This week we observe the yahrzeits of two significant poskim whose careers intertwined. The twenty-sixth of Shevat is the yahrzeit of Rav Dovid HaLevi Segal, the Taz (1586-1667). And Rosh Chodesh Adar is the yahrzeit of Rav Shabsi Cohen, the Shach (1622-1663).
After the publication of the Shulchan Aruch in the middle of the 16th century, there began to be popular demand for commentary explaining the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch. Ultimately, future standard editions of the Shulchan Aruch carried two primary commentaries, called “nosai keilim” (literally “the arms bearers”). For each of the four volumes of the Shulchan Aruch there was a different set of primary nosai keilim. The comments of the Taz appear on Orach Chaim and Yoreh Deah (he also wrote on the other two volumes, but they were published later and did not achieve prime placement on the page), and the comments of the Shach appear on Choshen Mishpat and Yoreh Deah, giving them both an indelible influence over future generations of psak halacha. From a halachic standpoint, the main area in which they clashed was in Yoreh Deah.
Born in Ludmir (present-day Ukraine), Rav Dovid HaLevi Segal studied under his brother, Rav Yitzchok. Over the years he served in the rabbinate in a number of communities, including Brisk and Cracow. As a youngster he worked for some time on a farm. One day the farmer had a shaila about a lung. He wrapped it up in some paper he found at home and brought it to the Bach, Rav Yoel Sirkes, who had written an important commentary on the Tur, the precursor to the Shulchan Aruch. The Bach was more interested in the contents of the paper on which he noticed that some halachic insights were written. He asked the farmer who had written them and was informed that it was one of his workers who liked to scribble things. The Bach asked to meet this worker and that is how Rav Dovid married the daughter of the Bach. After his wife passed, he married her brother’s widow. In 1641 he moved to Ostroh where he opened a yeshiva and authored his commentary Turei Zahav (Taz).
Rav Shabsi Cohen was born in Mstibovo, Poland where his father was the rav. He studied primarily under his father who had been a student of the Maharam MiLublin. At the age of thirteen he was sent to learn under the “Maginei Shlomo,” a close friend of his father. He then proceeded on to Lublin where he learned under the Rebbe Reb Heshcel and Rav Naftali Katz. He married a great-granddaughter of the Rema and moved to Vilna where he was supported by his father-in-law.
Rav Naftali Katz also had a relationship with the Taz and attended his Shabbos table on several occasions. He noticed that the Taz was always careful to say kiddush from a siddur. When he asked him why, the Taz explained that he had many people who visited his Shabbos table, many of them unlearned. If they saw him reciting kiddush by heart, something that they could not do, it might embarrass them.
In 1646 both the Taz and Rav Shabsi published their commentaries on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah. Rav Shabsi’s commentary, called Sifsei Cohen (Shach) included an addendum called Nekudos HaKesef, which contained his comments on the Taz. Rav Dovid published an afterword to refute the Shach’s comments, and Rav Shabsi responded in return.
The Shach made it clear that there was nothing personal about this dialogue between him and the much older Rav Dovid. “It should not dawn on the reader that I have a disagreement or a personal issue with him [and that is why] I composed these comments on his sefer. Everyone knows that we have fulfilled the Talmudic dictum that the result of disagreement among Torah scholars is love between them. Torah returns to its host, and I hosted the author of the Turei Zahav. He stayed with me for three days and I gave him unbelievable honor, and he felt honored by me. He kissed me on the head and was as happy as if he were attending the simchas bais hashoeva. G-d knows that I wrote the Nekudos HaKesef for the sake of Heaven.” His choice of name for his comments on the Taz indicates the respect he had for him. Nekudos haKesef is a reference to silver, whereas the Turei Zahav is gold. Also, rather than columns (turei) of gold, the Shach only appropriated for himself points of silver.
The Shach had no compunctions with ruling not in accordance with the Shulchan Aruch, and even disagreeing with Tosefos. The Taz, by contrast, endeavors to resolve questions that had been posed by the Bais Yosef in his commentary on the Tur, and to minimize the extent of halachic disagreement. The Council of the Four Lands (of which the Taz had been a member) ruled in 1683 that the halacha should be in accordance with the Taz in any areas of disagreement. Most poskim, however, did the opposite. The chassidic poskim who write about the Taz understand him to have been a kabbalist whose rulings were infused with kabbalistic understanding. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes that if someone is having difficulty thinking clearly, he should learn Sulchan Aruch with the Shach.
During the Cossack uprisings of 1648-1649, the Taz was forced to escape to Moravia and later settled near Lvov where he was named rabbi in 1654. During the controversy surrounding Shabsai Tzi he sent his son and step-son to meet Shabsai Tzvi in an attempt to discern if he was genuine. Even though they were impressed, the Taz remained on the fence. The Shach, who had also been adversely affected by the Cossack uprising, remained in Vilna until 1655 when it was captured by Russia. He escaped to Austria where he found a rabbinic position, but died shortly thereafter. There is a famous, unverified story that his daughter was captured during the fighting in 1655 (or possibly in 1648) and was eventually reunited with her father.
The Taz also composed Divrei Dovid, a commentary on Rashi to resolve questions posed by the Ramban and Mizrachi. The Shach wrote Tukfo Cohen, a very advanced work that focuses on how to resolve monetary disputes when the issue at hand is unresolved halachically.
