Since we are now in the period of counting the Omer, the following excerpt is of particular relevance.
The Gaon Rabbi Isaiah b. Abraham HaLevi Horowitz writes in his Shnei Luchot HaBrit: “I have learned (kibbalti, lit. received) from my teacher, the Gaon Maharash of Lublin, who heard it from his teacher, who in turn heard it from his teacher, the Gaon R. Jacob Pollack, ZT”L that one should not recite the Kiddush and eat the meal on the first night of Shavuot until stars have appeared in the sky. The reason is that the Torah states regarding the counting of the Omer, ‘Seven complete weeks shall there be.’ If one recites the Kiddush while it is still day, he takes off from the 49 days to be counted… and there are no complete seven weeks.” (This statement is also found in Emek Beracha as well as in Siddur Sha’ar Hashamayim, the Siddur of the Shlah.)
The Gaon Maharash of Lublin mentioned in this excerpt is Rabbi Shlomo B.R. Leibush’s of Lublin, who was Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz’s teacher. The chain of tradition referred to by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz is: Rabbi Jacob Pollack —Rabbi Shalom Shakhna– Rabbi Shlomo b. Rabbi Leibush’s.
The opinion of Rabbi Jacob Pollack- who lived 500 years ago — regarding the time of ushering in the festival of Shavuot was eventually accepted by Jewish communities everywhere.
Rabbi Jacob Pollack, as his name seems to indicate, probably hailed from Poland. He studied at a yeshiva in Bavaria which was headed by Rabbi Jacob Margolis.
After he left Germany he served -as rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Prague. Later he was rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Cracow. He introduced, in the Yeshivot he headed, the Pilpul method of study customary in the Yeshivot in Germany and developed it even further.
Rabbi Jacob Pollack was reputed as a great master of Pilpul. It is told that some of his students once tore out several pages from his Gemara. When he delivered his lecture, R. Pollack did not notice that some pages were missing, but by means of Pilpul he connected to each other the contents of the two (non-consecutive ) pages in front of him.
(Many generations later, a similar story was told about Rabbi Leibish Charif of Plotsk- Rabbi Aryeh Leib Zinz- author of many books.)
Rabbi Jacob Pollack clashed with the leading Ashkenazic rabbis of his time, including his teacher Rabbi Jacob Margolis, when he permitted a minor orphan girl to exercise the right of Me’un by rejecting the husband she had been married to and to marry another man. He also clashed with Rabbi Abraham Minz of Padua, Italy on another matter.
Rabbi Pollack left Cracow in the early 1520s for the Land of Israel. It is not known whether he reached his destination, nor when he died.
His most important student was Rabbi Shalom Shakhna, who served as Rosh Yeshiva in Lublin for about 40 years. The inscription on his tomb in Lublin, which is still preserved, notes that “in the last generations there was none who spread Torah as much as he did.” Rabbi Shalom Shakna was the father-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Isserles.
Rabbi Jacob Pollack, about whom R. David Gans, a student of Rabbi Moshe Isserles, wrote in his Tzemach David that his fame spread from one end of the world to the other and Rabbi Shalom Shakna, about whom R. David Gans expressed himself in a similar manner, are regarded as the fathers of Talmud study in Poland.
(To be concluded)
The Jewish Press, Friday, May 2, 2003 p. 36
Neither Rabbi Jacob Pollack nor Rabbi Shalom Shakhna authored any books. Rabbi Israel, son of Rabbi Shalom Shakhna explained that it was on account of their great piety and extraordinary humility that these men did not want those who came after them to rely on their decisions, and that is why they did not put their Halahic decisions into writing (see Responsa of the Rema No. 25).
Another explanation as to why Rabbi Pollack and Rabbi Shakhna did not author any books was mentioned by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik in a Mishnayot Shiur he gave at Yeshiva University on March 11, 1968 on the occasion of the yahrzeit of his Rebbe, Tanya Soloveitchik.
We permit ourselves to quote from this talk as recorded by Aaron Rakeffet Rothkoff in his The Rav, the World of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (New York, 1999, Vol. 1 pp. 134-135).
“I once heard from my father, in the name of Reb Chaim [of Brisk] the following report regarding Reb Yaakov Pollack. Please remember that Reb Chaim was very careful in transmitting such reports. Reb Chaim heard from his father, Reb Yosef Baer in the name of Reb Chaim Volozhin that Reb Yaakov Pollack and Reb Shalom Shakhna did not author any [books] because they felt that the prohibition that ‘words transmitted orally you are not at liberty to recite from writing’ (Gittin 60b) was still applicable in their own time. Accordingly we may only record those teachings that are absolutely essential for Torah study and Halakhic decision-making. This is the maximum permitted by the verse which declares, ‘When it is time to work for the L-rd, they have made void Thy Law (Psalms 119:126; Gittin 60a). upon which the sages based their (partial) cancellation of the prohibition to record such teachings. An arrogant person thinks that people cannot get along without his writings and so he authors[books]. However a really modest and humble person does not think that his writings are indispensable. Since his [books] are not indispensable for the survival of Torah, he is not permitted to write down his rulings and teachings. that is why Reb Yaakov Pollack — the personification of humility according to tradition — and Reb Shalom Shakhna did not publish anything.”
We now have two reasons to explain why Rabbi Pollack and Rabbi Shakhna did not write any books. One is the reluctance to bind future generations by their decisions, as stated in the explanation given by Rabbi Israel, the son of Rabbi Shalom Shakhna, who states that he heard it from his father; the other is the general prohibition of putting down in writing any teachings that are not absolutely indispensable, as related by Rabbi Chayim of Volozhin, probably on the basis of an old tradition.
Are these explanations mutually exclusive, or might both be true? Let us note first that according to both explanations, it was the extraordinary humility of Rabbi Jacob Pollack and Rabbi Shalom Shakhna that caused them to refrain from authoring books. Rabbi Shalom Shakhna did not deem his Halakhic decisions worthy to be relied upon by those who came after him, and therefore did not want to commit them into writing to be preserved for posterity. According to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, Rabbi Jacob Pollack and Rabbi Shalom Shakhna did not regard their rulings and teachings absolutely essential for Torah study and consequently concluded that they were not permitted to record them in writing.
It is of interest to note here that when Rabbi Israel Shakhna asked his father why he was not writing down his decision, the father’s answer (that he did not want to be relied upon) referred only to Halakhic decisions. Hence we can assume that Rabbi Israel’s explanations as to why his father and Rabbi Jacob Pollack did not write any books relates only to Halakhic decisions. True,they also abstained from writing works dealing with Perushim (commentaries) and Chiddushim (novellae) but this must be due to the prohibition pointed out by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.
The Jewish Press, Friday May 9, 2003