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Juda Liw Ben Bekalela
(Jehuda Loew(e)/Liwa ben Becalel) (ca. 1520-1609)
Ben Bekalela is also known as Der Hohe Rabbi Loew, as well as by the
acronym Maharal. He was a learned rabbi, mystic and philosopher. He
spent most of his life in Prague, though he also had links with Poland,
where he had studied in a Talmudic academy. For twenty years, he was a
rabbi in Nikolsburg (Mikulov, Moravia), eventually becoming the chief
rabbi of Moravia. He moved to Prague, where he founded his own Talmudic
academy, a yeshiva. He directed the school for over eleven years.
Beginning in 1584, he was a rabbi in Poznan, and returned to Prague four
years later, only to move back to Poznan, where he became chief rabbi
of that city, and then all of Wielkopolska. The last eleven years of his
life were spent in Prague as that city's chief rabbi.
He was known for his unusual dynamism, demonstrated for example by
his implementation of a broad range of organizational reforms in all
Jewish groups he happened to lead. He founded many Jewish associations
that served as focal points for the entire community. He understood a
rabbi's role in educational and spiritual terms, and strove to emphasize
the aspects of his activities as rabbi that were positive for the
community, while moving away from excessive political involvement and
purely representational functions.
He supported Jewish education and urged that curricula reflect the
age of the pupils. Not only would an ambitious program exceeding the
intellectual abilities of the children not be mastered, it might also
discourage interest in studying the Torah. Referring to the wisdom of
earlier rabbis, and as an enlightened pedagogue, Ben Bekalela
recommended that boys begin studying the Bible at the age of five, the
Mishna at ten, and the Talmud at fifteen. This educational system
returned the Mishna to its proper place in the curriculum. Juda Liw put
great emphasis on the study of the Hebrew language and its grammar.
In Talmudic studies, he was opposed to the dominant form of
argumentation, pilpul, favoring more literal interpretations. The fact
that he was himself a highly regarded mathematician did not, however,
influence his attitude toward introducing the secular subjects into
Jewish education - something he strictly opposed.
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Juda Liw based his views on Jewish thought,
particularly on its mysticism. He believed that the only advantage of
philosophy is that it can confirm what Jews have known for a long time
already thinks to their texts. In his writing, Juda Liw concentrated on
oppositions, such as God and the earth, male and female. He believed
the Torah to be a mediator between God and man; as a consequence of
this, he was convinced of the need for each Jew to study the Torah, to
follow its commandments in his or her life, and in this way contribute
to the final redemption of the world. According to Liw, the role of
Jews in this final redemption is fundamental, and the return of the Jews
to their homeland is a basic condition for the final salvation of the
human race.
In Jewish and Czech legends, Liw is known as the creator of golem.
The old Talmudic literature used the term "golem" to describe a figure
made of clay, which was miraculously brought to life by the magic use of
the secret name of God. The most famous legend tells the tale of the
Prague rabbi Juda Liw (Judah Loewe), who tried to defend his community
from false accusations of ritual murder. When the situation became
critical, the rabbi asked God for help, and was told to create a golem.
With his pupils, he made a giant, dressed him in the garb of a
shamash (an assistant in the synagogue) and told him to defend the
Prague Jews. When a non-Jewish butcher tried to throw the corpse of a
child who had been killed onto the grounds of the Jewish quarter so the
Jews could later be accused of ritual murder, the golem caught him
red-handed and took him by force to the magistrate, where the culprit
was punished. Other stories about the golem's later fate are numerous,
and the legend served as inspiration for many literary works, plays and
films.
Juda Liw probably became the hero of this legend thanks to his
mysticism, but it should be recalled that he was also the author of many
texts about religious law, ethics and homiletics. (asw)
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