Judah Leib ben Isaac

Judah Leib ben Isaac of Szydłów (Szydłowski) (Hebrew: יהודה לייב בן יצחק משדלוב; d. 1730) was an 18th-century Polish rabbi who served as a representative of Kraków in the Council of Four Lands. He is also known by the Hebrew language acronym Rischak.

Biography

Born in Szydłów, Poland to and old and distinguished rabbinic family from Przemyśl. Being born in Szydłow was the reason for adopting the surname Szydłowski (Yiddish: שידלאווער) as to indicate his origin from Szydłow as surnames was not mandatory at this point of time. His father Isaac ben Samuel Zak (Zera Kodesh) was the Chief Rabbi of Przemyśl and later Kraków. His mother was the daughter of Joshua Höschel ben Joseph, Meginei Shlomo and thus was a descendant of Judah Leib the Elder. His grandfather Rabbi Shmuel “Schmelke” Zak (Zera Kodesh) was the chief rabbi of Ostroh and was the husband of the great granddaughter of Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch Treves (chief rabbi of Opatów) and thus was a descendant of Rashi. Judah’s great grandfather Rabbi Meir Zak adopted the family name Zak (Zera Kodesh) after his brother Rabbi Mordechai ben Avraham chief rabbi of Lublin was martyred. Zak is an abbreviation of the Hebrew expression Zera Kodesh meaning holy seed taken from the verse 6:13 in the book of Isaiah. Rabbi Meir Zak’s mother was Dinah Weil a descendant of Meir of Rothenburg, the Maharam of Rottenberg. According to family tradition he was a descendant of Rabbeinu Jacob ben Asher, Baal Haturim, Rabbeinu Asher Ben Jehiel, The Rosh, Rabbi Eliezer ben Nathan, Ra’avan, and Rabbeinu Gershom.

In his early years, Judah officiated as rabbi in Szydłów later serving as representative of Kraków in the Council of Four Lands. After 1715 he became rabbi and president of the Yeshiva at Kraków, where he remained till his death in 1730. Judah is known for his many approbations (haskamot) of other rabbinical books and decisions such as the book "Panim Me'irot," by rabbi Meïr Eisenstadt (Amsterdam, 1714), and "Berit Shalom," by rabbi Pinchas ben Pelta (Frankfurt on the Main, 1718). His son, David Samuel served as the Av Beit Din of Szydłów and Chmielnik until 1731. David Samuel is the paternal grandfather Shmuel of Karov.

Judah’s wife left a last will and testament in which she favored the younger son Rabbi David Samuel instead of the oldest son Rabbi Yehoshua of Szydlow. Rabbi David Samuel was accused of forging the last will and testament by Rabbi Yehoshua of Szydlow. A fight therefore erupted between the two sons which compromised Rabbi David Samuel so much that he left his position as the chief rabbi of Kraków. Judah’s son Rabbi Josef “Harif” Szydłowski married Liba Shapiro the daughter of the chief rabbi of Kraków Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira, the Megaleh Amukkot.

All the seven sons of rabbi Judah who also were rabbis being heads of the rabbinical courts in towns in southern Poland (Galicia) mainly in Województwo świętokrzyskie and surrounding areas signed the excommunication of the Italian rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, the Ramchal, in 1734 because of the publication of his kabbalistic books.