The Shelah HaKadosh

Rabbi Yeshaya ben Avraham Horowitz, known as the Shelah HaKadosh (after the title of his main work), was born in Prague around 1555. A Czech rabbi – a Talmudist and Kabbalist – he married the daughter of the wealthy Avraham Moel, which enabled him to spend considerable sums on charity and on purchasing books. He was one of the leaders of communal life among Polish Jews. Already in 1590 he condemned the practice of acquiring rabbinical positions through bribery. Horowitz served as rabbi in many communities: in Posen and Krakow after 1600, in Ostrog, Volhynia (1603), in Frankfurt am Main (c. 1606), and in Prague (1614). In 1621, after the death of his wife, he moved to the Holy Land. According to the views of the Kabbalists, an unmarried man could not live in the Land of Israel, so Horowitz remarried. Although various Jewish communities offered him the position of rabbi, he chose to go to Jerusalem, where he arrived on November 19, 1621. In 1625 he was seized by the Turkish governor along with other members of the community and imprisoned. After the community ransomed him for a huge sum of money, the Shelah HaKadosh moved to Tzfat. "Shnei Luchot HaBrit" (The Two Tablets of the Covenant) is the main work of the Shelah HaKadosh. The first letters of the title of his book "Shnei Luchot HaBrit" – Shelah – became his name, as is often the case in Jewish tradition. Pious Jews sought comfort and instruction in this book, which was reprinted many times in abridged form. Horowitz's prayer book is full of pure thoughts and Kabbalistic teachings: "The morning prayer is an appeal to divine mercy, since the increasing light represents the goodness of G-d, while the waning afternoon light signifies the awesome divine judgment. Avraham established the morning prayer because he embodied divine kindness, while Yitzchak established the afternoon prayer because he embodied divine might." (page 144a) The Shelah HaKadosh quotes extensively from his predecessors – De Vidas, the Ramak, and the Arizal. It was the fame of the Arizal that drew Horowitz to the Land of Israel, where he hoped to find his disciples and learn more about his teachings. His own writings, however, gained even wider circulation than those of any of the Arizal's disciples. In Tiberias, at the entrance to the Rambam's burial complex, to the left of the central steps, is the grave of the Shelah HaKadosh. The 11th of Nissan, his yahrzeit – a huge crowd of people gathers there.   1. Prayer of the Shelah HaKadosh for children on Rosh Chodesh Sivan Prayer of the Shla HaKadosh for Children on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan 2. Tikkun HaGadol of the Shelah HaKadosh Tikkun HaGadol of the Shelah HaKadosh 3. Tefillah LeParnasa of the Shelah HaKadosh Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan - Tefillah for Parnassa from the Shlah HaKadosh