Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāleḥ (alternative spellings: Yichya Tzalach; Yehiya Saleh), known by the acronym of Maharitz (, Moreinu HaRav Yichya Tzalach), (1713 – 1805), was one of the greatest exponents of Jewish law known to Yemen. He is the author of a liturgical commentary entitled Etz Ḥayyim (The Tree of Life), in which he follows closely the legal dicta of Maimonides. Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāleḥ is widely remembered for his ardent work in preserving Yemenite Jewish customs and traditions, which he articulated so well in his many writings, but also for his adopting certain Spanish rites and liturgies that had already become popular in Yemen.Shimon Greidi, Sefer Yamim Yedaberu, Tel-Aviv 1995, p. 97 (71), (Hebrew)Rabbi Amram Qorah wrote of Maharitz, saying: "He took pains in many ways to render the precise wording of the text used in prayer, according to the ancient Baladi-rite prayer books (Tikālil), and he purged them from the more recent versions that the copyists of the Baladi-rite prayer books had amended thereto. However, those additions which were added in the Baladi-rite prayer books based on the Spanish-rite and which they had [already] begun to observe as their own practice, he did not remove them. Instead, he even went so far as to explain them and they were incorporated in the Baladi-rite prayer book" (Amram Qorah, Sa'arath Teiman, Jerusalem 1988, p. 21, note 19 [Hebrew]). In this regard, he was strongly influenced by the Rabbis of his previous generation, Rabbi Yehudah Sa'adi and Rabbi Yihya al-Bashiri. Initially, Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāleḥ worked as a blacksmith until the age of thirty, after which he worked as a scrivener of sacred texts (Heb. "sofer"),Sa'arath Teiman, pp. 19-24 before becoming chief jurist of the rabbinical court (Beth Din) in Sanaa.
Life and Works Yiḥya was born in the lunar month of Cheshvan, in the year 5474 anno mundi, a year corresponding to 1713 CE,Yitzhak Wana, Rekhev Elohim (ed. Yitzhak Ratzaby), Benei Barak 1992, p. 13, note 1 to Joseph b. Ṣāliḥ. Ṣāliḥ, his grandfather (d. 1749), was a survivor of the infamous Mawza Exile, the founder of the Saleh synagogue in Sanaa and one of the city's judges and ritual slaughterers (Heb. shochet). Although Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāliḥ would later serve as chief judge (Av Beit-Din) and President of the rabbinical court at Ṣanʻā’,Amram Qorah, Sa'arath Teiman, pp. 19-23; 173, Jerusalem 1988. for most of his life he worked under the shadow of two great men of his generation: the illustrious Rabbi David Mishreqi (d. 1771), the author of Shtilei Zeitim, a commentary on the Shulhan Arukh (Orach Chaim and Yoreh De'ah),Iggereth Bochim and Rabbi Shalom Iraqi al-Cohen (1685–1780), called al-'Ousṭā (the artisan), the comptroller of the customs and surveyor-general of the royal buildings and gardens who had been the favorite of two successive kings, although demoted in 1761.M. Niebuhr, Travel through Arabia and other Countries in the East (translated by Robert Heron), vol. 1, Edinburgh 1792, p. 408; ibid., vol. 2, Edinburgh 1792, pp. 87–88.
Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāleḥ was contemporary with Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai, a great rabbinic teacher and scholar, with whom he maintained correspondence when the latter lived in Egypt. Rabbi Yiḥye Ṣāleḥ (henceforth: Maharitz) is the author of the Questions and Responsa, Pe'ūlath Ṣadīq and has also written a brief but comprehensive commentary on the Yemenite Baladi-rite Prayer Book, entitled ‘Eṣ Ḥayyim in which appears the responsum addressed to him from Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai.The responsum appears in Tiklal ‘Eṣ Ḥayyim Hashalem, Shimon Tzalach (ed.), vol. 1, pp. 192a-192b, Jerusalem 1971, an excerpt of which reads as follows: "Now I, the younger, sent unto the Rabbis of Egypt (may God protect them), a query concerning those who practice concluding [the Amidah], both, in Hashkiveinu and in the benediction, Yir'ou 'Eineinu, etc., [with a blessing that employs God's name], and I reprimanded [them] over this matter, telling them that they tend to make innovations in the ancient custom of our forefathers which was not to conclude [there with a blessing that employs God's name], just as it is presented [here] before you. And that reply which came from them (their Preserver is uplifted and high) was this: 'Our eyes have seen what your Excellency, the glory of the divine Law, has asked concerning the custom which a few communities practise, [even] new things [which have come] of late, to conclude with the benediction Hashkiveinu. And afterwards, they [once again] conclude [with a blessing employing God's name] in the verses, Yir'ou 'Eineinu, [etc.] …We searched the matter in the books of the righteous that are found with us, [both] former and latter, and what we were able to find [was this]: Surely the custom [in] the land of the gazelle (i.e. the land of Israel), and [in] all the cities of Turkey is that they do not say [anything], except the benediction of Hashkiveinu and its concluding [blessing]. Yet, no more [will they say]. It is the correct [version], indeed, whether [in those versions which are] revealed or hidden. Nevertheless, those who practice saying, Yir'ou 'Eineinu, etc., the proper order in this is to say exactly as it is now practiced anew, for this third blessing was enacted in the days of the Geonim… Now may the peace of the Rabbi be multiplied, as the soul of those who are signed [in this letter], here, in Egypt. Chaim Joseph David Azulai (mire and clay ), Chaim Abraham Turnaga (mire and clay)'." Maharitz also compiled a work on Bible orthography (Hebrew vowels and trope symbols used in biblical texts) known as Ḥeleq Hadiqdūq, among other writings (see: infra).
Little is known about Maharitz's father, Yosef Ṣāleḥ, except that he studied under his wife's father, Rabbi David Qafih.Tiklal ‘Eṣ Ḥayyim Hashalem, Shimon Tzalach (ed.), vol. 1, p. 73b, Jerusalem 1971 Rabbi Suleiman, Maharitz's brother, is known to have compiled a work on the laws governing the Passover preparation, known as Zevaḥ Pesaḥ.Printed in Siddur Shivat Zion, ed. Yosef Qafih, Jerusalem 1952 Maharitz's family is reported to have traced their lineage back to Oved, one of the progeny of Peretz, the son of Judah.Yosef Ṣadok, "Sefer Wehaṣdīqu eth haṣaddīq," p. 26, Bnei Brak 2010.
Scholarship Maharitz was gifted at an early age with a good memory and quickly developed his learning skills. As a young man, he studied under the tutelage of his father and grandfather, Ṣāleḥ Ṣāleḥ, and at one point served under the great rabbinic teacher and scholar of his day, Rabbi David Mishreqi (1696–1771), the author of the commentary, "Shtilei Zeitim," on the Shulhan Arukh. His influence over the young Maharitz must have been astounding, for Maharitz mentions him in his Questions & Responsa:
"…This practice [of not shaving one's head during the first thirty-three days of the counting of the 'Omer] has spread in several places. But in this, our place, the land of Yemen, they did not have this practice, while it has only been recent (approximately forty years) that a certain wise man from the isles of the sea did come forth, and while he was passing through our city, he did compel the public to practise the same from the argument that it is a prohibition [rather than a custom], and actually forbade them against their will! And, lo! The great Rabbi, Rabbi David Ben-Zimra, and Rabbi Menahem Lunzano, wrote that several communities shave their heads each Sabbath eve (Friday) out of respect for the Sabbath…
…It has now been about twelve years since we re-enacted this practice of shaving one's head [during the counting of the `Omer], that is, a few of the more zealous ones amongst us, in accordance with the instruction of our teacher and Rabbi, even the honorable teacher and Rabbi, David Mishreqi, whose inheritance is in the Garden of Eden, who was the most able Rabbi of the city, and who did practice the same, by himself, and so did I practice the same, and many others with me. Now the proper rule of conduct is thus, to be inclined after the Rabbi of one's generation, as it is written: 'and unto the judge' (Deut. 17:9), even if it were a thing which stood contrary to the first custom, the Law has given him authority to decide in such matters as his eyes shall see fit, in order to put the matter in question in its rightful place, and by his mouth shall they encamp, and by his mouth shall they journey, just as RASHDAM (R. Shemuel Di Medina) has written, in Yoreh De'ah, Section 40."Questions & Responsa "Pe'ulath Ṣadiq," vol. 2, responsum # 76.
It is largely accepted by scholars that Maharitz underwent a change of heart in circa 1776 (between 1775–1779), whereas before this time he had adhered largely to Sephardic customs introduced in Yemen, but afterwards he had returned to fully embrace the earlier Yemenite traditions and liturgies that had been practised in Yemen.Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayer Books of Yemen (Heb. מחקרים בסידורי תימן), vol. 1, Benei Barak 2010, pp. 84–85; David Tzadok, Kuntris Mesekhta deMaharitz (Heb. קונדריס מסכתא דמהרי"ץ), second edition, Benei Barak 2014, pp. 184–185
Persecution Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣāleḥ (Maharitz) seemed to have kept a low profile during the persecutions which affected the Jewish community of Sanaa in 1761, at which time twelve of the city's fourteen synagogues were demolished by order of the king, Al-Mahdi Abbas.Carsten Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und andern umliegenden Ländern (Description of Travel to Arabia and Other Neighboring Countries), Zürich 1992, pp. 416-418 (German) The reason for the king's displeasure is not presently known, but the community's respected leader who was entrusted with the role of mediating between the king and the people, Rabbi Shalom Cohen al-Iraqi (who bore the title of Nasi, or Prince), and who had served under two kings from 1733 to 1761, was imprisoned and held in bonds until he could pay a high ransom for his release. At the same time, writs then issuing from the king forbade Jews in the city from building their houses higher than fourteen cubits (about 7.5 meters; 24.8 feet)..
Halacha - Jewish legal law Maharitz at first decided Halacha according to the position of the Shulchan Aruch, but later changed his approach in order to uphold Yemenite Jewish traditions and which were more aligned with the Halachic rulings of Maimonides (Rambam).Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayer Books of Yemen (Heb. מחקרים בסידורי תימן), vol. 1, Benei Barak 2010, pp. 84–85; David Tzadok, Kuntris Mesekhta deMaharitz (Heb. קונדריס מסכתא דמהרי"ץ), second edition, Benei Barak 2014, pp. 184–185 In this decision, he was influenced by Rabbi Yehudah al-Ṣa'adi and Rabbi Pinḥas Iraqi HaKohen, men of the previous generation who fought to maintain and to preserve the old Yemenite Jewish prayer rite amidst trends to change over to the Spanish-rite. Concerning this troublesome time, Amram Qorah writes: "Then were those Rabbis awakened who had always prayed in the Baladi-rite (Tiklāl), the head of whom was Rabbi Yehudah b. Shelomo al-Ṣa'adi, and the Judge, Rabbi Pinḥas b. Shelomo HaKohen al-Iraqi, of blessed memory, and they wrote proclamations in the form of rabbinic decrees saying that it is forbidden to change the customs of one's fathers which were established according to the words of the Geonim of old, and [according to] the 'Composition' left to us by Maimonides who came after them."Amram Qorah, Sa'arath Teiman, pp. 17-18, Jerusalem 1988.