Acharonim
Rabbinical Eras |
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Acharonim (Hebrew: [ʔaħaʁoˈnim]; Hebrew: אחרונים Aḥaronim; sing. אחרון, Aḥaron; lit. "last ones") is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: שׁוּלחָן עָרוּך, "Set Table", a code of Jewish law) in 1563 CE.
The Acharonim follow the Rishonim, the "first ones"—the rabbinic scholars between the 11th and the 16th century following the Geonim and preceding the Shulkhan Arukh. The publication of the Shulkhan Arukh thus marks the transition from the era of Rishonim to that of Acharonim.
Consequences for Halakhic change
The distinction between the "Acharonim", Rishonim and Geonim is meaningful historically. According to the widely held view in Orthodox Judaism, the Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of rabbis of previous eras unless they find supports of other rabbis in previous eras. Yet the opposite view exists as well: In the The Principles of Jewish Law Orthodox Rabbi Menachem Elon writes that:
The Principles of Jewish Law— [such a view] "inherently violates the precept of Hilkheta Ke-Vatra'ei, that is, the law is according to the later scholars. This rule dates from the Geonic period. It laid down that until the time of Rabbis Abbaye and Rava (4th century) the Halakha was to be decided according to the views of the earlier scholars, but from that time onward, the halakhic opinions of post-talmudic scholars would prevail over the contrary opinions of a previous generation. See Piskei Ha'Rosh, Bava Metzia 3:10, 4:21, Shabbat 23:1
But indeed this rule that Menchem Elon cites as originating in the Geonic period does not contradict the precept of Hilkheta Ke-Vatra'ei if understood within the greater context of Torah. While authority may go to the scholars of a later generation within a particular era, the Talmud itself clearly does not allow scholars of a later era to argue with scholars of an earlier era without support from other scholars of an earlier era. This can be seen when the Talmud asks on numerous occasions how a particular Amora can argue against all the Tannaim without support from any Tanna; the Talmud answers Tanna hu ifalig which means "He is [indeed] a Tanna and he may argue" (Talmud: Shabbat 64b, Eruvin 50b, Taanit 14b, Ktubot 8a, Gittin 38b, Bava Batra 42a). The reason the Talmud initially asked the question is because they lived during the transition between the eras of the Amoraim and the Tanaim and are usually considered Amoraim but may also be considered Tannaim.
The question of which prior rulings can and cannot be disputed has led to efforts to define which rulings are within the Acharonim era with precision. According to many rabbis the Shulkhan Arukh is from an Acharon. Some hold that Rabbi Yosef Karo's Beit Yosef has the halakhic status of a work of a Rishon, while his later Shulkhan Arukh has the status of a work of an Acharon.
Some Acharonim
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- Isaac Abendana (c. 1640–1710), Sephardic scholar in England
- Jacob Abendana (1630–1695), Sephardic rabbi in England
- Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605–1693), Dutch scholar and Kabbalist, first Rabbi in the Americas
- Yehudah Leib Alter (Sfas Emes) (1847–1905), Gerrer rebbe
- Bezalel Ashkenazi (Shitah Mekubetzet) (c. 1520 – c. 1592), Talmudist
- Chaim Joseph David Azulai (Chida) (1724–1806), scholar and traveler, pioneered history of rabbinic writings
- Yair Bacharach (Havvot Yair) (1639–1702), German Talmudist
- Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (Netziv, HaEmek Davar) (1816–1893), head of Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania
- Josef Chaim of Baghdad (Ben Ish Chai) (1832–1909), Iraqi Halakhist, Posek, Kabbalist and communal leader
- Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (Ramak) (1522–1570), Holy Land Kabbalistic scholar
- Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (Michtav Me'Eliyahu) (1892–1953), 20th century religious philosopher and ethicist
- Dovber of Mezeritch (Maggid) (b. c. 1700 or 1710 d. 1772), Eastern European mystic, primary disciple of the Baal Shem Tov
- Samuel Eidels (Maharsha) (1555–1631), Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud
- Elijah ben Solomon (Gra, Vilna Gaon) (1720–1797), Lithuanian Talmudist and Kabbalist, leader of the Mitnagdim (opponents of Hasidic Judaism); Note: The Chazon Ish held him to be a Rishon
- Mordechai Eliyahu (1929–2010), Halakhist, Posek, and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1983–1993)
- Jacob Emden (1697–1776), Danish/German scholar
- Baruch Epstein (Torah Temimah) (1860-1941), Lithuanian Torah commentator
- Moshe Mordechai Epstein (Levush Mordechai) (1866–1933), Talmudist and co-head of Slabodka Yeshiva
- Yechiel Michel Epstein (Aruch ha-Shulchan) (1829–1908), Halakhist and Posek
- Jonathan Eybeschutz (1690–1764), Dayan of Prague, accused of heresy
- Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe) (1895–1986), Russian-American Halakhist, Posek, and Talmudist
- Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Alter/Sabba of Slabodka) (1849–1927), founder of Slabodka Yeshiva, Lithuania; disciples opened major yeshivas in US and Israel
- Kalonymus Haberkasten, 16th century Polish rabbi, Rosh Yeshiva of many early Acharonim
- Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi (Bet Hillel) (1615–1690), Lithuanian scholar
- Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888), German rabbi, founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz movement
- Yitzchok Hutner (Pachad Yitzchok) (1906–1980), European-born American and Israeli Rosh Yeshiva
- Moshe Isserles (Rema) (1520–1572), Polish halakhic authority and Posek, author of HaMapah component of the Shulkhan Arukh
- Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (Chazon Ish) (1878–1953), Belarusian-born, leading halakhic authority and leader of Haredi Judaism in Israel
- Yisrael Meir Kagan (Chofetz Chaim) (1838–1933), Polish Halakhist, Posek, and moralist
- Yosef Karo (the Mechaber) (1488–1575), Spanish and Land of Israel legal codifier of the Shulkhan Arukh code of Torah Law
- Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935), philosopher and mystic, first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Palestine
- Judah Loew ben Bezalel (Maharal) (1520–1609), Prague mystic and Talmudist
- Isaac Luria (Ari) (1534–1572), Cairo and Holy Land mystic, founder of Lurianic Kabbalah
- Solomon Luria (Maharshal) (1510–1573), Posek and Talmudist
- Avigdor Nebenzahl (born 1935), former chief Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, and teacher at Yeshivat Hakotel
- Shmuel Wosner ("Shevet Halevi") (1913-2015), Posek, Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin
- Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) (1707–1746), Italian philosopher, mystic, and moralist
- Meir Leib ben Yechiel Michel (Malbim) (1809–1879), Russian preacher and scholar
- Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (Ohr Sameiach, Meshech Chochmah) (1843–1926), Lithuanian-Latvian Talmudist and communal leader
- Menasseh Ben Israel (1604–1657), Portuguese/Dutch Kabbalist, diplomat and publisher
- Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro, (Bartenura) (c. 1445 – c. 1515), commentator on the Mishnah
- Avraham Aharon Price (1900–1994) of Toronto, Canada, scholar, writer, educator, and community leader
- Chaim Rabinowitz (1856–1931), Rosh Yeshivah in Telz, Lithuania
- Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810–1883), Lithuanian ethicist and moralist
- David HaLevi Segal (Taz) (c. 1586–1667), Halakhist, major commentator on the Shulkhan Aruch
- Sforno, 15th, 16th, and 17th-century family of Italian Torah scholars and philosophers
- Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (Sforno) (c. 1475 – 1550), Italian scholar and rationalist
- Shalom Sharabi (1720–1777), Yemenite Sage, Kabbalist and founder of the Beit El Yeshiva, Jerusalem
- Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), seventh Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch
- Moses Sofer (Chatam Sofer) (1762–1839), Hungarian rabbi
- Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik ("Reb Chaim Brisker") (1853–1918), Rosh Yeshivah in Volozhyn
- Joseph B. Soloveitchik (c. 1903-1993), Prolific Talmudist, Scholar, Modern Orthodox Philosopher and member of the Brisker Dynasty which originated in the Brisker Yeshivot in Europe
- Chaim Vital (1543–1620), Kabbalist and primary disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luria
- Ovadia Yosef (1920–2013), Iraqi-born Halakhist, Posek and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1973–1983)
- Yisroel ben Eliezer (Baal Shem Tov) (died 1760), considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism
- David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (Radbaz) (c. 1479 or c. 1487 – 1573), 15th/16th century Halakhist, Posek and Chief Rabbi of Egypt
- Moses S. Margolies (Ramaz) (1851–1936)
- Yehuda Ayash (1700–1760), head of the Beit Din and the Rav of Algiers, stood at the helm of the Yeshiva Keneset Yisrael, and wrote Mateh Yehuda, Beit Yehuda, Lechem Yehuda and more
- Aharon Moshiach Katzenelebogen (died 1816), of Belz
- Meir Yehuda Leibush ben Yechiel Michel, the Malbim (1809–1879)
- Eliyahu Hamoui (died 1911), one of the great Kabbalists of Aram Tzova, Head of the Beit Din, author of Peh Eliyahu
- Yaakov Dovid ben Ze'ev Wilovsky (Ridbaz) (1845–1913), of Slutzk, Chicago and Tzfat (1845–1913)
- Ismar Schorsch (born 1935) Rabbi, former Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Yitzchak Cohen of Djerba, Tunisia (died 1918)
- Yitzchak Meir of Kopycznitz (died 1931 or 1935), the Kopycznitzer Rebbe
- Ezriel Yehuda Lebowitz, the Viener Rav (died 1991)
- Shmuel Halevi Shechter (1915–1999)
- Yom Tov Lipman Helprin, author of Kedushat Yom Tov
- Dovid Matisyahu Rabinowitz (died 1997), the Biala Rebbe in Bnei Brak
- Menachem Mendel of Premishlan (died 1777)
- Chakham Yosef Hayim (died 1909) "Ben Ish Chai" is known for his parables and his Halacha book for Sephardim.
See also
- Rabbinic literature
- Eras of history important in Jewish law
- List of rabbis
- History of Responsa: Acharonim
Notes
External links
- The Rules of Halacha, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
- The different rabbinic eras, faqs.org
- Torah Personalities and the Times in Which They Lived (MP3s), Rabbi R Y Eisenman
- Early Achronim 5160–5410 (1400–1650) & Later Achronim 5410 (1650), chabad.org
- Mini-biographies from chaburas.org