The Maharal of Prague

DIED 1609

417th yahrtzeit 18 Elul


BURIED Prague

The famous Maharal of Prague served as the rov of the great community of Prague. He wrote many amazing seforim, including Gur Aryeh, opening up a new world of Jewish thought. The Maharal was niftar at the exceedingly old age of approximately 97, especially remarkable for those times.


The Maharal was the rov of Prague three separate times, each time leaving and eventually coming back! He was also the rov of Posen twice. In fact, the second time he was rov of Posen, the Levush became the rov of Prague. When the Maharal returned to Prague, they switched positions, and the Levush became the rov 
of Posen.

The Maharal became engaged to a girl named Perel. Her father was a very wealthy Yid and promised to provide the Maharal with everything he needed so that he could learn Torah without any worries. The Maharal then went off to learn in yeshiva.

Unfortunately, his future father-in-law lost all his money. He sent a messenger to the Maharal telling him that he could break off the engagement and marry someone else. The great Maharal did not want to do this to his kallah, and said that he would wait.

When Perel saw that her father was becoming poorer by the day, she opened a little bakery, where she earned money to help support her parents.

One day, a soldier rode past the store, stuck his sword inside, picked up a Danish, and started riding away. Perel begged him to pay for it. He told her that he didn’t have any money, so he picked up his saddle and threw it toward her as payment.

After he rode away, Perel picked up the saddle and noticed that it felt very heavy. She opened it and discovered that it was filled with gold coins! She ran home and told her parents, who quickly notified the Maharal. After waiting for ten years, the Maharal and Perel were finally married! 

Many of the ideas the Maharal wrote about would later emerge as important teachings in Chassidus, as taught by the Baal Shem Tov and his students. But the Maharal’s Torah influenced many different parts of the Jewish world. Rav Kook said that the Maharal was “the father of the approach of the Gaon of Vilna on the one hand, and of the father of Chassidus on the other.”