5 Kislev · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Dovid Luria – Radal
Rabbi Dovid Luria – Radal – a student of the Vilna Gaon – author of the commentary on "Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer"
Yahrzeit - 5 Kislev
Resting place - Bykhov
Rabbi David was born in Bykhov in 1798 — the year the Vilna Gaon passed away — into a well-known rabbinic family. He was a descendant of the Maharshal in the eighth generation. His father, Reb Yudel Luria, was married to the daughter of Rabbi Yisrael Rappoport, head of the rabbinical court of the city of Bykhov.
He was one of the largest merchants of Mogilev province, and was also renowned for his wisdom in resolving practical matters and for his good deeds.
Rabbi Dovber (son of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the second Rebbe of Chabad) wrote to his chassidim that they should heed his advice in all matters, for he was one of the wisest men in the province.
Reb Yudel Luria distributed enormous sums of money to the poor of Bykhov, and the doors of his home were open to any Jew who came to the city. Even though many people to whom he lent money never repaid their debts, he never went to a non-Jewish court to collect them. Reb Yudel Luria was distinguished by his tremendous love for Torah and mitzvot. His reward for this was that three of his sons became Torah scholars. The eldest son, Rav Tzvi Hirsch, was a righteous Jew and Torah scholar. Every year he completed the entire Babylonian Talmud anew. Constantly engaged in Torah study and never holding any official position, he lived his whole life in Bykhov and died at the age of 70, during his father's lifetime. The second son, Aharon Luria, was a rabbi in Minsk. The most famous turned out to be the third son, David, to whom this article is devoted. Reb Yudel Luria died at the age of 91, remaining clear-minded until his final day, surrounded by children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
From childhood, Rabbi David amazed everyone with his extraordinary abilities in Torah study. By the age of 5 he already knew the entire Tanach with the commentaries of Rashi and Radak, as well as the grammar of the Holy Tongue.
At age 6 he began studying the Talmud with the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot. His father hired special Talmud teachers for him, who were themselves well-known rabbis. At age 9 he already knew the first nine tractates of the Talmud. At age 10, Rabbi David knew all six orders of the Mishnah by heart.
At the age of 9, the following story took place. One evening, his father came into the room where he was studying Torah, together with a local prince of Bykhov. With them was also a tutor whom the prince had brought from France for his son. The tutor examined young David and everyone was astonished by his knowledge of mathematics. The prince gave him a gift and arranged with his father that the foreign tutor would spend one hour each day with his son. This happened to be exactly the time set aside for reviewing the Talmud. It was impossible to refuse. David, however, did not want to spend time on anything but Torah. He cried all night. The next morning, the tutor was found dead outside the city.
At age 13, Rabbi David married the daughter of a prominent Vilna merchant and Torah scholar, whose grandfather had been a student of the Vilna Gaon. When he came to Vilna to meet his bride's family, his address in the city's Great Synagogue made a tremendous impression on those gathered. For a time after the wedding, Rabbi David lived in Vilna, where there were many Torah scholars. Interacting with them had an enormous influence on him. He formed a particularly close relationship with Rabbi Shaul Katzenellenbogen. During the 4 years that Rabbi David spent in Vilna, he and Rabbi Shaul, despite their great difference in age, completed the full cycle of studying the Babylonian Talmud several times together. Rabbi Shaul's approach to Torah study had a tremendous influence on Rabbi David.
At age 17, Rabbi David had already completed his first work — a commentary on tractate Brachot of the Babylonian Talmud.
When he turned 18, Rabbi David returned with his family to Bykhov. So that he could continue his Torah study in a quiet setting, his father built a beit midrash especially for him. He did not even need to interrupt his studies to pray. At the appointed prayer times, a specially invited minyan would come there, and after the prayers Rabbi David could immediately continue his studies. There he wrote a commentary on the entire Tanach, on the Midrash Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer and the book Mechilta, notes on the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, on the halachic responsa of the Geonim, the Rambam, and the Shulchan Aruch, as well as a commentary on the Zohar — "Nefesh David" ("The Soul of David"). In addition, during this same period he wrote many responses to questions sent to him on the widest range of topics in Jewish law. According to the testimony of his contemporaries, Rabbi David had a phenomenal memory. It was enough for him to glance a few times at a page of any book for it to be imprinted in his memory like a photograph. On one of his trips to Vilna to see his teacher Rabbi Shaul, at the latter's request he stopped in Volozhin to visit the founder of the yeshiva, Rabbi Chaim. Rabbi Chaim was astonished by his guest's profound knowledge of Torah and blessed him, saying: "May your name become known throughout the world!" Despite his enormous standing in the world of Torah, the Radal refused to hold official rabbinic positions. In 1854 he was invited to serve as chief rabbi of Warsaw, which at that time was one of the largest cities of the Jewish diaspora. This invitation bore the signatures of the city's most prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter. The Radal took an active part in resolving nearly every important question of Jewish life. During M. Montefiore's visit to Vilna in 1846, he traveled there to negotiate with him. And when the Reformers, who were already gaining social influence within the Jewish community, began attempting to change the order of the prayers, the Radal firmly opposed them.
In 1835, at the age of 37, the Radal, following the example of the Vilna Gaon, went into voluntary exile ("galut") far from Bykhov, to the Volhynia region. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin had earlier been in exile in these same places. Although he was 18 months away from his home, he did not lessen the intensity of his Torah study.
In 1838, as a result of a false denunciation, the Radal endured one of the most difficult trials of his life — arrest and imprisonment in the Shlisselburg Fortress. Let us cite just one episode. Wishing to hide the content of their conversation from the person under investigation, the interrogators switched to speaking French. The Radal rose from his seat and moved away so as not to hear them. The interrogator immediately turned to the rabbi sternly and said: "Who gave you permission to stand up?" "You apparently switched to French so that I would not understand you," the Radal answered in refined French, "but since I do not wish to mislead you, I moved away so as not to hear what you are saying." The interrogators immediately changed their attitude toward him, and he was soon fully acquitted and released from the fortress.
Like his father, the Radal devoted himself extensively to charity. Like the Vilna Gaon, he was well versed in many sciences, including medicine, and had an excellent command of several foreign languages. Yet even for the sake of all this, he never interrupted his Torah study. He acquired his knowledge of secular sciences and foreign languages in places where Torah study is forbidden, such as the bathroom. Many sick people came to him. If a person could not afford to pay for medicine, the Radal, along with the prescription, would write a note to the pharmacist asking him to give out the medicine free of charge and to put the cost on his own account.
Rabbi Dovid Luria passed away in Bykhov at the age of 58. All the residents of Bykhov accompanied him on his final journey. Even the city police, in dress uniform, took part in the funeral. For the farewell, his casket was brought into the main synagogue of Bykhov and placed upon the bimah — the place from which the Torah is read. Only the greatest Torah sages are accorded this tremendous honor.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!