{{Short description|Ashkenazi rabbi and halakhist}} {{Infobox Jewish leader | honorific-prefix = | name = Solomon Luria | honorific-suffix = | title = | image = Solomon Luria.jpg | caption = Portrait attributed to Solomon Luria | synagogue = | synagogueposition = | yeshiva = | yeshivaposition = | organisation = | organisationposition = | predecessor = | successor = | rabbi = | rebbe = | kohan = | hazzan = | rank = | other_post = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = | birth_date = 1510 | birth_place = {{flagicon|Grand Duchy of Lithuania}} Brześć, Grand Duchy of Lithuania | death_date = {{death date and age |1573|11|7|1510|11|7}} | death_place = {{flagicon|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}} Lublin, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | buried = {{flagicon|Poland}} Lublin, Poland | nationality = | denomination = | residence = | dynasty = | parents = | father = | mother = | spouse = | children = | occupation = Talmudist, halakhist, biblical commentator | profession = | alma_mater = | semicha = | signature = }}
'''Shlomo Luria''' ({{langx|he|שלמה לוריא|rtl=yes}}; 1510 – November 7, 1573) was one of the great Ashkenazi Jewish {{tlit|he|poskim}} (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of the sixteenth century. He is known for his work of ''Halakha'' titled {{tlit|he|Yam Shel Shlomo}} ({{langx|he|rtl=tes|label=none|translation=Sea of Solomon|ים של שלמה}}) and his Talmud commentary {{tlit|he|Chochmat Shlomo}} ({{IPA|he|/χoxˈmat ʃloˈmo/|pron}}; {{langx|he|rtl=yes|label=none|translation=Wisdom [of] Solomon|חכמת שלמה}}). Luria is often referred to as "''Maharshal''" {{Script/Hebrew|מהרש"ל}} (a Hebrew abbreviation for "Our Teacher, Rabbi Solomon Luria") or "''Rashal''" {{Script/Hebrew|רש"ל}} (an abbreviation for "Rabbi Solomon Luria").
== Biography == [[File:Grave of Solomon Luria, Lublin, Poland Jan 2014.jpg|thumbnail|right|Grave of Solomon Luria (right), Old Jewish Cemetery, Lublin]] Luria was born in the city of Poznań (Posen), in the Kingdom of Poland. His father, Yechiel Luria, was the rabbi of the Lithuanian city of Slutzk and the great grandson of the eminent Talmudist Miriam Luria. The Luria family claims descent from Rashi.{{efn|For Solomon's descent and relatives, see <ref>{{cite book |first=Anton |last=Lourié |title=Die Familie Lourié |language=de |location=Vienna |publisher=Stern & Steiner |year=1923 |oclc=2135179 }}</ref>}} Luria studied in Lublin under Rabbi Shalom Shachna, and later in the Ostroh yeshiva under Kalonymus Haberkasten, the daughter, Lipka, of whom he later married. Joshua Falk studied at the yeshiva, as well. The ''Maharshal'' served as a rabbi in Brest, Belarus, and various Lithuanian communities for 15 years.{{Clarify timeframe|date=March 2026}}{{cn|date=March 2026}}
Around 1550, he had several correspondences with Rabbi Moses Isserles ({{aka}} ''Rema''). Isserles supported the moderated use of philosophy in Jewish studies, while Luria was more critical of this approach.<ref>"Seeing with Both Eyes: Ephraim Luntshitz and the Polish-Jewish Renaissance"; Leonard Levin; pg. 24</ref> He believed that Isserles contradicted the Geonim in his arguments. Despite debating Isserles's method, Luria was friendly in his replies.<ref name="n665">{{cite book|last=Levin|first=L. S.|title=Seeing with Both Eyes|publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV|publication-place=Leiden|date=2008|isbn=978-90-474-3274-6|pages=25–26}}</ref>
When Haberkasten assumed the position of {{tlit|he|rosh yeshiva}} in Brisk, Luria replaced him as the official rabbi of the city and region of Ostroh. Luria later succeeded Shalom Shachna as head of the Lublin yeshiva, which attracted students from all over Europe. Due to various internal problems in the yeshiva, he opened his own yeshiva. The building, known as the "Maharshal's shul", remained intact until World War II.{{cn|date=March 2026}}
== Works == '''Yam Shel Shlomo''', Luria's major work of Halakha, was written on sixteen tractates of the Talmud; however, it is extant on only seven. In it, Maharshal analyzes key ''sugyot'' (passages) and decides between various authorities as to the practical halacha. Maharshal, famously, objected to Isserles's method of presenting halakhic rulings without discussing their derivation. He wrote ''Yam Shel Shlomo'' to "probe the depths of the halacha" and to clarify the process by which those halachot are reached.
'''Chochmat Shlomo''' is a gloss, and comments, on the text of the Talmud. One aim of this work being to establish the correct text. To achieve this Maharshal scrutinized the published editions of the Talmud as well as the commentaries of Rashi, Tosafot, and other Rishonim. His comments were later published by his son; an abridged version of ''Chochmat Shlomo'' appears in nearly all editions of the Talmud today, at the end of each tractate. The original, separately printed version, is far more extensive, and has now been re-published in the Metivta/Oz ve-Hadar edition of the Talmud. The Chida writes that "I've heard from elders, that the Maharshal is extremely deep; and most ''hasagot'' (criticisms/objections) from the Maharsha on the Maharshal, aren't ''hasagot'' if the reader will delve deep into the subject".
Maharshal also wrote: * ''Yeri'ot Shlomo'', a super-commentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah (in fact a commentary on Elijah Mizrachi's supercommentary on Rashi) - [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/44818 HebrewBooks.org]; * ''Amudei Shlomo'', a commentary on ''Sefer Mitzvot Gadol'' ("SeMag") of Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy; * A collection of Responsa; see History of Responsa: Sixteenth century.
== See also == * Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm – one of his famous students who, according to legend, could create a golem creature * Moshe ben Avraham – one of his students, author of the Mateh Moshe
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.ou.org/judaism-101/bios/leaders-in-the-diaspora/rabbi-solomon-luria-the-maharshal/ Rabbi Solomon Luria, the Maharshal], ou.org * [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=627&letter=L#1860 Solomon b. Jehiel Luria], jewishencyclopedia.com
{{Authority control}}{{Acharonim}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Luria, Solomon}} Category:1510 births Category:1574 deaths Category:16th-century Polish rabbis Category:16th-century Polish writers Category:16th-century Polish male writers Category:Rabbis from Lublin Category:Jews and Judaism in Lublin