Reb Shalom Shachna of Lublin zy"a, rebbi of the Remu
Rabbi Shalom Shachna zy"a
רבי שלום שכנא זי״ע
Upcoming yahrzeit: 11 November 2026 (5787)
Send a kvittel to this keverBiography
Rabbi Shalom Shachna zy"a of Lublin, often called Reb Shachna, was rav and rosh yeshiva in Lublin. The year of his birth is not settled; accounts range from about 1490 to about 1510, and many write around 1495 (5255). He was a son of Yosef of Lublin. He was niftar on Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 1 Kislev 5319 (1558). The matzeivah in the old Beis Hachaim in Lublin names him “Shalom hamechuneh Shachna, ben Yosef,” and records that he was gathered to his people on Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5319.
He learned by Reb Yaakov Pollak zy"a, and later stood at the head of the yeshiva in Lublin, where talmidim came from far. Among his talmidim were the Remu zy"a, Reb Moshe Isserles — who was also his son-in-law in his first marriage — and Reb Chaim ben Betzalel, a brother of the Maharal of Prague. After his histalkus, his son Reb Yisrael headed the yeshiva; the Maharshal zy"a also stood at its head in those years.
He was known as an anav. His son Reb Yisrael testified, in a teshuvah printed in Shu"t HaRema, that he asked his father many times, together with other lomdim, to write a sefer of psak, and that his father would not do it. He said he did not want the world to lean only on his hora'ah. Besides a small number of teshuvos printed in his lifetime, and hagahos he wrote on his Shas — which the printers in Lublin later used — he left no sefer of his own.
He rests in the old Jewish cemetery on Grodzisko hill, ul. Kalinowszczyzna, in Lublin. The tall old matzeivah still stands, and Yidden leave kvittlach there. Next to it today stands the newer matzeivah of Rabbi Azriel HaLevi Horowitz zt"l, as the photographs show. Your kvittel will be placed on the kever of Reb Shalom Shachna zy"a in Lublin.
Historical background
Lublin was a center of Torah in the sixteenth century, and Reb Shalom Shachna’s yeshiva drew talmidim from far. He rests in the old Jewish cemetery on Grodzisko hill, at ul. Kalinowszczyzna, one of the oldest batei chaim in Poland. Burials were held there until the early nineteenth century, when a newer cemetery was opened in the city. The Maharshal zy"a and other gedolim of Lublin also rest in this Beis Hachaim. The tall stone in the photographs is Reb Shachna’s own matzeivah, not the kever of the Maharshal or of the Maharam of Lublin; the inscription names him Shalom, called Shachna, son of Yosef.
Before & after
Who came before
- Reb Yaakov Pollak zy"a — His rebbi
Who came after
- The Remu zy"a, Reb Moshe Isserles — His talmid, and his son-in-law in his first marriage
- Reb Yisrael, his son — He headed the yeshiva in Lublin after his father
- The Maharshal zy"a, Reb Shlomo Luria — He also stood at the head of the Lublin yeshiva in that dor, and he rests in the same Beis Hachaim
In his dor
- Rabbi Azriel HaLevi Horowitz zt"l, the Rosh HaBarzel — Of a later dor; his newer matzeivah stands today beside Reb Shachna’s old stone, 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.
- Hebrew Wikipedia: Shalom Shachna of Lublin (1 Kislev 5319 / 1558; matzeivah in the old Jewish cemetery, Lublin)
- English Wikipedia: Shalom Shachna (death 1558; rebbi and father-in-law of the Remu)
- Teatr NN Lexicon: Old Jewish cemetery in Lublin (Grodzisko / Kalinowszczyzna; Shalom Shachna, 1558)
- Virtual Shtetl: Old Jewish cemetery in Lublin, ul. Kalinowszczyzna (Grodzisko hill)
- Hebcal date converter (Hebrew–Gregorian yahrzeit dates, including 5787)
Send a kvittel
Send a kvittel to Rabbi Shalom Shachna zy"a
Write the names and your bakashah. The kvittel will be brought to this kever. A pidyon of eighteen dollars or more goes with it; you choose the amount, and you will be taken to a secure payment page. The shliach receives the kvittel only once the pidyon is received.