Reb Moshe Isserles zy"a
The Remu zy"a
דער הייליגער רמ״א זי״ע
Upcoming yahrzeit: 25 May 2027 (5787)
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The Remu zy"a, Reb Moshe Isserles, was born in Krakow around 1520 (some say around 1525). He was niftar there on Lag BaOmer, 18 Iyar 5332 (11 May 1572). The earlier Global Kvittel site already wrote that he was born and niftar in Krakow, led a large yeshiva, and even in his younger years also led the city's beis din.
He learned in Lublin by Reb Shalom Shachna zy"a. Around 1550 he opened a large yeshiva in Krakow. He was a wealthy man, and he was machzik his talmidim from his own pocket. He was a giant in Torah, in halacha, and in kabbalah.
When the Beis Yosef's Shulchan Aruch came out, it was built mainly on Sefardi poskim. The Remu zy"a added his Mapah — a “tablecloth” for the Beis Yosef's “set table.” Those hagahos are printed in the standard Shulchan Aruch in Rashi script. Tzaddikim would say on him, “ובני ישראל יוצאים ביד רמ״א.”
His father built the Remah Shul in Krakow, which still stands in Kazhimiezh. The Remu zy"a rests in the Beis Hachaim right beside it. On the matzeivah it says, “From Moshe (the Rambam) to Moshe (Isserles) there was none like Moshe.” Until the war, thousands of Yidden used to come on Lag BaOmer. Your kvittel will be placed on the kever of the Remu zy"a in the Remah Beis Hachaim in Krakow.
Historical background
The Remu zy"a lived in the years after the gezeirah of Spain (1492), when the poskim were gathering halacha into one written sefer. The Beis Yosef finished the Shulchan Aruch in the middle of that century, and Polish Jewry was becoming a great Torah center, with yeshivos in Krakow and Lublin. Kazhimiezh was a leading kehillah. The Remu zy"a was a giant in halacha, and he also looked into other chochmos with a Torah oig.
Before & after
Who came before
- Reb Yisroel Isserl zt"l — His father, a parnas and rosh in the Krakow kehillah, and the founder of the Remah Shul. He rests in the same Beis Hachaim.
- Reb Shalom Shachna of Lublin zy"a — His main rebbi, rosh yeshiva in Lublin; also his shver in his first marriage
Who came after
- The Bach zy"a, Reb Yoel Sirkis — A later Av Beis Din of Krakow, from 1619. One of his rebbeim, Reb Hirsh Shor of Brisk, was a talmid of the Remu. He also rests in the Remah Beis Hachaim.
- The Megaleh Amukos zy"a — Rosh yeshiva and darshan in Krakow from 1617, a dor later, and he rests in the same Beis Hachaim
- The Tosefos Yom Tov zy"a — Rav in Krakow from 1643 and later rosh yeshiva; he also rests in the Remah Beis Hachaim
In his dor
- Reb Yosef Karo, the Beis Yosef zy"a — Mechaber of the Shulchan Aruch; the Remu zy"a wrote the Mapah on his sefer
- Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi zt"l, the Maasei Hashem — A godol of the same dor. They corresponded, and the Remu brings a psak of his in Shu"t HaRema, siman 96. According to the sources, Reb Eliezer settled in Krakow only in 1584, after the Remu's histalkus in 1572, and he rests in the same Beis Hachaim.
Sources
The facts on this page come from the earlier site and from the sources listed here. Where the sources are not one shittah, it is written in the text.
- Archived English pages of globalkvittel.com (Wayback Machine, especially 2024-04-27 and 2025-10-30)
- Archived Yiddish (default) home and tzaddik pages of globalkvittel.com
- Wikipedia: Moses Isserles (Moshe Isserles, the Remu)
- YIVO Encyclopedia: Isserles, Mosheh ben Yisra’el
- Hebcal date converter (Hebrew–Gregorian yahrzeit dates, including 5787)
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