Pinchas Horowitz

The Hafla'ah — one of his major works

The holy Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz of Frankfurt am Main, known as the *Ba'al HaHafla'ah* and the *Ba'al HaMekneh* after his two celebrated works, was one of the foremost disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch.

Life

Rabbi Pinchas was born to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh, the rabbi of Chortkov, a giant of Torah and a man of great piety, who was known to fast from one Shabbos to the next.

The Admor Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Munkatch recorded a tradition that the Baal Shem Tov sent Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh, the rabbinical judge of Chortkov, to Rabbi Chaim of Brody to request a blessing for children. Rabbi Chaim blessed him that he would merit "sons who would be luminaries of the exile" — and from that blessing were born his two holy sons: Rabbi Pinchas, the *Ba'al HaHafla'ah*, and Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg.

Rabbi Pinchas married the daughter of the wealthy patron Rabbi Yoel son of Rabbi Yisroel, who provided for him generously and saw to his every need. During that period he studied together with his brother Rabbi Nachum HaLevi for about a year. Once Rabbi Nachum was appointed to a rabbinical position of his own, Rabbi Pinchas formed a particularly close bond with his brother Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg — a bond he himself described as being like that of David and Jonathan — and the two studied together for several years with remarkable dedication.

In his early years he was appointed rabbi and rabbinical judge of the community of Vitkow, and later rose to serve as rabbinical judge of the town of Lachovitch.

After a time, he was appointed to lead the great and historic community of Frankfurt am Main — a city whose rabbinical chair had been occupied by towering figures such as the Shelah HaKadosh and the Pnei Yehoshua.

The Rebbe — Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad-Lubavitch — cited, in his collected letters, Rabbi Pinchas's practice of praying in *Nusach Sefard*, the Chassidic rite, even though the synagogues of Frankfurt davened in *Nusach Ashkenaz*, the traditional Ashkenazic liturgy. The Rebbe also noted that Rabbi Pinchas's works contain a wealth of material spanning the full breadth of Torah — plain meaning, allusion, and mystical depths — and that he guided his teacher to derive new halachic rulings from the earlier legal authorities.

With the Maggid of Mezeritch

Although Rabbi Pinchas was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, the Maggid's name does not appear in his published works. This was a deliberate omission by the scribe who copied the manuscripts — an omission that drew sharp criticism from Rabbi Chaim of Sanz when he learned of it. This tradition is confirmed within the family of the *Ba'al HaHafla'ah* himself.

There is, however, one telling exception: in his commentary on Parshas Beshalach, Rabbi Pinchas quotes a Torah teaching explicitly in the name of "the Maggid" — "and I heard explained in the name of the Rav HaMaggid." This appears to have escaped the scribe's pen because he assumed the reference was to the author of the *Maggid Mishneh*, a different work entirely, rather than to the Maggid of Mezeritch.

The Rebbe Rayatz — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe — related that unlike the other disciples, Rabbi Pinchas did not call the Maggid "Rebbe."

His Connection with the Alter Rebbe

The Alter Rebbe — Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad-Lubavitch — wrote Rabbi Pinchas a letter during the painful period of communal opposition and his imprisonment in Petersburg. In it he addresses Rabbi Pinchas in the most exalted terms: "Light of Israel and its holy one, a sacred lamp, a chassid and one of refined separation, the famous gaon and wonder of the generation, its splendor and its glory, a man of G-d, holy shall he be called."

The Alter Rebbe continues with characteristic humility: "Who am I that I have come this far — and 'this far' refers to none other than royalty" — citing the Talmudic teaching in Zevachim — "for who are kings? The rabbis."

He apologizes in the letter for writing at all: "My soul knows well my own smallness, to stand in a place belonging to one as great as him — may his like multiply in Israel."

Yet he draws on the particular warmth he received from Rabbi Pinchas to summon the courage to write: "But where his greatness dwells, there too dwells his humility, and his humility has emboldened me. My heart swells as I recall the extraordinary closeness I have known from him — he who was the rav of his people from the earliest days in the communities of Mezeritch and Rovna" — a reference to the bond forged between them when both were together in the court of the Maggid — "and I was counted among his circle and merited to receive his blessing, selah, each and every Shabbos."

The Alter Rebbe signs his own name in the letter as "Schneur Zalman son of Rivka," identifying himself by his name and his mother's name — and closes by requesting Rabbi Pinchas's blessing.

Encouragement to Complete the Shulchan Aruch

The sons of the Alter Rebbe attest in the introduction to the Shulchan Aruch HaRav — the Alter Rebbe's monumental code of Jewish law — that before Rabbi Pinchas departed to assume the rabbinate of Frankfurt, and before Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg left for the rabbinate of Nikolsburg, both brothers saw the Alter Rebbe's manuscript while still in the Maggid's court. They praised it in the highest terms, urging him: "Be strong and courageous — go forth and complete this work. It befits you, and the merit of the Torah will stand for your descendants and for all of Israel."

Rabbi Pinchas passed away on Monday, the 4th of Tammuz, 5565 (1805) — the same day as the yahrzeit of Rabbeinu Tam, the great medieval Talmudic authority — at the age of 74. His son Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh, author of *Lachmi Todah* (sermons) and *Machaneh Levi* (on the Talmud), succeeded him.

Works

• Panim Yafos — on the Torah.
• Panim Yafos — on Psalms and Pirkei Avos; an anthology drawn from his writings on these texts (republished, Mishor, Bnei Brak, 2016).
• HaHafla'ah — on the Talmud.
• HaMekneh — on Tractate Kiddushin.
• She'elos U'Teshuvos Givas Pinchas — responsa.
• Haggadas HaLeviyim — an anthology from his writings (and those of his brother Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg) on the Passover Haggadah.

Students

• Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chasam Sofer.