Editing Judah Loew ben Bezalel (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
[[File:Prague_Praha_2014_Holmstad_Den_gammelnye_synagogen.JPG|thumb|The [[Old New Synagogue|Old New Synagogue, Prague]] where he officiated]]
[[File:Loew-rabin-tombstone.jpg|thumb|Loew's tombstone in the [[Old Jewish Cemetery (Prague)|Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague]]]]
Loew was probably born in [[Poznań]], [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Poland]],<ref name="HaariShebechamaiPrag">{{cite book | author = ד"ר א. הכהן עובדיה Dr Avraham Hacohen Ovadia (Gotsdiner) | title = Ha'ari Shebechachmai Prague | year = 2001 | pages = 138 | publisher = [[:he:מוסד הרב קוק|Mosad Harav Kook]] | location = [[Jerusalem]], [[Israel]] | language = he | oclc = 145439809 | url = http://www.mosadharavkook.com/store/item2.php?id=97 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090529085218/http://www.mosadharavkook.com/store/item2.php?id=97 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2009-05-29 }}</ref>—though Perels<ref name="megilasYuchsin">{{cite book | author = Meir Perels | title = Megilas Yuchsin | year =1718| location=[[Prague]] | oclc=122864700}}</ref> lists the birth town mistakenly<ref name="HaariShebechamaiPrag"/> as [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]—to Rabbi Bezalel (Loew), whose family originated from the [[History of the Jews in Germany|Rhenish town]] of [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]. Perels claimed that his grandfather Chajim of Worms was the grandson of [[Judah Leib the Elder]] and thus a claimant to the [[Davidic line]], through [[Sherira Gaon]].<ref name="megilasYuchsin" /> However, modern scholars such as [[Otto Muneles]] have challenged this.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Muneles|first=Otto|title=Der Alte jüdische Friedhof in Prag|year=1955}}</ref> Prior to the publication of Perels’ genealogy in 1853, traditions existed of the Maharal’s descent from the House of David, not through Yehudah Leib the Elder or Hai Gaon, but through Rashi and his ancestor Yokhanan the Sandlar (died 140 C.E.).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Englard|first=Rabbi Shlomo|title=Questions in Rabbinic Genealogy, Avotaynu, Volume XII, Number 1|year=1996}}</ref>Loew's birth year is uncertain, with different sources listing 1512,<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 - Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs - Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (page 242 of 318) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=242 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref><ref name="megilasYuchsin"/> 1520<ref name="Grun">{{cite book | author = Nathan Grün | title = Der hohe Rabbi Löw und sein Sagenkreis | year =1885| publisher =Verlag von Jakob B. Brandeis | location=[[Prague]]| language=de | oclc=19037024| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HqLGQAACAAJ}}</ref> and 1526.<ref name="HaariShebechamaiPrag"/><ref name="Jeřábek">{{cite book | author = Luboš Jeřábek | title = Der alte Prager Judenfriedhof | year =1903| publisher =Kunstverlag B. Koci | location=[[Prague]]| language=de | oclc=1810845| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBY8AAAAMAAJ}}</ref> His uncle [[Jakob ben Chajim]] was ''Reichsrabbiner'' ("Rabbi of the Empire") of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and his older brother Chaim of Friedberg was a famous rabbinical scholar and Rabbi of Worms and Friedberg.

Sources in the Lubavitch tradition<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneerson |first=Yosef Yitzchok |title=Memoirs of the Lubavitcher Rabbi| volume =2 |year=1960 |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=212 |archive-date=}}</ref> say that at the age of 12, Loew went to yeshivahs in Poland and studied under Rabbi [[Jacob Pollak|Yaakov Pollak]]. After Pollak left Poland, Loew spent 2 years wandering from place to place and then went onto the yeshivah of Rabbi Yitzchak Clover/Wormz, himself a student of Pollak. He learnt together in yeshivah with the [[Maharshal]] who was 17, 2 years his elder. He learnt together with the Maharshal and [[Moshe Isserlis|Rema]] for a further 3 years. Rav Yitzchok Clover was in fact the grandfather of the Maharshal. The Maharshal left Poland and the Maharal remained and studied with the Rema for 2 more years. Maharal was 18 years his senior. He spent 20 years studying before he married.

It is not known however who he learnt nistar from as he mentions his rabbis, who are unknown to posterity, only once in his sefarim.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Shabbos hagodol drosha}}</ref> It was common in yeshivas in Poland however to learn nigleh and nistar together<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schneerson |first=Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok |title=Memoirs of the lubavitcher rabbi}}</ref>

===Career===
Loew accepted a rabbinical position in 1553 as ''Landesrabbiner'' of [[Moravia]] at [[Mikulov]] (Nikolsburg), directing community affairs but also determining which tractate of the [[Talmud]] was to be studied in the communities in that province. He also revised the community statutes on the election and taxation process. Although he retired from Moravia in 1573 the communities still considered him an authority long after that.

One of his activities in Moravia was the rallying against slanderous slurs on legitimacy (''Nadler'') that were spread in the community against certain families and could ruin the finding of a [[shidduch|marriage partner]] for the children of those families. This phenomenon even affected his own family. He used one of the two yearly grand sermons (between [[Rosh Hashanah]] and [[Yom Kippur]] 1583) to denounce the phenomenon.<ref name=je>{{JewishEncyclopedia|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9009-judah-low-lob-liwa-ben-bezaleel|title=JUDAH LÖW (LÖB, LIWA) BEN BEZALEEL (known also as Der Hohe Rabbi Löw)}}</ref>

Loew moved to Prague in 1573, where he again accepted a rabbinical position, replacing the retired Isaac Hayoth.<ref name=je/> He immediately reiterated his views on ''Nadler''. On 23 February 1592, he had an audience with [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Rudolf II]], which he attended together with his brother Sinai and his son-in-law Isaac Cohen; Prince Bertier was present with the emperor. The conversation seems to have been related to [[Kabbalah]] (Jewish mysticism, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: קַבָּלָה) a subject which held much fascination for the emperor.<ref name=je/>

In 1592, Loew moved to Poznań, where he had been elected as [[Chief Rabbi]] of Poland. In Poznań he composed ''Netivoth Olam'' and part of ''Derech Chaim'' (see below).<ref name=je/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/21875|title= Sefer Detail: וכוח מים חיים -- חיים בן בצלאל|website=www.hebrewbooks.org|accessdate=Apr 2, 2023}}</ref>

===Personal life===
Loew's family consisted of his wife, Pearl, six daughters, and a son, Bezalel, who became a rabbi in [[Kolín]], but died early in 1600.
His wife was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, which allowed him to devote himself to scholarship.<ref name="yivo">[http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Yehudah_Leib_ben_Betsalel YIVO Encyclopedia - Yehudah Leib ben Betsalel].</ref> His granddaughter was [[Eva Bacharach|Eva Bachrach]], was known for her scholarship and for the title of the book ''Havvot Yair,'', authored by her grandson, [[Yair Bacharach|Yair Bachrach]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaufmann |first=David |date=1891 |title=Jair Chayim Bacharach: A Biographical Sketch |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1449883 |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=3 |issue=2 |page=294 |doi=10.2307/1449883 |jstor=1449883 |issn=0021-6682}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaufmann |first=David |date=1891 |title=Jair Chayim Bacharach (Concluded) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450010 |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=528 |doi=10.2307/1450010 |jstor=1450010 |issn=0021-6682}}</ref>

His elder brother was [[Hayim ben Bezalel]], who authored a legal work Vikuach Mayim Chaim which challenged the rulings of Krakow legalist, [[Moshe Isserles]].

===Death===
Towards the end of his life Loew moved back to Prague, where he died in 1609.<!--A daughter of Loew, born c. 1565, married Rabbi Zachariah Mendel Gelernter, died ? Poznan{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}.--> Loew is buried at the [[Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague]] in [[Josefov]], where his grave and tombstone are intact.