Peri Megadim

Yaakov Lorberbaum

Yaakov ben Yaakov Moshe Lorberbaum of Lissa (1760-1832) (known in English as Jacob ben Jacob Moses of Lissa or Jacob Lorberbaum or Jacob Lisser, Hebrew: יעקב בן יעקב משה מליסא) was a Rabbi and Posek. He is known as the "Ba'al HaNesivos" for his most well-known work, or as the "Lissa Rav" for the city in which he was Chief Rabbi.

Biography

Rabbi Lorberbaum was the great-grandson of the Chacham Tzvi, Rabbi Zvi Ashkenazi; he was therefore related to Rabbi Jacob Emden. His father, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe died before he was born, and his relative, Rabbi Yosef Teomim, brought him up. He studied under Rabbi Meshulam Igra. In 1809, he agreed to become the Rav in Lissa, where he enlarged his Yeshiva's enrollment. Hundreds of scholars came to study there in the years of his leadership. Among his students were Rabbi Elijah Gutmacher, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Danziger, who supporters of their colleage Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, and his Hovevei Zion movement.

Along with Rabbi Akiva Eiger and Eiger's son-in-law, the Chatam Sofer, Rabbi Lorberbaum vehemently fought against the maskilim, the reformers of the Jewish Enlightenment. In 1822, he left Lissa and moved to Kalish (Kalisz), where he wrote many of his works. He was head of the Beth din in Kalish and afterward in Lissa (today known as Leszno, Poland).

He was widely respected as a posek, and is one of three authorities on whom Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried based his rulings in the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh, the well known precis of Jewish law. Similarly, the Chochmat Adam, by Rabbi Avraham Danzig, was written in consultation with Rabbi Lorberbaum (as well as Rabbi Chaim Volozhin).

His status was such that it is reported that Rabbi Akiva Eiger once fainted when he was honored with an Aliyah in the lieu of Rav Yaakov. (See Shimusha Shel Torah, Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman.)

Rabbi Lorberbaum died in Stryj (then in Galicia) on May 25, 1832.

Works

Reb Yaakov wrote many works of Torah on Talmud and on Halakha (Jewish law).

Works on Talmud include:

Torat Giṭṭin, commentary on Shulḥan 'Aruk, Even Ha'ezer, 119-155, and ḥiddushim on the Talmudic treatise Giṭṭin (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1813; Warsaw, 1815)
Bet Ya'aḳob, commentary on Shulḥan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer, 66-118, and on the Talmudic tractate Ketubot (Grubeschow, 1823)
Emes L’Yaakov (on Talmudic lore)
He also published his late father's works on the Talmud, including his famous novellae to Tractate Keritot

Works of Halakha include:

Ḥawwot Da'at, commentary on Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 69-201; the earlier sections of Yoreh De'ah (1-68) are very briefly dealt with in the form of an introduction to the work (Lemberg, 1799; Dyhernfurth, 1810, and often since in editions of the Yoreh De'ah, as the Wilna 1894 ed.). In it the works of earlier commentators are discussed and somewhat pilpulistically developed.
Meḳor Ḥayyim, commentary on Shulḥan 'Aruk, Orach Chayim, 429 and following, with notes on the commentaries Ture Zahab and Magen Abraham; the second part contains ḥiddushim on Keritot (Zolkiev, 1807; Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1813; Warsaw, 1825; Dyhernfurth, 1827)
Nesivos HaMishpat on Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, in two parts (Dyhernfurth, Lemberg; Zolkiev, 1809, 1816; Sudilkov, 1830; and often since in Lemberg editions of Shulḥan 'Aruk, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ). It is said that Nesivos HaMishpat was made famous by the strong attacks in it against the Ketzos HaChoshen of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Heller.
Ḳehillat Ya'aḳob, a collection of discussions and notes on several legal points in the Eben ha-'Ezer and Oraḥ Ḥayyim
Derech Chaim on Orach Chayim (Zolkiev, 1828; Altona, 1831). This compendium is very popular and was frequently reprinted in the larger Hebrew prayer-books. These dinim are taken either from later exponents of the Law as contained in the works Ṭure Zahab, Magen Abraham, Peri Megadim, etc., or from his own decisions. The sources from which he borrowed are usually indicated.

Other works by Rabbi Lorberbaum include:

Imrei Yosher (on the five scrolls)
Ẓeror ha-Mor and Palge Mayim, commentaries on Canticles and Lamentations, under the general title Imre Yosher (ib. 1815 and 1819)
Ma'aseh Nissim, a commentary on the Pesach Haggadah, with the text and a short compendium of the Passover ritual (Kiẓẓur Dinim; Zolkiev, 1807, 1835; Minsk, 1816; Dyhernfurth, 1817, and later)
Nakhalat Yaakov (Breslau, 1849), published by his grandson Naphtali Z. N. Chachamowicz after his death, comprising sermons on the Torah Portion, halakhic decisions, responsa, and his last will. In this famous ethical will he asked that his sons devote time every day to learn at least on page of Gemara.
Ta'alumot Ḥokmah, commentary on Ecclesiastes (Lemberg, 1804; Dyhernfurth, 1819)
Megillat S'tarim, commentary on the book of Esther