12 Facts About Jacob Berab

Jacob Berab, spelled Berav or Bei-Rav, known as Mahari Beirav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist best known for his attempt to reintroduce classical semikhah.

Jacob Berab had a plan for the reintroduction of the old semikhah "rabbinic ordination".

Jacob Berab's model was the sanhedrin of tannaitic times which consisted of men who could trace their ordination back to Moses; yet for more than a thousand years no such men had existed, and the semikhah was lost.

In 1538, twenty-five rabbis met in assembly at Safed and ordained Jacob Berab, giving him the right to ordain any number of others, who would then form a Sanhedrin.

Jacob Berab then ordained a few other rabbis, including the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Levi ibn Habib, rabbi Joseph Caro, Moses ben Joseph di Trani, and Yosef Sagis.

Jacob Berab, therefore, expected no opposition from that quarter; but he was mistaken.

Jacob Berab considered it an insult to his dignity and to the dignity of Jerusalem that so important a change should be effected without consultation of the Jerusalem scholars.

Jacob Berab did not content himself with an oral protest, but sent a communication to the scholars of Safed, in which he set forth the illegality of their proceeding and declared that the innovation involved a risk to rabbinical Judaism, since the Sanhedrin might use its sovereign authority to tamper with the calendar.

An illustration of this is afforded by the remarks made by ibn Habib when he maintained at length that the scholars of Safed were not qualified to ordain, since they were not unprejudiced in the matter, and when he hinted that Jacob Berab was not worthy to transmit ordination.

Jacob Berab was surprised by the peril in which his undertaking was now placed; and, embittered by ibn Habib's personal attacks, he could not adhere to a merely objective refutation, but indulged in personalities.

The ordination had been represented to the Ottoman authorities as the first step toward the restoration of the Jewish state, and, since Jacob Berab was rich, the Ottoman officials would have shown him scant mercy in order to lay hands on his wealth.

Jacob Berab was forced to go to Egypt for a while, but though each moment's delay might have cost him his life, he tarried long enough to ordain four rabbis, so that during his absence they might continue to exercise the function of ordination.