Wise as Solomon

November 7 1573 – 12 Kislev 5334

Solomon Luria (born 1510 at Brest-Litovsk), also known as Rashal or Maharshal, died in Lublin. Descended from generations of Torah scholars, Maharshal served as rabbi and headed Talmudic academies in Brisk and Lublin, where he founded a new style of Talmudic analysis. A contemporary and relative of famed halakhic authority Rabbi Moses Isserles, the two corresponded, exchanging and commenting on each others’ manuscripts before publication. Maharshal authoredYam Shel Shlomo (Sea of Solomon), a commentary on several volumes of the Talmud, and Hokhmat Shlomo (Wisdom of Solomon) in which he corrected many faulty readings in the Talmud and its commentaries.