Grave
Yaakov Beirav (Mahari Beirav)
Yahrzeit (Hillula)
- 1 Iyar — Rabbi Yaakov Beirav - Mahari Beirav
Rabbi Yaakov bar Moshe Beirav (Mahari Beirav) – rabbi of Safed, one of the spiritual leaders of the Jews of the Land of Israel, Egypt and Syria – teacher of Rabbi Yosef Karo.
Yahrzeit – 1 Iyar
Resting place – the Cave of the Sages of Safed
He was born in Toledo, Spain. He studied Torah under Rabbi Yitzchak Aboab, head of the Toledo yeshiva.
When the Jews were expelled from Spain, Rabbi Yaakov Beirav fled to Portugal, and from there to Morocco — at the age of 18 he became rabbi of the city of Fez, an ancient center of Torah learning. He later moved to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, where he joined the city's rabbinical court.
In 1524, Rabbi Beirav settled in the Land of Israel, in the city of Safed, located in the mountains of the Upper Galilee.
In 1538, Rabbi Beirav proposed reinstating the transmission of smicha (rabbinic ordination), which had been interrupted more than a thousand years earlier.
Smicha had been passed down from teacher to student since Moshe Rabbeinu, who received the Torah at Mount Sinai. Shortly after the Romans crushed the Bar Kochba revolt and executed Rabbi Akiva, the chain of ordination was forcibly broken. However, the great halachic authority the Rambam held that "if the sages of the Land of Israel unite and ordain a group of judges, granting them smicha, those judges will be able… to pass the smicha on further" (Laws of the Sanhedrin 4:11) — so that the chain could resume.
Rabbi Beirav turned to this idea in an effort to help the anusim — Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. Many of them, having fled Spain and Portugal, longed to return to their Jewish roots.
His idea was supported by two outstanding halachic authorities of Safed — Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the code Shulchan Aruch, and Rabbi Moshe of Trani – the Mabit. Gathering together, all the sages of Safed ordained their leader, Rabbi Beirav, granting him the first smicha, so that a new chain would begin from him.
They then sent messengers to the rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib – the Ralbach, asking him to support the new undertaking and accept smicha from Rabbi Beirav. However, the Ralbach took an uncompromising stance, denying the validity of such an ordination; he was supported by the chief rabbi of Egypt, Rabbi David Ibn Zimra – the Radbaz, and the implementation of Rabbi Beirav's plan was halted.
Grieving deeply over the failure of his undertaking, the Mahari Beirav wrote: "It grieves me greatly that I was not privileged to fulfill this mitzvah — to appoint worthy judges who could breathe new life into the people of Israel and bring them back to the Holy Land. And the good L-rd knows that all my intentions were only for the sake of Heaven, and not for my own honor."
Meanwhile, on the basis of a false denunciation, the Turkish authorities sentenced Rabbi Beirav to expulsion from the Holy Land. Since, according to Torah law, smicha can only be conferred within the Land of Israel, he ordained his four closest associates: Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe of Trani, Rabbi Moshe Galante, and Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (the Ramak). Rabbi Karo later passed the smicha on to Rabbi Moshe Alshich, who in turn passed it to his student, Rabbi Chaim Vital. Rabbi Beirav was exiled to Damascus, but later returned to Safed.
He passed away in Safed, on the Sabbath night of the first day of the month of Iyar, 5306 (1546).
May the merit of the Tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
Gallery
