1 Iyar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yaakov Beirav - Mahari Beirav
Rabbi Yaakov bar Moshe Beirav (Mahari Beirav) - rabbi of Tzfat, one of the spiritual leaders of the Jews of the Land of Israel, Egypt and Syria, and teacher of Rabbi Yosef Karo.
Yahrzeit - 1 Iyar
Burial place - Cave of the Sages of Tzfat
He was born in Toledo, Spain. He studied Torah under the head of the Toledo yeshiva, Rabbi Yitzchak Abuhav.
When the Jews were expelled from Spain, Rabbi Yaakov Beirav fled to Portugal, and then to Morocco - at the age of 18 he became the rabbi of the city of Fez, an ancient center of Torah. He later moved to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and became a member of the city's rabbinical court.
In 1524, Rabbi Beirav settled in the Land of Israel, in the city of Tzfat, located in the mountains of Upper Galilee.
In 1538, Rabbi Beirav proposed to renew the transmission of smicha (rabbinic ordination), which had been interrupted more than a thousand years earlier.
Smicha had been passed down from teacher to student, beginning with Moshe Rabbeinu, who received the Torah at Mount Sinai. Soon after the Romans crushed the Bar Kochba revolt and executed Rabbi Akiva, the chain of ordination was forcibly broken. However, the great halachic authority the Rambam held that "if the sages of the Land of Israel unite and ordain a group of judges, granting them smicha, these judges will be able ... to pass the smicha further" (Laws of the Sanhedrin 4:11) - and the chain would be renewed.
So Rabbi Beirav turned to this idea, seeking to help the anusim - Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. Many of them, having fled Spain and Portugal, longed to return to their Jewish roots.
His idea was supported by two outstanding halachic authorities of Tzfat - Rabbi Yosef Karo, compiler of the code Shulchan Aruch, and Rabbi Moshe of Trani - the Mabit. Gathering together, all the sages of Tzfat ordained their leader, Rabbi Beirav, granting him the first smicha, so that a new chain could extend from him.
They then sent messengers to the rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib - the Ralbach, asking him to support the new initiative and accept smicha from Rabbi Beirav. However, the Ralbach took an unyielding stance, denying the validity of such an ordination; he was supported by the chief rabbi of Egypt, Rabbi David Ibn Zimra - the Radbaz, and the implementation of Rabbi Beirav's idea was halted.
Deeply grieved by the failure of his undertaking, the Mahari Beirav wrote: "It is very bitter to me that I was not privileged to fulfill this mitzvah - to appoint worthy judges who could breathe new life into the people of Israel and return them to the Holy Land. And the good L-rd knows that all my intentions were only for the sake of Heaven, and not for my own glory."
Meanwhile, on the basis of a false denunciation, the Turkish authorities sentenced Rabbi Beirav to expulsion from the Holy Land. Since, according to Torah law, smicha can only be transmitted within the Land of Israel, he ordained his four closest associates: Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe of Trani, Rabbi Moshe Galante, and Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (the Ramak). Rabbi Karo later passed the smicha to Rabbi Moshe Alshich, who in turn passed it to his student, Rabbi Chaim Vital. Rabbi Beirav was exiled to Damascus, but later returned to Tzfat.
He passed away in Tzfat, on Shabbat night, the first of the month of Iyar, 5306 (1546).
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
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Grave: Yaakov Beirav (Mahari Beirav)