Rabbi Meshulam Igra - Pressburg

Rabbi Meshulam ben Shimshon Igra - Chief Rabbi of Pressburg

Yahrzeit - 18 Tishrei Resting place - Pressburg, Bratislava

Rabbi Meshulam Igra was a sage from Tysmenytsia who later became the Chief Rabbi of Pressburg. Even the most outstanding sages could not fully grasp the extent of his greatness.

Rabbi Igra was a descendant of rabbis (the illustrious Rabbi Yehoshua Heshel, author of "Meginei Shlomo"), but his father, Reb Shimshon, was a simple landowner from the town of Buchach in eastern Galicia.

Even in the last generation, the elders of that town spoke of his righteousness and honesty.

The Chatam Sofer testified about him:

"His two hands were like two Torah scrolls; it was impossible to comprehend the grandeur of his erudition together with the speed of his intellect." (from "Derashot of the Chatam Sofer," volume 1)

Rabbi Meshulam Igra was a "misnaged" who opposed Chassidut. Nevertheless, one of the greatest Chassidic rabbis of his time, Rabbi Chaim of Chernovitz - author of "Be'er Mayim Chaim" and "Siduro Shel Shabbat" - describes him in his book "Sha'ar HaTefillah" ("Gate of Prayer") as "the ideal role model of his generation, a mighty leader of Israel, a true genius, a messenger of Torah, a light of purity for the world, a crown of glory for Israel."

Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov once visited the town of Buchach, where he saw the son of Rabbi Shimshon, then a four-year-old boy. The founder of Chassidut looked at the child's face and said to those gathered: "Look, and you will see: this child has a new soul, noble and exalted, the caliber of which has not been seen in this world for several generations."

In early childhood, at the age of eight, this child prodigy began compiling his Torah interpretations into a book, and by the age of nine he was well versed in all the commentaries on the Mishnah and Talmud.

At this point, his father was approached with a proposal that his dear son become engaged to the daughter of Reb Shmuel Bik, one of the officials and wealthy men of Brody.

At the request of the future bride's father, Rabbi Shimshon brought his son to Brody, to the city's main Beit Midrash. There, in the presence of all the learned scholars of Brody, the nine-year-old boy delivered a profound halachic discourse and held his own in a Torah debate with the local rabbi, the outstanding Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz (who later became Chief Rabbi of Hamburg).

As each of them presented and argued his position, it was the child who claimed victory over the elder. When Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz returned home, his young daughter came to greet him. He placed his hand on her head and blessed her, saying: "May it be G-d's will that you marry as great a man as this wonderful child who has just triumphed over me in halacha."

A Cup of Coffee

The head of the town's Jewish community, the well-known wealthy man Shmuel Bik, wished to betroth his daughter to young Meshulam Igra, promising the boy support for his entire life.

There was a custom in that place of inviting the groom to a meal at the bride's home.

So the head of the community did. At that time, coffee had only just come into fashion. It was still a very expensive product, and only the wealthy could afford the fragrant drink. The poor had never even heard of it.

And so, when the future Rabbi Meshulam, then still a 13-year-old boy, came to his bride's home, they decided to treat him first of all to the fragrant "novelty."

A cup of black coffee was brought to the table, and beside it a small jug of milk and a saucer of sugar were placed, so that the groom could take as much of each as he wished. The boy from a poor family had never seen coffee before in his life and, of course, had no idea how to handle everything that had been brought to him. After hesitating for a while, he decided that, as usual, he should turn to the Talmud with his doubts.

The Talmud states that eating precedes drinking - so he should eat the sugar first. And so he did.

Now he had to choose what to drink first: the milk or the unfamiliar black beverage.

The Talmud states that night precedes day. From this we learn that the black one should be given preference. The boy drank the black coffee, and only afterward the milk. However, black grounds still remained at the bottom of the cup: what was he to do with them?

Emboldened by his success, the groom did not deliberate for long: after all, why else would they have given him a little spoon?

He picked it up, scooped the black sediment out of the cup, and ate it.

The bride, sitting at the same table, patiently watched her groom. But when she saw him begin to eat the coffee grounds, she jumped up and fled to the kitchen. There she burst into loud tears and, through her sobs, told her mother that her groom had first eaten the sugar, then drunk the coffee and the milk separately, and was now finishing off the coffee grounds. At this, the bride's mother began to cry as well. Their father came running at the sound of their weeping, and it turned out that his daughter did not want such a groom for herself. The father said reproachfully:

"But he is like a Torah scroll!"

Sobbing, the daughter objected:

"A Torah scroll belongs in the Aron HaKodesh! One does not marry it!"

The father could not persuade his stubborn daughter, and the match fell through.

Seventeen years passed, and it happened that this wealthy man visited Breslau. He decided to also pay a visit to the famous Rabbi Yeshaya Pick. Arriving at the Rabbi's home, the wealthy man saw him pacing about the room in agitation, absorbed in reading a lengthy letter. Assuming that some misfortune must have occurred, he asked the rabbi whether he could help with advice or, at the very least, with money. Rabbi Yeshaya only shook his head and continued pacing before his guest, never taking his eyes off the strange letter. After sitting in silence for a while, the wealthy man again offered the Rabbi whatever help was within his power to give.

Realizing that his visitor would not leave him alone until he learned the cause of his distress, Rabbi Yeshaya sighed and said:

"Do you see this letter? It is from a student at a certain yeshiva. He writes about matters of such depth and poses questions of such complexity that I am forced to set aside all my other affairs entirely and immerse myself in the substance of the material in order to answer him properly. I am not acquainted with this young man. The letter is signed only with a name: Meshulam Igra. Perhaps you know who this genius is?"

Hearing the familiar name and the famous rabbi's admiration for Meshulam's wisdom, the wealthy man fell off the couch and fainted. Rabbi Yeshaya could not understand what had happened and was somewhat frightened. Cold water was quickly brought, and the honored visitor was revived. But when the rabbi asked him the reason for his fainting and heard the story of young Meshulam's failed match, he suddenly declared:

"If that is truly how it happened, you ought to faint again!"

Soon after, he married the daughter of Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz, the Rabbi of Brody. Thus the rabbi's blessing for this exceedingly wise and righteous man was fulfilled.

Rabbi Meshulam was as meticulous in his Torah study as he was great in his knowledge and thought, never ceasing for a moment to serve the community, at any time and in any place.

Even as he walked the path from his home to the Beit Midrash and back, he would murmur words of Torah, studying and formulating, discerning new interpretations; his lips would move as he recited whole pages of Gemara and Talmud, as well as the commentaries of the Rambam and other halachic authorities.

Once, as the rabbi was walking across the market square, completely absorbed in thinking through halachic questions, he was knocked down by a team of horses pulling a cart. The townspeople, who witnessed this dangerous, frightening incident, rushed to save the rabbi's life. As they pulled him out from under the wheels of the carriage, they heard him murmuring:

"And based on this, we must determine whether the approach of Rabbi Avraham ben David of Posquières is more appropriate than that of the Rambam."

In Tysmenytsia, Rabbi Meshulam found fertile ground for spreading Torah in Israel.

From the advanced yeshiva he founded in the town, dozens of Torah scholars went out to the people. Many of these scholars themselves became great luminaries of Judaism, such as:

Rabbi Mordechai Bennet of Nikolsburg, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Horowitz, father of the Ropshitz Chassidic dynasty, Rabbi Frankel-Teomim, and Rabbi Yaakov of Lissa, who called his rabbi, Rabbi Meshulam, "Rabbeinu Tam."

When the notable men of the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek) approached Rabbi Meshulam and offered him the position held by his father-in-law, Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz, he objected, saying: "I cannot, I am not worthy, and I have no right to sit in the place of the righteous sage Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz."

And when the community leaders insisted, declaring that they would consider it a great honor for him to take his father-in-law's place on this rabbinical court, Rabbi Meshulam sent them to his wife, the daughter of Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz, to learn her opinion. Naturally, the Rebbetzin readily agreed to move from tiny Tysmenytsia to these three major communities, especially to the great city of Hamburg, where her family lived. The emissaries of the Three Communities returned to Rabbi Meshulam, their faces beaming with joy, and reported: "Your wife has agreed. Now there remains no objection to the rabbi accepting our offer."

Rabbi Meshulam nodded and said: "My wife, may she be blessed with long life, is worthy of being the Rebbetzin of the Three Communities just as she is worthy of being the Rebbetzin of Tysmenytsia. But I, small and young as I am, know and acknowledge my own insignificant worth. For I am not even worthy to serve in the rabbinical hierarchy of the town of Tysmenytsia, which deserves better. How much less do I have the merit to serve as head of the rabbinical court of the Three Communities."

And so Rabbi Meshulam Igra remained at his post in Tysmenytsia for 27 years and could well have stayed there into his old age. However, at that time a royal decree was issued requiring all Jews to be conscripted into the army. The Jewish community of Tysmenytsia, like other communities in Galicia, was obligated to supply a certain number of recruits every year.

The leaders of Tysmenytsia tended to pass over the scholars for this obligation, preferring instead to send ignorant, uneducated youths in their place.

Rabbi Meshulam vehemently opposed this practice: he attacked the community leaders who upheld it, accusing them of being slave traders and being responsible for the shedding of innocent blood.

Rabbi Meshulam rose to publicly rebuke the community leaders: "There is no discrimination in the law. All of Israel, including Torah scholars, must obey the laws of the land and be subject to conscription. And if the government demands from us only a certain number of men, then we must cast lots among all the Jews eligible for military service. Whoever the lot falls upon, whoever he may be - even the greatest scholar of our generation - he must go and serve in the armed forces."

Rabbi Meshulam stood up and swore:

"Even if the lot should fall upon my only son, Yitzchak Elyahu (whose father testified that the sharpness of his son's mind surpassed his own, though Yitzchak died at a young age), I would personally hand him over for army service."

However, the words of their great rabbi were met with contempt by the community leaders, who refused to heed his message. Rabbi Meshulam therefore decided that the time had come to leave Tysmenytsia, and when he was offered the position of Chief Rabbi of Pressburg, he accepted.

It is told that when Rabbi Meshulam set out from Tysmenytsia for Pressburg, the notable men and officials of Pressburg organized welcoming delegations to greet the rabbi along the way. On the road, they stopped at an inn to eat and rest before the rabbi's arrival. There they enjoyed a delicious meal, all the while praising their new rabbi, his phenomenal knowledge, and his piety.

From time to time, one of them would step outside and scan the area for signs of the rabbi's arrival. "Why is the rabbi's carriage taking so long to get here? Why is he so late?"

Meanwhile, in that very same inn, a man and his wife sat inconspicuously eating stale bread. One of the prominent figures of Pressburg struck up a conversation with them and asked: "Where are you from?"

"From Tysmenytsia," the man replied.

"And where are you headed?"

"To Pressburg."

"What is your name?"

"Meshulam."

The questioner realized that this was indeed the new Chief Rabbi of Pressburg, Rabbi Meshulam Igra, who always fled from false honor and had no desire whatsoever to enter the city amid triumphant fanfare.

However, honor seeks out those who avoid it. When the notables of Pressburg learned that their rabbi was at the inn, they immediately seated him and his wife in a grand carriage and prepared a majestic entrance into the city.

In the city of Pressburg, Rabbi Meshulam Igra founded a great yeshiva, which trained a cadre of outstanding rabbis and educators who went forth to teach Torah and to be a light for the scattered people of Israel.

Rabbi Meshulam Igra became renowned as a sage among sages, a rabbi to the children of the Diaspora.

(Rabbi Y. L. Maimon; based on the book by Israel Spiegel, "Ask Your Father")