Rabbi David HaLevi Segal – the Taz

Rabbi David HaLevi bar Shmuel Segal - the Taz - a halachic authority, one of the spiritual leaders of his generation. Yahrzeit - 26 Shevat Resting place - Mistse Yevreyskoho Tsvyntaru Za Roddomom Na Rappaporta, Yakova Rappaporta Street, 12, Lviv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine.   Taz - an acronym for the name of his book "Turei Zahav" (Rows of Gold). Rabbi David HaLevi was born in Ludmir in Volhynia in 1586. Even at a young age he became famous for his sharp mind and depth of intellect. His reputation as a brilliant prodigy spread quickly. At age 7 he knew Bava Kama, Bava Metzia, and Bava Batra by heart. His brother, Rabbi Yitzchak HaLevi (author of the collection of responsa Teshuvot Maharai HaLevi (Responsa of R. Yitzchak HaLevi) - taught him Torah. When Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, author of "Beit Chadash" (Bach), who was then the Rav of Brisk in Lithuania, heard of his talent - he invited him to study at his renowned yeshiva. The Bach had a daughter named Rivka, a young, learned girl who knew Tanach inside and out. One day the Bach was with his students and told them that in the Rambam (Laws of the Torah Scroll: Chapter 7, Halacha 6) there is a hint that there is a word in the Torah made up of 11 letters - the longest word. The Bach asked his students where it appears in the Tanach. It happened that his daughter Rivka was in the room and heard the question. She jumped up and said: "In the Book of Esther there is an 11-letter word - וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִ֣ים - 've'ha'achashdarpanim' - (satraps). (Megillat Esther 9:3) The Bach, delighted by his daughter's erudition, said to her with a smile: "My daughter, you are as beautiful as the moon." His student, Rabbi David, replied: "If she is as beautiful as the moon, then it is time to sanctify the moon" (a play on words - the blessing over the New Moon and marriage are referred to by the same word). The Bach, who had long had his eye on Rabbi David, laughed at the joke and took him as a husband for his daughter Rivka. After the wedding, Rabbi David left his father-in-law's house and settled in Krakow. In 1618 he became the rabbi of the Potylych community, but since it was a small town with poor residents, he himself lived in great poverty. One day, when a book peddler brought a very valuable book to the town - the legal code "Agudah" (Union) - the Taz did not have enough money to buy it. This code, compiled in the 14th century by Rabbi Alexander Katz of Frankfurt am Main, had by Rabbi David's time been printed only once - in Krakow - and was therefore quite expensive. So Rabbi David asked the peddler to lend him the precious manuscript for one night. By dawn he had thoroughly studied the complex book, and in the morning he returned it, paying the peddler half its price - because he did not want to benefit from someone else's property for free. Rabbi David's students testified that wherever he quoted this book in his own writings, he did so from memory - in that single night, from one reading, he had memorized the "Agudah" code by heart. (Sarei HaMeah 3:1) A few years later he became the Rav of Poznan, where he lived for about 20 years. In 1644, Rabbi David returned to Volhynia and took up the post of Rabbi of the city of Ostrog. There he founded a large yeshiva, and numerous students flocked to him from all corners of the country. In Ostrog he wrote his great work "Turei Zahav" (Taz) on the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah. As soon as it was published, it spread immediately through all the yeshivas and was recognized as authoritative, bringing him universal recognition in the field of Halacha. The Taz is still studied to this day in all yeshivas and study halls. All yeshiva students who wish to receive semicha as a Rav must know the Taz's commentary on the Shulchan Aruch. At that time a great catastrophe befell all the Jews of Poland. In 1648 the Cossacks and their cruel leader Khmelnytsky rose up against the Polish nobility. The first thing they did was massacre Jewish settlements. When the murderers approached Ostrog, Rabbi David and all the Jews fled toward the fortress of Olyka and barricaded themselves behind its high walls. Since the city had been under siege for a long time, and the enemy had already begun breaking through its walls, all the residents gathered together, led by Rabbi David, in the synagogue to pray and offer supplications. Rabbi David prayed so intensely that he eventually lost consciousness from exhaustion and fell asleep. In his sleep he heard the following verse being read before him: "I will defend this city, to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David" (2 Kings 19:34). Rabbi David awoke and said: "People of G-d, strengthen yourselves in prayer and supplication, for today G-d will show us wonders." And so the miracle happened. Suddenly the old cannons inside the fortress, which until then had been completely out of order, began firing cannonballs into the enemy camp, striking them with terror and forcing them to flee. Because of the troubles caused by the war, Rabbi David was forced to wander, suffering greatly during his travels. More than once he and his family had to sleep out in the open. It was also during this time that he met the Gaon Shabtai HaKohen, the Shach, author of "Siftei Kohen," and spent three days with him. Even though the Shach held opinions differing from his own and disputed his halachic rulings, the two became friends. The Shach wrote: "I greeted him with great honor, truly considerable, and he too showed me very great respect, to the point of kissing me on the head." When the Cossack disturbances subsided, the Taz returned to his native land and settled in Lviv, where he became rabbi. His fame spread throughout the country. The resting place of Rabbi David HaLevi - the Taz - is in Lviv.   The Legal Case Between the Bach and the Taz The Bach undertook to support his future son-in-law, the Taz, during his studies; the agreement included a meat meal. At some point the father-in-law's financial situation deteriorated, and the son-in-law began to be served chicken-foot aspic and similar dishes that could only be called "meat" with a great deal of generosity. The Taz endured this for a long time - and finally brought his father-in-law to a rabbinical court "for breach of contract." The court acquitted the Bach and ruled that chicken feet are also meat. Rabbi David explained himself before the Jews, who were astonished at such audacity: "Do you think I don't realize how terrible this looks? But what can I do with my body - if I don't eat meat, I feel weak and my mind doesn't work. Toward my father-in-law I feel only love, gratitude, and respect. And I do not want him to be blamed for my poor learning - I needed the court to recognize what I am fed in his house as 'meat,' so that he would be cleared before people and before Heaven!" Soon after, the Bach arranged for his son-in-law a position as rabbi in a small town; a later letter has survived in which he asks his son-in-law to send him 4 gold coins to finish having a suit made (his old one was so worn out that it was improper for the rabbi of the town to wear it).   How Our Rabbi the Taz Performed the Tikkun of Geichazi The son of the Admor of Skulen tells a story recorded in "Pinkasei Sipurei Lviv." There lived in Lviv an elderly tzadik who every night, after Chatzot Layla (midnight), would come to the Beit Knesset and read the entire Sefer Tehillim. One night he came and could not get into the Beit Knesset, which greatly saddened him, and he decided to read the Sefer Tehillim at the entrance (be miftan) - this too is a holy place. He began reading the Sefer Tehillim by the light of the moon and thanking Ha-Shem with praises, "Shirot ve-Tishbachot." Suddenly he saw a faceless stranger approach him and ask where the house of Rabbi David of the New Kloiz was - this was how Rabbi David HaLevi Segal was known in Lviv. The elderly tzadik showed him where our Rabbi the Taz lived. A short while later another faceless stranger approached him and also asked where the house of Rabbi David of the New Kloiz was, and he showed him as well. The elderly tzadik thought something was strange here, and decided that if someone else approached, he would say nothing until it was all explained to him. A few minutes later a third stranger approached him and also asked where Rabbi David of the New Kloiz lived. The tzadik said he would say nothing until he received an explanation - who they all were and why they needed the Taz. The stranger answered: "The first stranger was Eliyahu HaNavi, may he be remembered for good, the second was Elisha HaNavi, and I am the elder, the man Geichazi - the servant of Elisha. It was I who sinned and took money and clothing without Elisha HaNavi's permission. It has been decreed in Heaven that Eliyahu HaNavi, Elisha HaNavi, and Geichazi will meet in the house of Rabbi David and perform the Tikkun of the man Geichazi. Since our Rabbi the Taz is a great tzadik, and belongs to and takes part in the Beit Din Shel Ma'alah (the Heavenly Court), he is able to perform for me the Tikkun of my soul. You merited to see all this, tzadik, because you were reading the Sefer Tehillim, Shirot ve-Tishbachot - songs to Ha-Shem the Holy One."   A Dybbuk Rebbe Moshe of Kobrin, who read it in the register of the chevra kadisha: "A dybbuk had attached itself to a young girl, and everyone ran to the Turei Zahav for help. The Turei Zahav entered the girl's house. As soon as he entered the room, the dybbuk turned away and stood facing the wall. It said: 'Baruch haba, Rabbeinu HaGadol Ba'al Turei Zahav (welcome, great Rav, author of the Turei Zahav).'" The dybbuk was asked: "Why do you call him Rabbeinu HaGadol, and why do you stand facing the wall?" The dybbuk answered: "A sinner is not permitted to look a righteous man in the face, which is why I turned away. I know that this is Rabbeinu HaGadol Ba'al Turei Zahav, because that is what he is called in Heaven." The Turei Zahav said: "If that is what I am called in Heaven, I command you to leave this girl's body at once." The dybbuk obeyed and vanished. The girl's parents were wealthy and wished to reward the Turei Zahav with a large sum of money, but the Turei Zahav refused. The Turei Zahav's tallit was old and worn out. The father thought the Turei Zahav would accept a new tallit as a gift, since it would be a mitzvah. He bought a beautiful new tallit, but the Turei Zahav did not accept the gift. He explained: "I wish to wear my own tallit, and I wish to be buried in it, so that the tallit will testify before the Heavenly Court that I never uttered a single word of prayer without kavanah." (From "The Well of Torah," Vayishlach) May the merit of the tzadik protect our people! (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/558-Rabbi-David-HaLevi-Segal, based on the lessons of Rav Daniel HaKohen Stavsky and Rav David Raphael ben Ami Feinshel)