Rabbi Yaakov Pollak of Lublin

Rabbi Yaakov ben Yosef Pollak (1460/1470-1541) was a Bohemian-Polish rabbi, founder of the "Polish" approach to the study of Talmud and halacha known as "Pilpul," who had a profound influence on the development of Talmudic study in Poland. Yahrzeit - 23 Sivan Resting place - Lublin, Poland   He was a student of Yaakov Margolioth of Nuremberg, and served in the Prague rabbinate together with his son, Isaac. He became well known after Rav Yehuda Minz spoke out against him in 1492 over a matter concerning divorce. Pollak's widowed mother-in-law, a wealthy and prominent woman who was even received at the Bohemian court, had married off her second daughter, still a minor, to the Talmudist David Zener. Regretting this step, she wanted to annul the marriage; but the husband refused to grant a divorce, and the mother, on Pollak's advice, sought to have the marriage dissolved through a declaration of refusal ("mi'un") by the wife, a procedure permitted under Talmudic law. However, Rav Menachem of Merseburg, a recognized authority, had ruled half a century earlier that a formal bill of divorce was also required in such a case, although his opinion was not upheld by the rabbis of the East. Therefore, when Pollak declared his daughter-in-law's marriage invalid, all the rabbis of Germany protested and even placed him under a ban until he would submit to Rav Menachem's ruling. Rav Yehuda Minz of Padua also ruled against Pollak, who was supported by only one rabbi, Meir Pfefferkorn, who was compelled by circumstances to endorse Rav Pollak's ruling. (Yehuda Minz, Responsa, No. 13; Grätz, "Gesch", 2nd ed., IX, 518.) Pollak had yet another bitter dispute with Minz's son, Abraham, over a legal ruling, in which, it is said, more than 100 rabbis took part. (Ibn Yaḥya, "Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah", ed. Amsterdam, p. 51a) After King Sigismund I came to the throne in 1506, many Jews left Bohemia and moved to Poland, establishing their own community in Krakow. Pollak followed them, serving as rabbi, and established a yeshiva for the study of Talmud, which had not previously received proper attention in Poland. The sophisticated method of Talmudic analysis that Pollak first encountered in Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Regensburg consisted mainly of the intellectual exercise of tracing relationships between things that were widely divergent or even contradictory, as well as posing questions and resolving them in unexpected ways. In 1495, Rav Pollak decided to move to Krakow to join his wife's relatives, the Fishel family, one of the most influential and wealthy families in the city. Pollak's mother-in-law, Rachel (Rashka), was a dominant figure: she served as financial agent to Queen Elizabeth of Habsburg, widow of King Casimir IV of Poland. Pollak soon joined the family business and dealt with the royal court and the city of Krakow. In 1503, he was appointed chief rabbi (Rav ha-Medina) of Poland (or possibly only of Lesser Poland) by King Alexander I. This was the highest office in the Jewish community of Poland, and he was the first to hold it. Pollak enjoyed great authority in Poland and was protected by the royal court. Pilpul (intricate discussion) Rav Yaakov Pollak introduced this method of study into the yeshivas he headed, first in Prague and then in Krakow. Pilpul was designed to sharpen the mind through questions, answers, and discussion. The rosh yeshiva would typically deliver a pilpul on a given topic in the Talmud, first delving deeply into Rashi and Tosafot, then raising a question, giving an answer, refuting that answer with another question, proposing a different solution, and so on. This method had both its merits and its drawbacks. Its merit was that students had to delve deeply into the subject they were studying, thereby "sharpening the intellect"; pilpul captivated the students, and they became "electrified" by their learning. Its drawback was that much time was spent on questions that were not really questions and answers that were not really answers. At the same time, mistakes could be made, and one could develop a sense of arrogance and self-satisfaction. For this reason, many great Torah scholars opposed the method of pilpul. Among its opponents were such giants as the world-renowned Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Ephraim Luntschitz, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe (Baal HaLevushim), the holy "Shelah HaKadosh," the "Maharsha," and others. A particularly strong opponent was Rabbi Chaim Betzalel, brother of the Maharal of Prague, who wrote in his book "Derech Chaim" ("The Way of Life") that the pilpul method caused more harm than good, that it was built on false foundations, and that it was a waste of time; in-depth study - yes, but pilpul over trivial matters - no. Neither Rav Pollak himself nor Rabbi Shalom Shachna, one of his most famous students, wrote a single book. The latter's son, Rabbi Yisrael Shachna, explained that they did not want to bind future generations with their rulings, and cited other rabbis who likewise refrained from committing their legal decisions to writing. Even though Rabbi Yaakov Pollak did not write a single book, he was nevertheless a celebrated figure. His greatest contribution was reviving the study of Torah in Poland. Thanks to him, Poland became one of the world's centers of Torah, which flourished for hundreds of years, until Hitler (may his name be blotted out) destroyed the Jewish population of Poland. In 1530, Pollak traveled to the Holy Land, and upon his return settled in Lublin, where he died on the same day as his opponent, Rav Avraham Minz. His most famous students were Rav Shalom Shachna of Lublin and Rabbi Meir of Padua (Maharam of Padua). May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael! https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/1013-Rabbi-Jacob-Pollak