Rav Shabsai HaKohen Katz (Shach), mechaber of Sifsei Kohen is recognized as one of the most basic and authoritative commentators on the Shulchon Aruch. Born in Vilna, he learned in Tyktizin, Cracow and Lublin. He married a great-granddaughter of the Rema. In 1648, the communities of Russian Poland were devastated by Chmielnicki, and Rav Shabsai HaKohen was among the sufferers. He authored selichos in tragic memory of the events. He was niftar at the age of forty-one in Holleschau, Germany, having completed his commentary to two of the four sections of the Shulchon Aruch: Yoreh De’ah (at age twenty-four) and Choshen Mishpot. Among his other works are Sefer Ha’Aruch on the Tur, Poel Tzedek on the 613 mitzvos, and Gevuros Anoshim, on cases in which a wife can legally compel her husband to give her a get (divorce document).
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