Name Yihyah Salah | ||
Rabbi Yihya Saleh (alternative spellings: Yichya Tzalach; Yehiya Saleh), known by the acronym of Maharitz (Hebrew: מוהר"ר יחיא צאלח) = Moreinu HaRav Yichya Tzalach, (1713 – 1805), was one of the greatest exponents of Jewish law known to Yemen. He is to be remembered mostly for his ardent work in preserving Yemenite Jewish customs and traditions, which he articulated so well in his many writings, but also for his adopting certain Spanish rites and liturgies that had already become popular in Yemen. In this regard, he was strongly influenced by the Rabbis of his previous generation, Rabbi Yehudah Sa'adi and Rabbi Yihya al-Bashiri. Initially, Rabbi Yihya Saleh worked as a blacksmith until the age of thirty, after which he worked as a scrivener of sacred texts (Heb. "sofer"), before becoming chief jurist of the rabbinical court (Beth Din) in Sana'a.
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Life & Works
Yihya was born in the lunar month of Cheshvan, in the year 5474 anno mundi, a year corresponding to 1713 CE, to Joseph b. Salih. Salih, his grandfather (d. 1749), was a survivor of the infamous Mawza Exile, the founder of the Saleh synagogue in Sana'a and one of the city's judges and ritual slaughterers (Heb. shochet). Although Rabbi Yihya Salih would later serve as chief judge (Av Beit-Din) and President of the rabbinical court at Sanʻa’, for most of his life he worked under the shadow of two great men of his generation: the illustrious Rabbi David Mishreqi (d. 1771), the author of Shtilei Zeitim, a commentary on the Shulhan Arukh (Orach Chaim and Yoreh De'ah), and Rabbi Shalom Iraqi al-Cohen (1685–1780), called al-'Ousta (the artisan), the comptroller of the customs and surveyor-general of the royal buildings and gardens who had been the favorite of two successive kings, although demoted in 1761.
Rabbi Yihya Saleh was contemporary with Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai, a great rabbinic teacher and scholar, with whom he maintained correspondence when the latter lived in Egypt. Rabbi Yihye Saleh (henceforth: Maharitz) is the author of the Questions and Responsa, Pe'ulath Sadiq and has also written a brief but comprehensive commentary on the Yemenite Baladi-rite Prayer Book, entitled ‘Es Hayyim in which appears the responsum addressed to him from Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai. Maharitz also compiled a work on Bible orthography (Hebrew vowels and trope symbols used in biblical texts) known as Heleq Hadiqduq, among other writings (see: infra).
Little is known about Maharitz's father, Yosef Saleh, except that he studied under his wife's father, Rabbi David Qafih. Rabbi Suleiman, Maharitz's brother, is known to have compiled a work on the laws governing the Passover preparation, known as Zevah Pesah. Maharitz's family is reported to have traced their lineage back to Oved, one of the progeny of Peretz, the son of Judah.
Scholarship
Maharitz was gifted at an early age with a good memory and quickly developed his learning skills. As a young man, he studied under the tutelage of his father and grandfather, Saleh Saleh, and at one point served under the great rabbinic teacher and scholar of his day, Rabbi David Mishreqi (1696–1771), the author of the commentary, "Shtilei Zeitim," on the Shulhan Arukh. His influence over the young Maharitz must have been astounding, for Maharitz mentions him in his Questions & Responsa:
Persecution
Rabbi Yihya Saleh (Maharitz) seemed to have kept a low profile during the persecutions which affected the Jewish community of Sana'a in 1761, at which time twelve of the city's fourteen synagogues were demolished by order of the king, Al-Mahdi Abbas. The reason for the king's displeasure is not presently known, but the community's respected leader who was entrusted with the role of mediating between the king and the people, Rabbi Shalom Cohen al-Iraqi (known also by the title of Nasi, or Prince), and who had served under two kings from 1733 to 1761, was imprisoned and held in bonds until he could pay a high ransom for his release. At the same time, writs then issuing from the king forbade Jews in the city from building their houses higher than fourteen cubits.
Halacha - Jewish legal law
Maharitz at first decided Halacha according to the position of the Shulchan Aruch, but later changed his approach in order to uphold Yemenite Jewish traditions and which were more aligned with the Halachic rulings of Maimonides (Rambam). In this decision, he was influenced by Rabbi Yehudah al-Sa'adi and Rabbi Pinhas Iraqi HaKohen, men of the previous generation who fought to maintain and to preserve the old Yemenite Jewish prayer rite amidst trends to change over to the Spanish-rite. Concerning this troublesome time, Amram Qorah writes:
Following in the footsteps of Rabbi David Abudirham, Rabbi Yihya Saleh wrote an extensive commentary on the synagogue liturgy and the old Yemenite Jewish Prayer Book in which he mostly upholds the old practices described therein (e.g. the practice of saying only one Mussaf-prayer during Rosh Hashanah, etc.), although he also compromises by introducing elements in the Yemenite prayer book taken from the books of the kabbalists and the Shulchan Aruch. He is often seen praising the old Yemenite customs and encouraging their upkeep:
Still, Maharitz's endorsement of certain Halachic rulings found in the Shulchan Aruch was the cause for some Yemenite Jewish prayer-rites being cancelled altogether, and for other extraneous customs introduced by the kabbalists being added thereto. For a broader discussion on this subject, see Baladi-rite Prayer.
Death and Legacy
Maharitz died on Saturday, the 28th day of the lunar month Nisan, 5565 anno mundi (1805 CE), in Sanʻa’, Yemen, and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Abraham, in the post of chief judge (Av Beit-Din) and President of the court.
Among his books were: