Rav Yisroel Ashkenazi of Shklov
Talmid of the Vilna Gaon who led the Ashkenazi kehillos of Tzfas and Yerushalayim and wrote Pe'as HaShulchan on the mitzvos of Eretz Yisroel.
Biography
Early years
Rav Yisroel ben Shmuel Ashkenazi of Shklov zt"l was born in Shklov around 1770. He belonged to the circle of Shklov talmidei chachamim whom the Vilna Gaon, Rav Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, drew to Vilna. Rav Yisroel came late, among the very last of them, and learned from the Gaon for less than a year.
Even in that short time he earned the Gaon's trust, and he was the one chosen to prepare the Gaon's commentary on the first two sections of the Shulchan Aruch for print. The portion on Orach Chaim came out in Shklov in 1803. He also brought out the Gaon's notes on Maseches Shekalim of the Yerushalmi, together with his own commentary, which he called Taklin Chadtin (Minsk, 1812).
Torah and leadership
Rav Yisroel later settled in Eretz Yisroel. He became head of the German and Polish kehillos, first in Tzfas and afterwards in Yerushalayim. It was there that he was given the name "Ashkenazi," the name used for every Jew of German descent, as opposed to the Sephardim, whose families had come from Spain or Portugal.
After several years in Eretz Yisroel he travelled back to Europe as a shadar (a fundraising emissary sent by the rabbanim), raising money for the poor Jews of the old Yishuv. In this role he went through Lithuania and other parts of Russia.
A description of his years as Rav in Yerushalayim appears in Kore HaIttim by Mendel ben Aharon (Vilna, 1840).
Teachings and seforim
Once he was back in Eretz Yisroel, Rav Yisroel wrote his main work, Pe'as HaShulchan. He meant it as a kind of companion to the Shulchan Aruch, gathering the agricultural mitzvos that apply only in Eretz Yisroel, which Rav Yosef Karo had not included in his code.
Into the same sefer he brought the Gaon's notes on Zeraim, the first order of the Mishnah, along with a lengthy commentary of his own, named Beis Yisroel. Pe'as HaShulchan was printed in Tzfas in 1836 at the press of Yisroel ben Avraham Back.
Rav Yisroel also wrote Nachalah U'Menuchah, a collection of teshuvos (responsa) that he mentions in Pe'as HaShulchan.
Later years and passing
Rav Yisroel passed away in Teveria on 9 Sivan 5599 (May 22, 1839).
Seforim
- Pe'as HaShulchan: His main work: the agricultural mitzvos that apply only in Eretz Yisroel, as a supplement to the Shulchan Aruch, with the Vilna Gaon's notes on Zeraim and his own commentary, Beis Yisroel (Tzfas, 1836).
- Taklin Chadtin: The Vilna Gaon's notes on Maseches Shekalim of the Yerushalmi, with his own commentary (Minsk, 1812).
- Nachalah U'Menuchah: A collection of teshuvos, mentioned in Pe'as HaShulchan.
Family & talmidim
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@{name=The Vilna Gaon, Rav Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman}: