EARLY LIFE
Rabbi Yom Tob ben Moshe Tsahalon (1559-1619), also known by his acronym מהריט” ץ, was a student of Rabbi Moshe of Tirani (the Mabbit) and Rabbi Moshe Alshekh haQadosh. He may have also occasionally studied under Rabbi Yosef Caro, author of the Shulchan’ Arukh. Rabbi Tsahalon was a child prodigy. From an early age, he combined advanced intelligence and a passion for studying Tora. Referring to his learning as a teenager with the Mabbit and Rabbi Alshekh, he writes: “I devoted myself to studying day, evening and night, without interruption … clinging to the dust of the feet of the two great luminaries [his two teachers] and drinking with thirst their words and teachings … [During all this time] I did not rest or pause, and I only dedicated myself to learning the Divine Judgments [the Laws of the Tora] …. I suffered the mockery of my friends when they saw that I was walking so strictly on these good paths; they despised me because I did not do what the youth of my age used to do … but I did not distract myself… since my greatest delight was always to learn Divine Laws … “The effort paid off. When he was 20 years old, the young Rab Tsahalon began to write his Pesaqim, his Rabbinic Responsa, something reserved for very experienced Rabbis. We have evidence that at the age of 25, some of the most important rabbis of that time, such as Rabbi Shemuel Yafe of Constantinople (1525-1595) consulted with the young rabbi Tsahalon, to know his opinion in all kinds of rabbinical jurisprudence cases. Some of those responses were published in the most famous book of Rabbi Tsahalon “She-elot Utshubot Maharitats”. The book was printed in Venice, Italy, in 1694 (see link here). It is a collection of Rabbinical questions and answers on Jewish rituals and legal issues.
THE BEST GIFT FOR PURIM
One of Rabbi Tsahalon’s lesser-known books, but perhaps the most fascinating, is a commentary on Megillat Esther, the Book of Esther. The name of the book is “Leqach Tob”. And I found three reasons to assert that this is an amazing book. 1. Rabbi Tsahalon published this book in the year 1577. Considering that he was born in 1559, he then published his book he was 18! Which means that he wrote this book in his early teens! 2. Like every good book, its content makes this work fascinating: Rabbi Tsahalon bases his commentary on two fundamental elements: 1. The Talmud, and the ideas of the Midrash. 2. a critical and meticulous analysis of the Biblical language, where many times a new meaning can be discovered by rereading the same text with a “mental microscope,” analyzing the almost imperceptible details of the Hebrew words. 3. Finally, what makes this book truly unique is that it was the first book ever printed in the land of Israel! Until the year 1577, there were no printing presses in Israel. Jewish books were printed mainly in Italy (Rome, Ferrara, Venice) or Turkey. The first printing press in the history of Israel was established in Tsefat by Rabbi Eliezer ben Ytshaq Ashkenazi, who had his printing in Lublin (Poland) and Constantinople (Turkey). Anyway, this printing press did not last long, only ten years, in which only the book of Rab Tsahalón and five other books were printed (for the fascinating story of the first printing press in Israel, see the article: “Early Hebrew Printing from Lublin to Safed: The Journeys of Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi” by Marvin Heller). Rabbi Tsahalon dedicated this book to his father as a mishloach manot, a gift, for the festival of Purim.
We will now see a couple of examples of his commentary.
1. RELIGIOUS EXCEPTION One of the most famous questions of the Megilla is why Mordekhai refused to bow to Haman. The Midrash explains that Haman had an idol around his neck, which made him a representative (virtually: a human incarnation) of that god. Therefore, kneeling before Haman would amount to idolatry. The question then is: Why did Mordechai stay at the King’s court? If he could not kneel before Haman, he should have quit his position in the court and not endangered the lives of the Jews of the Persian empire! Rab Tsahalon (page 34) observed that the last words describing what Mordekhai did are written in the future tense, and although in many cases like this, this type of continuous tense can be understood as a past tense, in this particular case, we must preserve the original conjugation. Thus, this Pasuq would say, “All the officers at the King’s court knelt and prostrated before Haman because the King had so ordered … but Mordekhai should not kneel, and should not prostrate [before Haman]. “Thus, Rabbi Tsahalon explains that the King actually granted Mordekhai special permission, a religious exemption, so that Mordekhai, a known Jew, would not have to kneel before Haman. Obviously, Haman was not happy with seeing Mordekhay standing. Despite the King’s exception, Haman felt humiliated and plotted to kill the entire Jewish people in response. When he presents his case to the King, he never mentions anything about Mordekhay’s refusal to bow down. As far as I know, this explanation is unique and original to Rabbi Tsahalon.
2. 70 DAYS OF HORROR When you read the Meguilla, you must make a huge effort to visualize what the Yehudim must have suffered once the edict reached their residence. In that edict, there were explicit instructions that at a certain date, the 13th of Adar, all Jews would be killed. No appeals. No exceptions. This terrible letter from Shushan the 13 of Nisan (11 months before the “execution day”) and it must have arrived after a few days or weeks to all the corners of the empire. Now, what happened once the letter arrived? Were the Jews able to be free and continue with their lives? Were they allowed to escape? Part of the sinister plan of Haman was that the volunteer executors could keep the assets of the victims, so all the prospective volunteers wanted to make sure that no Jew escaped with anything of value until the day of the genocide. The Midrashim tell us that many times after the letter got there, many non-Jewish neighbors showed their sharp knives to the horrified Jewish mothers, mocking them and showing that they would kill their little children with those weapons. The Midrash also explains that the perpetrators celebrated in advance of the massacre and planned how to distribute the Jews’ assets and property possessions. In his book Leqach Tob, Rabbi Tsahalon explains that once the edict was publicly read, the Jews were “detained” or “imprisoned” (משועבדים), probably with the collaboration of the imperial army to prevent them from escaping with their possessions or from saving their lives. Thinking of 1940-1945 Europe, it is not difficult to imagine the “labor camps” where thousands of Jews must have been imprisoned and awaiting the day of their execution. The Jews were not able to do anything to defend themselves. They prayed, fasted, and hoped for a miracle. Which ultimately happened. It took 70 days until the second letter was sent from Shushan reversing the mandate and “condemning to execution all those who planned to execute the Jews”.
You can find this and other original insights of Rabbi Tsahalon in his book Leqach Tob (hebrewbooks.org).
