Yaakov Reischer

Yaakov Reischer

Yaakov ben Yoseph Reischer (Bechofen) (1661-1733) was an Austrian rabbi and halakhist born at Prague. He was the son of R. Joseph, author of Gib'ot 'Olam, and a pupil of R. Simon Spira of Prague, who gave him in marriage the daughter of his son Benjamin Wolf. Reischer was dayyan at Prague, whence he was called to the rabbinate of Rzeszów in Galicia, deriving his name Reischer from that city, which is known as Reische among the Jews. He was subsequently called to the rabbinate of Anspach, and then occupied a similar position at Worms, from 1713 to 1719, when he went to Metz, officiating there until his death Feb. 1733. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Metz.

Reischer was the author of the following works:

• Minḥat Ya'aḳob (Prague, 1689 et seq.), commentary on the Torat ha-Ḥaṭṭat of Moses Isserles, with many refutations and amplifications
• Torat ha-Shelamim, commentary on the Yoreh De'ah, Hilkot "Niddah", and on the Ḳonṭres ha-Sefeḳot of Shabbethai ha-Kohen, with an appendix containing eighteen responsa on various subjects (printed as the second part of the Minḥat Ya'aḳob, ib. 1689 et seq.)
• Ḥoḳ Ya'aḳob, commentary on Oraḥ Ḥayyim, Hilkot "Pesaḥ", first printed with the Shulhan Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim (Dessau, 1696)
• Soletle-Minḥah, supplements to the Minḥat Ya'aḳob and the Torat ha-Shelamim, first printed with the Ḥoḳ Ya'aḳob (ib. 1696)
• Iyyun Ya'aḳob (Wilmersdorf, 1729), commentary on the En Ya'aḳob
• Shebut Ya'aḳob, responsa and decisions in three parts

1. (Halle, 1709), with the appendix Pe'er Ya'aḳob, containing novellæ on the treatises Berakot, Baba Ḳamma, and Giṭṭin
2. (Offenbach, 1719), treatises on the rules "miggo" and "sefeḳ sefeḳa"
3. (Metz, 1789), containing also his Lo Hibbiṭ Awen be-Ya'aḳob, a reply to the attacks of contemporary rabbis upon his Minḥat Ya'aḳob and Torat ha-Shelamim