swedish army in the Northern War, Shabbatai ha-Kohen fled Vilna with the entire Jewish community. After a short stay at Lublin he went to Prague and later to Dřešín in Moravia, from where he was called to the rabbinate of Holešov, where he remained until his death in 1662. While in Holešov, he gained the friendship of Magister Valentino Wiedreich of Leipzig. The Shakh′s grave in the Jewish cemetery of Holešov still exists and is visited by people from all over the world.

The "Shakh"

In Cracow in 1646, he published his magnum opus, the Siftei Kohen (Hebrew: שפתי כהן‎) or the Shakh, (Hebrew: ש"ך‎) a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah. This work was approved by the greatest Polish and Lithuanian scholars and since 1674 has been published in most editions of the Yoreh De'ah.

Shabty ha-Kohen was regarded by his contemporaries as more than usually learned. He frequently contested the decisions of his predecessors, and followed an entirely new path in the interpretation of the Talmudic law. He made light, too, of the decisions of his contemporaries, and thus drew on himself the enmity of some among them, including David ben Shmuel ha-Levi, author of Ture Zahav, and Aaron Shmuel Kaidanover, author of Birkhat ha-Zevach, who was the father-in-law of his brother Yonah Menachem Nachum ha-Kohen. Nevertheless, Sifsei/Siftei/Sifte Kohen, Shakh's commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, was considered by a majority of Talmudists as of the highest authority, and they applied his decisions to actual cases as the final word of the Law. As a logician he stood, perhaps, first among the Talmudic scholars of his age.

Other writings

In addition to his knowledge of the Talmudic law he was versed in the Kabbala, which he used in explaining various passages of the Bible. His mastery of Hebrew is evidenced by the selichot which he composed in commemoration of the Chmielnicki tragedies. In 1648 the communities of the Polish Kingdom were devastated by Chmielnicki, Shabbatai ha-Kohen portrayed the persecutions of the Jews in his Megillah Afah.

“On the same day 1,500 people were killed in the city of Human in Russia on the Sabbath. The nobles [Cossacks] with whom the wicked mob had again made an alliance chased all the Jews from the city into the fields and vineyards where the villains surrounded them in a circle, stripped them to their skin and ordered them to lie on the ground. The villains spoke to the Jews with friendly and consoling words: 'Why do you want to be killed, strangled and slaughtered like an offering to your God Who poured out His anger upon you without mercy? Would it not be safer for you to worship our gods, our images and crosses and we would form one people which would unite together.' "But the holy and faithful people who so often allowed themselves to be murdered for the sake of the Lord, raised their voices together to the Almighty in Heaven and cried: 'Hear o Israel the Lord our God, the Holy One and the King of the Universe, we have been murdered for Thy sake so often already. O Lord God of Israel let us remain faithful to Thee.' Afterward they recited the confession of sins and said: 'We are guilty and thus recognize the Divine judgement.' Now the villains turned upon them and there was not one of them who did not fall victim.”

Shakh Synagogue

A Synagogue in Holešov is called Shakh Synagogue after Shabbatai ha-Kohen. It was built in the late 16th century, after the former synagogue had burned down in 1560. In the early 17th century the synagogue was enlarged with a sidehall and a women's gallery. Between 1725 and 1737 the interior was designed in a baroque decoration in the so called “Polish style”. The synagogue is an isolated plain building. It has a rectangular ground plan. In the eastern side of the main hall is the Aron ha-Kodesh - built in the baroque altar style. In the centre of the hall is the Almemor, built as an octagonal platform with a metal railing. Some parts of the walls and the vault are decorated with ornamental paintings with herbal and faunal motifs and Hebrew texts. The sidehall is separated from the main hall by two arcades. On the first floor there is the women's gallery, decorated with liturgical texts, and the second floor was used as a school. Today, the synagogue is a Museum; both floors house the exhibition “The Jews in Moravia”.

כתר כהונה - תולדות משפחת שבתי כהן

Shabbty wrote the following works:

• "Seliḥot" for the 20th of Siwan, in memory of those killed during the tragedy of 1648 (Amsterdam, 1651);
• "Sifte Kohen," on Shulḥan 'Aruk. Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ (Amsterdam, 1667);
• "Ha-Aruk," a commentary on the Yoreh De'ah (Berlin, 1667);
• "Neḳuddot ha-Kesef." criticism of the "Ṭure Zahab" of R. David ha-Levi of Lemberg (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1677); *"Teḳafo Kohen," general laws concerning "teku," etc. (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1677);
• "Geburat Anashim," on section 154 of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer (Dessau, 1697);
• "Po'el Ẓedeḳ," an arrangement of the 613 commandments of Maimonides (Jessnitz, 1720);
• a discourse upon the passage "Kammah Ma'alot"in the Haggadah (Presburg, 1840;
• abbreviation of "Kerem Shelomoh").

Jewish Encyclopedia S: SHABBETHAI B. MEÏR HA-KOHEN (SHaK)

Jewish Dynasties

http://hebrewbooks.org/24220

http://hebrewbooks.org/19138

This is per Jacob Zev Cohano's document on the Barol Family History and the exact link has not yet been found:

Shabbty ben Meir ha-Kohen (1621-1662) was a noted 17th Century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as Shakh, which is an abbreviation of his most important work, Siftei ha-kohen (literally Lips of the Priest), and his rulings were considered authoritative by later halakhists.

He was born in Vilna in 1621 and died at Holleschau on the 1st of Adar (Rishon), 1662. In 1633 he entered the yeshivah of R. Yehoshua Heschel b. Yosef at Tykotzin, studying later at Cracow and Lublin and becoming a pupil of R. Heschel b. Yaakov of Cracow (the "Rebbe Reb Heschel"). Returning to Vilna, he married the daughter of R. Shimon Wolf b. Isaac Benimus, and shortly after was appointed one of the assistants of R. Moshe Lima b. Isaac, author of Chelkat Mechokek. In 1646 he went to Cracow, and in the following year published his Sifte Kohen, or Shakh, commentary on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah, a work that was approved by eighteen of the greatest scholars of that generation. In 1648 the communities of Russian Poland were devastated by Chmielnicki, Shabbetai ha-Kohen being among the sufferers. About this time he published his Megillah Afah. After a short stay at Prague, where he had sought refuge from the Cossack uprising, he was called to the rabbinate of Dresin, and later to that of Holleschau, where he gained the intimate friendship of Magister Valentini Vidrich of Leipzig.

Shabbty ha-Kohen was regarded by his contemporaries as more than usually learned. He frequently contested the decisions of his predecessors, and followed an entirely new path in the interpretation of the Talmudic law. He made light, too, of the decisions of his contemporaries, and thus drew on himself the enmity of some among them, including David b. Shmuel ha-Levi, author of Ture Zahav, and Aaron Shmuel Kaidanover, author of Birkhat ha-Zevach, who was the father-in-law of his brother Yonah Menachem Nachum ha-Kohen. Nevertheless, Sifsei/Siftei/Sifte Kohen, Shakh's commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, is considered by a majority of contemporary scholars as of the highest authority, and they applied his decisions to actual cases as the final word of the Law. In addition to his knowledge of the Talmudic law he was versed in the Kabbala, which he used in explaining various passages of the Bible. His mastery of Hebrew is evidenced by the selichot which he composed in commemoration of the Chmielnicki tragedies. As a logician he stood, perhaps, first among the Talmudic scholars of his age.

Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/shabbatai-ha-kohen

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Aside from his duties as a member of the Beth Din, Rabbi Shabse was able to devote all his time to the study of the Torah and the service of the Almighty, as he was well provided for. Day and night he spent in study and prayer, and writing his commentaries on his studies. During this period he compiled his gigantic work Sifsei Cohen, popularly known by its Hebrew initials "ShaCh," which are also the initials of his name. It is a very scholarly commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreb Deab. He published this work at the early age of 24! Eighteen great Torah scholars of that day gave their approval to this great work, and all of them were full of praise for this brilliant work of the young genius.

In the same year that Rabbi Shabse Cohen published his work, an elderly "Torah-giant" published a brilliant commentary on the same section of the Shulchan Aruch. He was the famous Rabbi David ben Shmuel HaLevi, and he named his work Turei Zohov ("TaZ"). Because of the latter's fame and age, the TaZ was more readily recognized and acclaimed, and it somewhat overshadowed the work of the younger author. However, it did not take long before the ShaCh came to be regarded just as highly as the TaZ. Although much younger in age, Rabbi Shabse found many points in the work of his older contemporary with which he disagreed. Whereupon he wrote his arguments (Hasogos) in a work which he called Nekudos HaKesef. It should be noted that he chose this title for his work, not only because it came from the same verse in Shir HaSbirim ( 1: 11 ) from where the older scholar drew the name of his work. More significantly, Rabbi Shabse showed thereby that he took a secondary place to that of the elder scholar. For, inasmuch as Turei Zohov means "rows of gold" and Nekudos HaKesef means "silver points," Rabbi Shabse, in his modesty, indicated that his Torah knowledge, in comparison to that of the elderly Gaon Rabbi David, was like silver compared to gold.

Rabbi Shabse then began to write a commentary on another section of the Shulchan Aruch, the Choshen Misbpot. But at this point, the terrible national calamity, known in Jewish history as "Gzeros TaCh vTaT" (the Massacres of the years 5408-5409) struck the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. In those years (1648-9) the Cossacks, under the leadership of Bogdan Chmelnicki, revolted against Poland and put to the sword and flame countless Jewish communities. Untold thousands of Jews (some historians estimate as many as 300,000) were butchered by the Cossacks during their bloody march through the Ukraine, Volhynia, Podolia, Poland proper and Lithuania. Although the revolt of the Cossacks was temporarily halted by peace negotiations, the Cossack attacks continued for more than ten years with undiminished savagery. The great city of Vilna also fell into the hands of the fanatical -Cossacks. They ravaged the city and carried out a mass slaughter of the Jewish inhabitants, giving the Jews the choice of baptism (conversion to christianity) or death. A number of Jews managed to flee from Vilna and surrounding towns and villages. Among the Jews who had escaped was also Rabbi Shabse. It was on Thursday, the 24th of Tammuz, in the year 5415 (1655). Rabbi Shabse came to Lublin, but also here the bloodthirsty bands reached on the first day of Succos and massacred many Jews. The ShaCh once again managed to escape. He wandered a great deal until he finally arrived in Dresnitz, a town in Moravia, where he was appointed Rabbi. While there, he received a call to become the Rabbi of the Jewish community in Helishoi.

Rabbi Shabse recorded the terrible events of those days in a work entitled Megilo Offo ("Flying Scroll"), which is an important historical document.

Rabbi Shabse HaCohen also wrote Tokfo Cohen, Responsa, and other works.

This brilliant Talmudist, whose works display an extraordinary wide and deep knowledge of all the Talmud and Rabbinic literature, died at the young age of 41, on Rosh Chodesh Adar Rishon, in the year 5423 (1663).

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The Shakh Synagogue

This world-renowned unique synagogue, decorated in the so-called Polish Baroque style, is a relic of the eventful history of the Holešov Jewish community. The synagogue was named after the learned Rabbi Sabbatai ben Meir ha Kohen, also called Shakh, who lived in the 1600s. The rabbis remains were laid to rest in the Jewish cemetery in Holešov. The synagogue was built in the latter half of the 1500s on the site of an older wooden structure which went up in flames in 1560. The prayer hall on the ground floor features a beautifully wrought rostrum dating from the mid-1700s. The hall and the so-called womens gallery on the first floor feature murals with religious texts. In the past a Jewish school was situated on the second floor. Today the synagogue is home to a permanent exhibition entitled Jews and Moravia.

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The year is 1622. The Av Beis Din of Vilna, the beloved “Reb Meir,” and his rebbetzin are blessed with a son, whom they name Shabsi. Reb Meir serves as his main rebbe until Shabsi reaches the age of twelve, by which time he has mastered all of Shas. He continues his learning at the Yeshiva of the great Gaon Rabbi Yehoshua ben Alexander HaCohen Falk, a talmid of the Rama and the Maharshal, and author of the Pnei Yehoshua. At the age of 17, he travels to Cracow, Poland, where his rebbe has accepted a position as Rosh Yeshiva. He studies under his rebbe in Cracow for several years before returning to Vilna, where he is welcomed as one of the leading Talmudic authorities of his age.

In Vilna, R’ Shabsi marries the daughter of a prominent businessman and the granddaughter of the great Maharshal. Now financially secure, he settles down in comfort to concentrate on his learning, and although still in his early 20’s, he is soon chosen to join the famed Beis Din of Vilna. He splits his time between his duties with the beis din and his learning, and authors several seforim during the next few years.

This period of calm, though, is tragically interrupted by the horrific onslaught of the Cossacks beginning in 1648, which devastates the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, forcing R’ Shabsi to flee Vilna. He escapes to Lublin, but shortly thereafter, the Cossacks arrive as well, massacring thousands of Jews on the first day of Succos. R’ Shabsi manages to escape once again, and after wandering for several months, arrives in Dresnitz, Moravia, where he is immediately appointed as the Rabbi. It is at this time that he records the terrible events of “Tach V’Tat” in a work entitled Megilla Offo. He also composes selichos for the 20th day of Sivan, which has been proclaimed as an annual ta’anis in memory of the destruction of the Jewish community of Nernerov, where ten thousand Jews have been slaughtered by the savage Cossacks.

The seventeenth century was an extremely difficult period for our nation. Revolts, plagues and upheaval gripped Europe, causing maddening destruction and misery. An estimated 200,000 - 300,000 Jews were killed throughout Eastern Europe and thousands more were left to roam, homeless and destitute. The future of European Jewry appeared bleak. However, as has so often been the case in Jewish history, Hashem mercifully allowed the floods of destruction to fertilize the seeds of salvation; R’ Shabsi Kohen’s multiple escapes and forced flight enabled his seforim to survive and proliferate, increasing his renown among Ashkenazic Jewry. His commentaries were published and widely disseminated throughout Europe and his perush “Sifsei Kohen,” became indispensable, appearing opposite the commentary of the Taz on every page of Yoreh De’ah and Choshen Mishpat, thereby making its way into virtually every Torah household.

http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=10126

Schah's (Old) synagogue is one of the most precious memorials of its kind in the Czech Republic. It was built after 1560, after the original synagogue had burnt down. In 1615 the synagogue was enlarged with its sidehall and the women's gallery being added. Between 1725 and 1737 the interior was designed in a unifying baroque decoration in a so called Polish style.

The synagogue is an isolated plain building. It is a one-floor building in the main hall and a four floor building in its southern part (the sidehall, the women's gallery and the school room). It has a rectangular ground plan. In the eastern side of the main hall there is a sanctuary-a case for tora (aron ha-kodesh) - built in the baroque altar style.

In the centre of the hall there is an octagonal platform (almemor) with metal railing. Some parts of the walls and the vault are decorated with ornamental paintings with herbal and faunal motifs and Hebrew texts. The sidehall is separated from the main hall by two arcades.

On the first floor there is the women's gallery, the halls of which are decorated with liturgical texts, and the second floor was used as a school. Both floors house the exhibition "The Jews in Moravia".

The Old Synagogue is open to the public. In 1893 the Jews built a "New synagogue", but it was burnt down by the Nazis in 1941.

Information: Synagogue, Příční Str.; tel. (+42) 573 397 822, 603 796 411; http://www.mks.holesov.cz, http://www.olam.cz

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Rabbi Shabse HaCohen was born in Vilna, in the year 5382 (1622). His father Rabbi Meir was Av Beth-Din (Head of the Jewish Court). In Vilna Shabti became the son-in-law of a famous scholar who was also a prominent businessman, Rabbi Benjamin Wolf Tauber, who was a son-in-law of the famed Maharshal and a grandson of the equally famous Rema.

Rabbi Benjamin Wolf supported his illustrious son-in-law with great honor. In spite of his young age, he was soon chosen as a member of the Beth Din of Vilna.

• Dutch Jewry Website

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Was the ancestor of Avraham Shabtay Ebber Englander, Hacohen

רבי שבתי כהן, הש"ך, רב ופוסק הלכה. נולד: שפ"ב, נפטר: תכ"ג, 1621 - 1662

נולד בעיירה אמסטיביו בפולין, שם שימש אביו, רבי מאיר הכהן, ברבנות. למד בקז'ימייז' בישיבה של ר' יהושע חריף בעל "מגיני שלמה". כן למד בישיבה של ר' נתן נטע שפירא בעל "מגלה עמוקות". רוב ימיו חי בליטא. אביו רבי מאיר היה תלמיד חכם ידוע, ורבי שבתי למד תורה אצלו ואצל גדולי תורה נוספים (כדוגמת רבי העשיל), וכבר בילדותו נודע כעילוי מופלג, נשא לאשה את בתו של אחד מעשירי וילנה שמעון וולף, שהיה נכדו של הרמ"א, וישב בווילנא כשהוא סמוך על שולחן חותנו.

כבר בצעירותו נחשב לאחד מגדולי הפוסקים, ולמרות גילו הצעיר מונה לחבר ביה"ד של וילנא (אצל ר' משה לימא בעל החלקת מחוקק). בתקופת הגזירות שהחלה בעת המלחמה בין פולין לרוסיה, בעת כיבוש ווילנא בידי הרוסים בשנת 1655 גלה מווילנא ונדד ממקום למקום, עד שהגיע לעיר הלישוי שבצ'כיה, שם נתקבל לרב, אך נפטר לאחר זמן קצר. על שמו, שבתי ולא שבתאי, ראו שבתי (שם פרטי).

שפתי כהן על השולחן ערוך

רבי שבתי הספיק לכתוב ספרים רבים וחשובים, המפורסם בהם הוא הספר 'שפתי כהן' (בקיצור ש"ך, ועל שמו כונה הש"ך) על שולחן ערוך יורה דעה וחושן משפט, שרבי שבתי פרסם בקרקא בשנת ת"ו 1646, בהיותו בן 24.

באותה שנה יצא לאור בלובלין גם הספר 'טורי זהב' על חלק "יורה דעה" מאת ר' דוד הלוי סגל (הט"ז), שהיה פוסק זקן ומפורסם שחלק על הש"ך בהרבה. הש"ך השיב עליו השגות בשם "נקודות הכסף", שעל חלקן השיב הט"ז ב"דף אחרון", ועל תשובות אלו ענה הש"ך בחריפות ב"קונטרס אחרון" (ה"דף" וה"קונטרס" נדפסו בסוף הכרך הראשון של חלק יו"ד, במהדורות הגדולות של השו"ע). כמו כן חיבר את הספר הלמדני "תקפו כהן" על "ספקות וחזקות" שנלמד הרבה בישיבות, ורבי יונתן אייבשיץ אף חיבר לו פירוש.

הש"ך היה לאחד מ"נושאי הכלים" (כינוי לפרשני השו"ע) העיקריים של שו"ע יורה דעה וחושן משפט, והם מודפסים בכל המהדורות.

כמו כן חיבר הש"ך את הספר "מגילה עיפה" (אמסטרדם 1651), שבו הוא מבכה את חורבן קהילות אירופה שהיה עד לו. בספר יש מידע היסטורי רב על התקופה. ש"ך גם כתב קינות על פרעות ת"ח ות"ט (אמסטרדם 1651), חלק מקינותיו נכנסו לספר הקינות, הנאמרות על ידי האשכנזים בט' באב.

למרות קביעת רבני ועד ארבע הארצות בשנת תמ"ג 1683 שיש לפסוק כט"ז כשהוא חולק על הש"ך, מקובל לפסוק ברוב המקרים כש"ך נגד הט"ז. וכן רוב רבני פולין נטו בהלכה אחר הש"ך, בעוד שבגרמניה התקבלו פסיקות הט"ז.

קיימת אגדה המספרת שאיבד את בתו התינוקת ביער כשברח מביתו בשנת 1655, שנה בה כבשו הרוסים את ווילנא, ומלך או שר מקומי מצא אותה, וגידל אותה כנסיכה ללא שתדע את מוצאה היהודי, ובאורח פלאי, החליטה להצטרף לעם היהודי, ומצאה את אביה שזיהה אותה כבתו.

שפתי כהן - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

סליחות - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

ארוך מש"ך עם מנחת אהרן - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

נקודות הכסף - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

תקפו כהן - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

גבורות אנשים - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

פועל צדק - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

דרוש יקר - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

אלה בני קטורה - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

מגילה עיפה - שבתי ב"ר מאיר הכהן - ש"ך

החל מעמוד 10

חיים דובעריש פרידעבערג, כתר כהונה, תולדות רבינו שבתי כהן, קורות אבותיו, תולדות בניו ונכדיו צאצאי מעיו.