Rabbi Joshua Falk (ben Alexander Katz, 1555 - 1614) is best known as the author of the Beit Yisrael commentary on the Arba'ah Turim as well as Sefer Me'irat Enayim on Shulkhan Arukh.

Biography

Falk was born in Lublin. He studied under two of the most prominent rabbis of his generation, Solomon Luria and Moses Isserles. He was Rosh Yeshiva in Lemberg and served on the Council of Four Lands. In 1611 Falk issued a bill of divorce "which occasioned lenghty discussions" among the rabbis of the time, including Meir Lublin.

Falk was opposed to the reliance on law codes to the exclusion of study of the original sources. Towards this end he composed a series of commentaries on the most influential codes, Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's Tur and Rabbi Joseph Karo's Shulkhan Arukh. He spent his early life composing extensive analytical commentaries on the Talmud, which were later lost in a fire.

Works

Beit Yisrael is a twin commenatry, composed of the Perishah, a straightforward explanation of the Tur and the Derishah, deeper discussions on specific problems. The Perishah clarifies the rulings of the Tur, by tracing them to their sources in the Talmud and Rishonim. The Derishah is devoted to extensive analysis and comparison of the various interpretations and decisions proposed by various Talmudic authorities.

Sefer Me'irat Enayim is a commentary to the Choshen Mishpat section of the Shulkhan Arukh, containing all the decisions of the Rishonim, with an index of their sources. Falk also wrote a series of glosses on Isserles' Darkhei Moshe.

External Links

• Beit Israel ("Perishah" and "Derishah"), Prof. Eliezer Segal
• Falk, Joshua Ben Alexander Ha-Kohen, jewishencyclopedia.com