Chaim HaKohen Rappaport
Rabbi Chaim HaKohen Rappaport (5 Kislev, 1700 – 13 Tammuz, 1771) was a prominent Polish-Galician rabbi, among the most distinguished disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, the long-serving rabbi of Lvov, and one of the leading figures in the battle against the Frankist movement.
Life[edit | edit source]
Rabbi Chaim was born to the gaon Rabbi Simcha Kohen Rappaport.[1]
He studied in his youth in Slutsk, and married Miriam, daughter of Rabbi Shmuel Shmelka, av beis din of Przemyśl, who was himself a son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel, av beis din of Slonim. Early in his rabbinic career he served as rabbi of the community of Zhetel, where he also headed the local yeshiva.
In 1730 (5490) he began serving as rabbi of Slutsk, and from 1741 (5501) as av beis din and rosh yeshiva in Lvov, succeeding Rabbi Aryeh Leib ben Shaul, who had moved to serve as rabbi of Amsterdam. In 1763 (5523) he was appointed av beis din of all of Galicia, with the title "Av Beis Din of all the Province of Russia."
He served as rabbi of Lvov for thirty-one years, until the 12th of Tammuz, 1771 (5531).
Early in his career he wrote against Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschütz in the controversy over his amulets, though it appears he later withdrew his opposition.
Drawing Close to the Baal Shem Tov[edit | edit source]
One account of how Rabbi Chaim Rappaport came to embrace the Baal Shem Tov:
Rabbi Chaim had been among those who opposed the Chassidic path and its founder. The Baal Shem Tov, who recognized that Rabbi Chaim possessed a lofty soul, deeply desired to bring him close.
Once the two met.
Rabbi Chaim asked: "What is your name?"
"My name," replied the Baal Shem Tov, "is dust and ashes."
Rabbi Chaim smiled. "Ah — my name, too, is dust and ashes."
"Well then," pressed the Baal Shem Tov, "if we are both dust and ashes, why is there no peace between us?"
From that moment on, Rabbi Chaim became one of the Baal Shem Tov's most devoted disciples.
---
In the responsa collection Mayim Chaim of Rabbi Chaim Rappaport, there appears a halachic question from Mezhybizh — sent by the Baal Shem Tov to the gaon Rabbi Meir, son of Rabbi Yaakov Emden (the Yaavetz), who served as av beis din of Konstantyn — concerning a lung adhesion (sircha), together with Rabbi Chaim's responsum on the matter. The question bears the signatures of both the Baal Shem Tov and the community's maggid: "Thus says Yisrael, the Baal Shem, of Tłuste" and "The Maggid Meisharim of this community."
Rabbi Meir's response is lengthy. He was not himself among the Chassidim — yet the title he affixes to the Baal Shem Tov at the head of his reply is striking: "A leader in Judah and Israel, great and small alike know his name, one who brings healing and remedy to those without strength, great is he in Sheshach, with the mark of the beryl stone — the distinguished and renowned Rabbi Yisrael, the Baal Shem Tov, may his light shine, and of all the fellowship of beloved scholars…"[2]
The Battle Against the Frankists[edit | edit source]
At the forefront of the struggle against the Frankist movement and the disputation held in Lvov stood the Baal Shem Tov, his disciples, and his Chassidim — with Rabbi Chaim HaKohen Rappaport leading the charge.
It is recorded that he "conducted[3] his community with wisdom and knowledge, and was the crown of his generation's greatness. He debated the members of the Sabbatean sect — the Frankists — before the nations and their officers, in the great cathedral of Lvov, and prevailed against them. This was in the year 1759 (5519).
For Bishop Mikulski had then decreed that the rabbis of Poland be summoned to Lvov to debate the Frankist leaders. Forty men gathered, and from the forty, three were chosen: the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kohen Rappaport, Rabbi Dovber, av beis din of Buczacz, and Rabbi Yisrael, the Baal Shem Tov. The disputation lasted three days, from the 23rd of Tammuz until the 26th of Tammuz, 5519."
In the introduction to the responsa collection Mayim Chaim[4] it is written:
- Our ancestors told us that the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kohen Rappaport, av beis din of Lvov, was chosen to debate the Sabbatean sect before princes, governors, ministers, and bishops, in the courtroom prepared for this purpose. He went there without weakness of heart, and as he walked he wrapped himself in white garments — the same garments in which a person goes to his eternal home. And he prevailed, with the help of the Almighty, through his great wisdom, until even the officers marveled at the greatness of his understanding, and praised him, saying: "This can only be that the spirit of G-d rests within him."
A Mission to Redeem a Wandering Soul[edit | edit source]
In 1759 (5519),[5] the Baal Shem Tov sent Rabbi Chaim on a special mission to clarify and redeem a wandering soul (neshama toah).
Works[edit | edit source]
- Zecher Chaim, a volume of derashos. Lvov: Yisrael Elimelech Shtand, 1866 (5626).
- She'eilos u'Teshuvos Rabbeinu Chaim Kohen. London, 1957 (5717); second edition: New York, 1981 (5741).
- She'eilos u'Teshuvos Mayim Chaim. Zhitomir, 1857 (5617).
Most of his writings were lost, among them a commentary on the Zohar.
External Links[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ His father, the gaon, was ultimately accepted as av beis din and rosh mesivta of the Lvov community, but passed away in the city of Schwersenz while traveling from Lublin to Lvov in 1745 (5505). He was buried there.
- ↑ From the article by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, cited in Toratchabad.com.
- ↑ See at length in Anshei Shem by Shlomo Buber, p. 69 ff.
- ↑ The Mayim Chaim was authored by Rabbi Chaim Kohen Rappaport of Nestra, a grandson of the Rabbi Chaim Rappaport who is the subject of this article. The introduction was written by the author's son, a great-grandson of the original Rabbi Chaim Rappaport.
- ↑ See Likkutei Dibburim, collection 32. Likkutei Dibburim in Lashon HaKodesh, p. 767 ff.