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Beit Midrash
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- P'ninat Mishpat
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- Chassidish Stories and Great Rabbis
- The Life of Tzaddikim
Mordechai Yaakov Breish was born in 1895 in Skohl, Galicia (today, Ukraine) to a family of Belzer chassidim. During the 1920s he began his career as a rabbi in Galicia, and toward the end of the decade he accepted a position as the rabbi of Disbourg, Germany. That is where he wrote his first sefer, on the topic of eiruvin. A few years later, after the ascendance of the Nazis (ysv"z), he moved to France. He was there just a few years and was fortunate that before the War, he accepted a position in Zurich, Switzerland, where he served as rabbi of the Charedi community for over forty years.
In the years after World War II, Europe had only a relatively small remnant of a Jewish community, compared to pre-War Europe, as, of course, 6 million were murdered and most of the survivors left the continent for Israel or America. In Continental Europe (excluding England), few poskim survived and remained after the War. I can think of only two works of high-level p’sak halacha that were produced there at that time (apologies to any others I forgot): R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg’s S’ridei Eish and Rav Mordechai Yaakov Breish’s Chelkat Yaakov. Rav Breish was indeed a central figure, both communally, in Zurich and regionally, and in the world of scholarship. Through his large family, he became connected through marriage with some of the most prestigious families of the time, including that of the Rav Y.Y. Weiss and the Soloveitchik dynasty.
Rav Breish ruled on many issues affecting a Jewish community that was not only trying to recover from the Holocaust but was also dealing with the ravages of assimilation and intermarriage. However, as far as contemporary issues, his major contributions seem to be in the field of new (from the perspective of the 20th century) technologies, especially electrical devices and medical questions. For example, his Orach Chayim section has responsa on various uses of "Shabbat clocks," Hagomel for air travelers, berachot on "eating" through a tube, vending machines on Shabbat, and use of a refrigerator on Shabbat.
Rav Breish was not so famous for his contribution to the field of monetary halacha. However, his well-written teshuvot touch, in addition to standard age-old matters, on some interesting contemporary issues or post-war related issues. A few examples include buying previously Jewish-owned sefarim from the Czechoslovakian government, what to do with unclaimed property after the War, and guidelines on the concept of dina d’malchuta dina (the law of the land is binding).
Since Rav Breish’s death in 1976, much has changed in the Jewish world and discussion on newer technologies replace those on formerly new technologies. However, we owe a debt of gratitude not only for his contributions to the survival and a certain measure of recovery of European Jewry, but for solid scholarship from which we still have much to learn in our times.
P'ninat Mishpat (829)
Various Rabbis
353 - Is Expensive Food for Sickness Included in Support?
354 - Historical View of Rav Mordechai Yaakov Breish (Chelkat Yaakov)
355 - Disqualifying a Dayan for Having His Lost Item Returned
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: How Many Dayanim?
based on ruling 84139-1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Undoing a Problematic Partnership – part III
based on ruling 84061 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Unsuccessful Transfer of Yeshiva – part V
based on appeal ruling 82138 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Agricultural Water Rights – part II
based on ruling 84122 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
