Rebbetzin Chava Bacharach was an extraordinary woman. A granddaughter of the Maharal of Prague, a daughter of Rabbi Yitzchak Kohen, the famous son-in-law of the Maharal, and the wife of Rabbi Abraham Shmuel Bacharach, who served as rabbi of Worms—Rebbetzin Chava was an outstanding personality in her own right.
Her grandson, Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach, writes in his introduction to his response Chavath Yair (the title of the book incorporates the name of the grandmother) that Rebbetzin Chava read the Midrashim without consulting any commentaries and often her interpretations differed from those of the author of Matnoth Kehuna. One has to state that her explanations were correct, the grandson stresses. She also offered interpretations of her own of piyutim, Selichoth, Rashi on the Torah, the books of the Bible and the Targumim. There were instances when prominent rabbis were not sure of the meaning of a certain text and she would solve the problem.
She was not only a very learned, but also a very pious woman. Her brother Rabbi Chaim Katz, who was rabbi of Frankfurt and later of Posen, and Rabbi Naftali Katz, who was rabbi of Lublin, held her in great esteem.
In her old age, she decided to settle in the Land of Israel. In all the localities through which she passed on her way to Zion, she was greatly honored on account of her own renown and the fame of her two brothers. She didn’t reach the land of Israel, but died in Sofia and was buried there.
David Kaufmann describes in his biography of Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach (Trier, 1894) the volumes of manuscripts the latter had left behind. Rabbi Y. H. Bacharach himself had made a list of the contents of each volume and Kaufmann cites from these. In one of the volumes, Rabbi Y. H. Bacharach had copied the explanatory notes his grandfather and grandmother had written on the margins of the Machzor.
Rabbi Y. H. Bacharach wrote a commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, entitled Mekor Chaim. The work was exceedingly praised by Germany’s leading rabbis, but before Rabbi Y. H. Bacharach could publish it, the commentaries Magen Avraham and Magen David (Turei Zahav) appeared in print. Rabbi Bacharach found that much of what he had written in his work was contained in these commentaries. He, therefore, decided to postpone the printing of Mekor Chaim until he would have revised it.
He never published Mekor Chaim. It remained in manuscript until a few years ago, when it was redeemed from oblivion and printed by MachonYerushalayim.
In his notes on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Siman 662, Rabbi Bacharach cites, with approval, a correction of a Sukkot Piyut by his grandmother.
The Piyut referred to is an Ofan (a Piyut recited before the recitation of “VeHaOfanim VeChayot HaKodesh”) which begins with the words: A’amir Othcha. The last two verses of the third stanza read: Korim U’mishtachavim U’Modim Be’Ahavim / Havi’em Le Shaar Bat Rabbim (They kneel, bow down and give thanks with love / bring them to the gate (Bat Rabbim).
Rebbetzin Chava maintained that the word “Havi’em” has to be deleted. The piyut is arranged according to the Alef Beth. The preceding verse started with a “Khaf” (Korim). The next one must start with a “Lammed” (Le’Sha’ar). There is no place for the word “Havi’em.” The corrected verses read in translation: “They kneel, bow down and give thanks with love towards the gate of “Bat Rabbim” (according to Daniel Goldschmidt the reference is to Jerusalem. See the Midrash and Targum of Shir Hashirim 7:5).
The Piyut has been corrected in some editions of the Machzor (Wolf Heidenheim, D. Goldschmidt, Artscroll).
The Jewish Press, Friday Oct. 16, 1992
Ahavat Olam By Shlomo Algazi
Rabbi Shlomo Algazi was born in Borsa, Turkey, and settled in Jerusalem. For a period he left the Holy City and resided in Smyrna, where he was an early opponent of Shebbethai Zvi. He authored many books. His Ahavath Olam, sermons on Torah, Avodah and Gemilluth Chassadim, was printed in Constantinople in 1642-43. It was reprinted in 1693 in Dyhernfurth, Silesia, in printing shop of R. Shabbetai Bass, the first Hebrew bibliographer and author of Siftei Chachamim on Rashi.
The Dyhernfurth edition has now been reproduced by Copy Corner of Brooklyn.
By Tovia Preschel
The Jewish Press
October 16, 1992