the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Bible Encyclopedias
Cohen, Shabbethai
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Russian Talmudist; born at Wilna 1621; died at Holleschau on the 1st of Adar (Rishon), 1662. In 1633 he entered the yeshibah of R. Joshua at Tyktizin, studying later at Cracow and Lublin. Returning to Wilna, he married the daughter of R. Simeon Wolf b. Isaac Benimus, and shortly after was appointed one of the assistants of R. Moses, author of "?el?at Me?o?e?." In 1646 he went to Cracow, and in the following year published his "Sifte Kohen," commentary on the Shul?an 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, a work that was approved by eighteen of the greatest scholars of that generation. In 1648 the communities of Russian Poland were devastated by Chmielnicki, Shabbethai ha-Kohen being among the sufferers. About this time he published his "Megillah 'Afah." After a short stay at Prague, where he had sought refuge from the Cossack uprising, he was called to the rabbinate of Dresin, and later to that of Holleschau, where he gained the intimate friendship of Magister Valentini Vidrich of Leipsic.
Shabbethai ha-Kohen was regarded by his contemporaries as more than usually learned. He frequently contested the decisions of his predecessors, and followed an entirely new path in the interpretation of the Talmudic law. He made light, too, of the decisions of his contemporaries, and thus drew on himself the enmity of some among them, including David b. Samuel ha-Levi, author of "?ure Zahab," and Aaron Samuel Kaidanover, author of "Birkat ha-Zeba?." Nevertheless, the majority of contemporary scholars considered his commentary, "Sifte Kohen," as of the highest authority, and applied his decisions to actual cases as the final word of the Law. In addition to his knowledge of the Talmudic law he was versed in the Cabala, which he used in explaining various passages of the Bible. His mastery of Hebrew is evidenced by the seli?ot which he composed in commemoration of the Chmielnicki tragedies. As a logician he stood, perhaps, first among the Talmudic scholars of his age.
Shabbethai ben Me�r ha-Kohen.
Shabbethai wrote the following works: "Sifte Kohen" (referred to above); "Seli?ot" for the 20th of Siwan, in memory of those killed during the tragedy of 1648 (Amsterdam, 1651); "Sifte Kohen," on Shul?an 'Aruk. ?oshen Mishpa? (Amsterdam, 1667); "Ha-Aruk," a commentary on the Yoreh De'ah (Berlin, 1667); "Ne?uddot ha-Kesef." criticism of the "?ure Zahab" of R. David ha-Levi of Lemberg (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1677); "Te?afo Kohen," general laws concerning "teku," etc. (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1677); "Geburat Anashim," on section 154 of the Shul?an 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer (Dessau, 1697); " Po'el ?ede?," an arrangement of the 613 commandments of Maimonides (Jessnitz, 1720); a discourse upon the passage "Kammah Ma'alot"in the Haggadah (Presburg, 1840; abbreviation of "Kerem Shelomoh").
- Kobak's Jeschurun, vol.;
- B. Friedburg, Keter Kehunnah, Drohobyez, 1898;
- Gr�tz, Gesch. vol.;
- S. P. Rabbinowitz, Dibre Yeme Yisrael, vol. , Warsaw, 1899;
- Jonah ?ayyim Gurland, Le-?orot ha-Gezerot be-Yisrael, 5:64. Cracow, 1892;
- Zedner, Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus. p. 693;
- Der Orient, 1847;
- M. Freudenthal, Aus der Heimath Mendelssohn's, p. 13, Berlin, 1900;
- Bikkure ha-'Ittim, 10:43;
- Kokbe Yi??a?, 1:78;
- Fuenn, ?iryah Ne'emanah, p. 77, Wilna, 1860.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Cohen, Shabbethai'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/c/cohen-shabbethai.html. 1901.
