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28 LUBOML
Who will give proof to the many and remove the
barriers in the way
Who will publish his books and bring them to the light
of day?
Put on sackcloth, mourn and eulogize him with tears
Cry long and bitterly, it will shriek in our ears.
Our weeping will be as rivers for years and years.'
This inscription takes up all four sides of the
tombstone. The end is not given here, and one
part in the middle has been scratched off.
The Gaon R. Yoel Sirkis-Yaffe (Bach)
The greatest rabbi Luboml ever had was R. Yoel
Sirkis, one of the most esteemed scholars and
pillars of Torah learning to grace the rabbinic
world during the last few hundred years, and
whose books still live today wherever there still
exist places where a true word of Torah can be
found.
The Gaon R. Yoel Sirkis, usually known by
the acronym of his most important work, Bayit
Chadash, the Bach, was born in Lublin in 1561.
His first post was in Pruszany and the second
in Lukov (Likeve).
He was already rabbi in Luboml in 1600.
From that year we already have two of his responsa
that he wrote to the Maharal of Prague about a
deserted wife."
After Luboml the Bach was av bet din in
Mezhbiezh, Belz, and Shidlov. Since he already
was serving in Mezhbiezh in 1605, we can assume
that he occupied Luboml's rabbinical chair for
four to five years.64
The Bach was not exclusively wrapped up in
the world of Torah. He showed great interest in
Jewish life in general, and he showed great organizational
ability. As soon as he came to Luboml,
he renewed the old regulation about not purchasing
houses from non-Jews within the Jewish areas
of settlement, a regulation that had been strengthened
previously (in 1577) by R. Avrom Pollack."
The reason Bach left Luboml is related in the
following anecdote:
There was a Jewish scholar who lived in the
town who was very modest. He sat day and night
studying Torah. No one knew the extent of his
learning, as he studied only for himself.
Once he came to the Bach, handed him a
manuscript, and said with great respect: "My
teacher, these are some of my explications of the
Talmud that I jotted down from time to time
while I studied. I would very much appreciate it
if the Rebbe could please look at them and give
his opinion about them."
The Bach took the manuscript. That evening
he looked at them for a few hours and was
astounded. He saw that this modest Jew, who had
never studied formally, was really a great scholar
and expert in the "sea of the Talmud," and that
his opinions were deep and had great authority.
The Bach did not sleep at all that night. "Such
a great Jew is right here in my town and I didn't
even know it." The next morning he called a
meeting of the leaders of Luboml and said:"
"Let it be known that you have here in Luboml
a great scholar who surpasses me in Talmud and
halacha, and therefore I see it as my duty to
relinquish my position as rabbi, since he is more
fit to serve in that position."
And that is how the Bach left Luboml and
became rabbi in Mezhbiezh.
From 1615 until 1618 he was the av bet din in
Brisk d'Lita (Brest-Litovsk). Why did he leave
such a metropolis so quickly?
We find the answer in a story that today
sounds very strange to us, but which is characteristic
for those times.
It is told that the day the Bach left Brisk, the
city notables accompanied him a considerable
distance from town. A number of times he said to
them, "Turn back," but they did not listen to him.
Then the Bach said to them, "There is a great deal
of difference between us. You are stubborn; I tell
you to turn back and you do not listen to me. Were
you to say to me, 'Please turn back' I would do so
right away."
This gives us a hint as to the reason why the
Bach had to leave Brisk: A few zealous baalebatim
came out against his staying in Brisk because of
his failure to continue studying late at night (they
saw no candle in his window after midnight)."
Incidentally, many rabbis were fired by their
communities for this reason .
These stories about one of the great scholars
sound very strange to us, but even if they are
legends they are characteristic of the demands