Editing Isaiah Horowitz

{{Short description|16th-17th century Ashkenazi rabbi and mystic}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}

[[Image:Shelah.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The grave of Isaiah Horowitz in the [[Tomb of Maimonides]] compound, [[Tiberias]], [[Israel]]]]
{{Kabbalah}}

'''Isaiah''' or '''Yeshayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz''' ({{langx|he|ישעיה בן אברהם הלוי הורוויץ}}), (c. 1555<ref name=je/><ref name=Trachtenberg/> – March 24, 1630), also known as the '''''Shelah HaKaddosh''''' ({{Script/Hebrew|השל"ה הקדוש}} "the holy ''Shelah''") after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent [[rabbi]] and [[Kabbalah|mystic]].

==Biography==
Isaiah Horowitz was born in [[Prague]] around 1555.<ref name=je>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|inline=1|title=HOROWITZ, ISAIAH|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7876-horowitz-isaiah|access-date=Jan 5, 2017}}<br />'''''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography:'''{{Bulleted list|[[David Conforte|Conforte]], ''Ḳore ha-Dorot'', p. 47b;|[[Chaim Yosef David Azulai|Azulai]], ''Shem ha-Gedolim'';|[[Moritz Steinschneider|Steinschneider]], ''{{abbr|Cat. Bodl.|Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Bodleian Library }}'';|[[Leser Landshuth|Landshuth]], ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Ammude ha-'Abodah'', pp. 133-134, Berlin, 1862;|[[Aryeh Leib Frumkin|Frumkin]], ''Eben Shemuel'', pp. 111-122, Jerusalem and Wilna, 1874;|[[Márkus Horovitz|Horovitz]], ''Frankfurter Rabbinen'', i. 41-44, 58-60 (in which Horowitz's contract with the Frankfort congregation is reproduced);|Pesis, ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Aṭeret ha-Lewiyim'', Warsaw, 1902.}}</ref><ref name=Trachtenberg>{{Cite book|last=Trachtenberg|first=Joshua|title=Jewish Magic and Superstition|location=Philadelphia|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|year=2004|orig-year=Originally published 1939|isbn=9780812218626|page=319}}</ref> His first teacher was his father, [[Abraham Horowitz|Avraham ben Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz]], a notable scholar and author, and a disciple of [[Moses Isserles]] (Rema).<ref>{{Cite book|author=Samuel Joseph Fuenn|author-link=Samuel Joseph Fuenn|script-chapter=he:הר"ר אברהם הלוי הורוויץ בה"ר שבתי שעפטיל|trans-chapter=Rabbi Abraham Horowitz ben Shabbetai|chapter-url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46998&pgnum=20|script-title=he:כנסת ישראל|language=he|publication-place=Warsaw|publication-date=1886|page=20|access-date=Aug 22, 2023}}</ref> Horowitz studied under [[Meir Lublin]], [[Joshua Falk]] and [[Megaleh Amukot|Nasan Nota Shapirah]] He married Chaya, daughter of Abraham Moul, of [[Vienna]], and was a wealthy and active [[philanthropist]], supporting [[Torah study]], especially in [[Jerusalem]]. In 1590, in [[Lublin]], he participated in a meeting of the [[Council of Four Lands]], and his signature appears on a decree that condemns the purchase of rabbinic positions.

In 1602, Isaiah Horowitz was appointed [[Av Beit Din]] in [[Austria]], and in 1606 was appointed Rabbi of [[Frankfurt]]. In 1614, after serving as rabbi in prominent cities in [[Europe]], he left following the [[Frankfurter Judengasse#The Fettmilch Uprising|Fettmilch Uprising]] and assumed the prestigious position of chief rabbi of [[Prague]].

In 1621, after the death of his wife, he moved to [[Israel (region)|Israel]], was appointed rabbi of the [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi community]] in Jerusalem, and married Hava, daughter of Eleazer. In 1625, he was kidnapped and imprisoned, together with 15 other Jewish rabbis and scholars, by the [[Pasha]] (Ibn Faruh) and held for ransom. After 1626, Horowitz moved to [[Safed]], erstwhile home of Kabbalah, and later died in [[Tiberias]] on March 24, 1630 ([[Nisan]] 11, 5390 on the [[Hebrew calendar]]).

In his many [[Kabbalah|kabbalistic]], [[aggadah|homiletic]] and [[halakha|halachic]] works, he stressed the joy in every action, and how one should convert the [[Jewish principles of faith#People are born with both a tendency to do good and to do evil|evil inclination]] into good, two concepts that influenced Jewish thought through to the eighteenth-century, and greatly influenced the development of [[Hasidic Judaism]].

Famous descendants of Isaiah Horowitz included [[Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin]] (known as {{Script/Hebrew|החוזה מלובלין}} "The Seer of Lublin"), the prominent Billiczer rabbinical family of [[Szerencs]], [[Hungary]] and the Dym family of rabbis and communal leaders in [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], [[Aaron HaLevi ben Moses of Staroselye]] (a prominent student of [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]]), the Fruchter-Langer families, Rabbi Meir Zelig Mann of Memel, Lithuania (b. 1921, d. 2008), and, on their mother's side, the important Yiddish writers [[Daniel Charney]], [[Shmuel Niger|Shmuel Charney]], and [[Baruch Charney Vladeck|Baruch Vladek]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Charney |first=Daniel |date=1951 |title=Duḳor memuarn; ershṭer ṭayl |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc200642/charney-daniel-dukor-memuarn-ershter-tayl |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=www.yiddishbookcenter.org |publisher=Tint un feder |page=34 |language=yiddish |publication-place=Toronto, Canada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Charney |first=Daniel |url=https://bookshop.org/p/books/dukor-a-memoir-daniel-charney/18826881 |title=Dukor - A Memoir |publisher=JewishGen |year=2022 |edition= |language=en |translator-last=Skakun |translator-first=Michael}}</ref> as well as [[Elie Wiesel]].<ref>Wiesel, Elie, and Elie Wiesel Catherine Temerson (Translator). "Rashi (Jewish Encounters)". ISBN 9780805242546. Schocken, January 1, 1970. Web. October 27, 2016.</ref>

==Works==<!-- This section is linked from [[Tanya (Judaism)|Tanya]] -->
His most important work ''Shenei Luḥot HaBerit'' ({{langx|he|שני לוחות הברית}}, ''[[Ten Commandments#Written in Stone|Two Tablets]] of the Covenant'', abbreviated ''Shelah'' {{Script/Hebrew|של"ה}}), is an encyclopedic compilation of ritual, [[ethics]], and mysticism. It was originally intended as an [[ethical will]] - written as a compendium of the Jewish tradition. The title page of the first edition states that the work is "compiled from both [[Torah]]s, [[Chumash (Judaism)|Written]] and [[Oral Torah|Oral]], [[tradition|handed down]] from [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Sinai]]". The work has had a profound influence on Jewish life - notably, on the early Hasidic movement, including the [[Baal Shem Tov]]; [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] was described as a "''Shelah [[Yid]]''", and ''Shelah'' clearly echoes in his work, ''[[Tanya (Judaism)|Tanya]]''. The work was first published in 1648 by his son, [[Shabbethai Horowitz]], and has been often reprinted. An abbreviated form by [[Jehiel Michel Epstein (17th century)|Jehiel Michel Epstein]] appeared in 1683.<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia|article=Jehiel N. Epstein|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5825-epstein#anchor5}}</ref> (See also [[:he:שני לוחות הברית (ספר)|שני לוחות הברית article]] in the [[Hebrew Wikipedia]]).

Horowitz also wrote the ''Sha'ar ha-Shamayim'' [[siddur]] (prayer book) which had an influence on the later Ashkenazi ''[[Nusach (Jewish custom)|nusach]]''.

===Tefillat HaShlah - The Shelah's Prayer===
Rabbi Horowitz wrote that the eve of the first day of the month of [[Sivan]] is the most auspicious time to pray for the physical and spiritual welfare of one's children and grandchildren, since [[Sivan]] was the month that the [[Torah]] was given to the Jewish people. He composed a special prayer to be said on this day, known as the ''Tefillat HaShlah'' "the Shelah's Prayer".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hakolhayehudi.co.il/midrash/ערב-ראש-חודש-סיוון-תפילת-השלה-171|date=May 18, 2015|website=hakolhayehudi.co.il|language=he|script-title=he:ערב ראש חודש סיוון: תפילת השל"ה|trans-title=Eve of the First of the Month of Sivan: The Shelah's Prayer|access-date=Jan 11, 2017}}</ref> In modern times, the custom of saying this prayer on the appointed day has become very popular among [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] parents.

==Burial place==
Isaiah Horowitz is buried in HaRambam compound / complex in [[Tiberias]] / Tveria.

Other notable rabbis also buried in HaRambam compound / complex:
* [[Maimonides]]
* [[Maimon Ben Yosef]], the father of Maimonides
* [[Eliezer ben Hurcanus]]
* [[Yohanan ben Zakkai]]
* [[Joshua ben Hananiah]]

==Footnotes==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

===Sources===
{{EB1911 poster|Horowitz, Isaiah}}
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=112346 Short biography of Rabbi Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (The Shelah)], chabad.org
*[https://substack.com/home/post/p-160870503 The Enduring Legacy of the Shelah Hakadosh]Hamodia
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050403193250/http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/shlah.htm Rabbi Isaiah ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz (The Shelah)], ou.org
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/shlah.html Rabbi Isaiah ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz (The Shelah)], jewishvirtuallibrary.org
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131002022206/http://www.meaningfullife.com/spiritual/mystics/The_Shaloh.php Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz –The Shelah], meaningfullife.com
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050404123651/http://shlomo.horwitzfam.org/holy-shlah.htm Rabbi Yishayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz], horwitzfam.org
*[https://archive.today/20130129081717/http://mavenmall.com/blog/tefillas-hashlah/ Tefillat HaShlah Custom in Modern Life], mavenmall.com

===Resources===
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130519113036/http://www.seforimonline.org/unsorted/ Shney Luchot Habrit: fulltext download]}} ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]), seforimonline.org
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040829003524/http://www.urimpublications.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=UP&Product_Code=sl&Category_Code=bde ''"Shney Luchot Habrit"''], Translator Rabbi Eliyahu Munk, Urim Publications 2000. {{ISBN|965-7108-07-1}}
* Isaiah Horowitz: The Generations of Adam. Ed. by Miles Krassen. New York 1996.
*[http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%9C%22%D7%94/%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D Text of Tefillat HaShlah] (Hebrew), he.wikisource

==Literature==
*"Life and teachings of Isaiah Horowitz", Rabbi Dr. E. Newman, Judaica Press 1972. {{ISBN|0-9502739-0-2}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Isaiah}}
[[Category:1550s births]]
[[Category:1630 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Rabbis from Prague]]
[[Category:17th-century rabbis from Bohemia]]
[[Category:17th-century German rabbis]]
[[Category:Rabbis in Safed]]
[[Category:Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine]]
[[Category:Kabbalists]]
[[Category:Authors of books on Jewish law]]
[[Category:Rabbis from Frankfurt]]
[[Category:17th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire]]