- Yair Bacharach
Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach (1639,
Lipník nad Bečvou ,Moravia — 1702) was a Germanrabbi , initially inKoblenz and remainder of his life in Worms andMetz . His grandmother Chava was a granddaughter of the Maharal of Prague, and his father and grandfather had served as rabbis of Metz.He was the author of "Havvot Yair" ("Villages of Yair") a collection of
responsa by the title of which is he commonly referred; its title is a reference to his grandmother Chava as well as to a place mentioned in Numbers 32:41 and elsewhere in the Jewish Bible. Other work includes his "Mekor Chayim ", which was intended as a principal commentary to "Shulkhan Arukh " but was withdrawn by Bacharach when he discovered that other commentaries, notably the Taz and the Magen Avraham, had appeared. It is still regarded a prime source of material concerning "minhagim" (customs) of the area and epoch.Besides his Halakhic expertise he had complete mastery of all the
sciences ,music ,history and wrotepoetry . He compiled a 46 volume encyclopedia on many topics.In 1689 the Worms community was decimated by the French. Gradually, it was rebuilt. In 1699 he was appointed rabbi of Worms where his father and grandfather had served before him. He served for only three years until his death in 1702. The inscription on his tombstone begins with the words, “A great and dark horror befalls us from the hiding of the light of Rabbeinu...”
In 1982 his major work, "Mekor Chaim", was finally published posthumously by
Mechon Yerushalayim .References
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=67&letter=B Jewish Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/bacharach.htm Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach] from theOrthodox Union website
* [http://www.loebtree.com/opp.html#cy Family Tree]
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