Yalkut Shimoni - Compiled between 11th and 14th centuries in Thessaloniki. The author collected and arranged various interpretations from older midrashim. It contains more than 10,000 statements in aggadah and halakhah covering all of Torah, sourced from more than 50 works of which it is the only source for some of them.
Rav Reuven Elbaz shlit"a - Born 1944. Sephardi Haredi rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and a leader of the baal teshuva movement among Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel. He is the founder and head of the Ohr Hachaim network of institutions, which operates educational, humanitarian, prison, and drug rehabilitation programs in 350 branches across Israel. He is also the founder and dean of Yeshivat Ohr Hachaim in Jerusalem, which enrolls more than 500 students. He is a senior member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of the Shas political party.
Ben Ish Chai - R' Yosef Hayyim (1834-1909), Baghdad; Chacham of the Baghdad Jewish community for over 50 years. Prominent authority on halacha and a master kabbalist. His work is based on his classes on the weekly parsha, containing both kabbalistic insights as well as practical laws for everyday life. He also composed "Ben Yehoyada", a commentary on the Aggadic portions of the Talmud, and responsa entitled "Rav Pe'alim".
Rokeach - Rabbi Elazar ben Yehuda ben Kalonymu, MiGermaiza (1176-1238) Mainz, Worms, Germany; Underwent great sufferings during the Crusades. The last major member of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a group of German Jewish pietists. Sefer Ha-Roḳeaḥ is a halachic guide to ethics and Jewish Law for the common reader.
Zohar - Central work of mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Traditionally attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. First appeared in 13th-century Spain.
Targum Yonatan ben Uziel - Aramaic translation to Nevii’im; One of 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel HaZaken during era of Roman rule.
Rashbam - R’ Shmuel ben Meir (c.1085–c.1174), France. Grandsonbn of Rashi and older brother of the Rivam and Rabbeinu Tam. His Torah commentary is concise and strictly to the concept of the "peshat". He does not hesitate to argue with Rashi when he feels that his commentary strayed from the plain meaning of the verse.
Vilna Gaon - (The Gra) R' Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720-1797), Vilnius, Poland, Lithuania. Foremost leader of misnagdic Jewry of the past few centuries. Considered the father of the stream of Lithuanian Kabbalah, and remembered as a leader of the opposition to the Hasidic movement.
Rashi - R' Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), Troyes, France. "Rabban Shel Yisrael" - The great Rishon who wrote commentary on all areas of Torah.
Siftei Chachamim - R' Shabbetai ben Yoseph Bass (1641-1718), Poland, Prague, Germany, Amsterdam; A commentary on Rashi’s commentary on Chumash. Mostly a collection of other commentaries, in addition to the author's own insight meant to give a basic understanding of Rashi.
Kli Yakar - R’ Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz (1550-1619), Chief Rabbi of Prague following the Maharal. His primary work was written after becoming deathly ill and vowing to compose a commentary on the Torah if he survived.
Ba’al HaTurim - Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1269-1343), Spain; Composer of Arba'ah Turim, tracing Halacha from the Torah through Talmud and early Poskim. Many commentaries were written on the Tur, including R' Yosef Karo’s “Beit Yosef” which formed the basis of the Shulchan Arukh.
Meshech Chochma - Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk (1843-1926), Lithuania; Prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Known for his writings on Rambam' Mishneh Torah, which he titled Ohr Somayach, as well as his novellae on the Torah, titled Meshech Chochma. He reputedly turned down offers for the rabbinate in various large cities, including Jerusalem, New York City and Kovno, and died in a hotel in Riga, Latvia, while seeking medical treatment.
Amudei Hod - Rav Yisrael Amihud Klein shlit"a; Rav in Yeshivat Itri, Yerushalaim. Amudei Hod contains explanation and commentary on the works of the Ba'al HaTurim.
Sefer HaChinuch - An anonymous work written in 13th-century Spain that clearly details the 613 commandments and explains the reasons behind them. For each commandment, the author cites a biblical source, addresses the philosophical underpinnings of the commandment, presents a brief overview of the details of its observance, and summarizes the commandment’s applicability.
Da'at Zekainim MiBa'alei HaTosafot - The Ba'alei HaTosafot were members of a school of Torah and Talmudic interpretation in 12th and 13th century France and Germany. Their roots are in the work of Rashi and their approach is analytical, comparative and incisive.
Rabbeinu Bachya - (Rabbeinu Behaye) R’ Bahya ben Asher (1255-1340), Spain. Torah commentary incorporating the literal meaning along with allegorical, Midrashic, and Kabbalistic interpretations.
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer - Composed by Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (1st-2nd century) during times of the Mishnah.
Maharal - The Maharal of Prague - R' Yehuda Loew ben Bezalel (1520 - 1609), Prague; Mystically inclined philosopher whose writings left an indelible impression on generations of Ashkenazic Jewry. His numerous philosophical works became cornerstones of Jewish thought and had a profound influence on Chassidic teaching. He also wrote halachic works, including a commentary on the Arba'ah Turim.
Arizal - Ari HaKadosh, Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), Yerushalayim, Egypt, Tzefat; Considered the forefather of modern Kabbalah.
Megaleh Amukot - R' Natan Nota Spira, (1585–1633), Poland. Chief Rabbi of Krakow. Descendant of a rabbinical family which traced its lineage as far back to Rashi. Megaleh Amukot is a commentary containing 252 explanations of Moshe's prayer referenced in the first pasuk of Vaetchanan.
Nachalat David - Commentary on the Shas by Rabbi David Tabil of Minsk, student of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.
Shem Mishmuel - Rav Shmuel Bornsztain (1855-1926), Poland; second Sochatchov Rebbe. A leading Chasidic thinker and a Rebbe to thousands of Chasidim in the Polish cities of Sochaczew (Sochatchov) and Łódź. Son of the first Sochatchover Rebbe, he labored over the compilation and publication of his father's manuscripts and published his father's voluminous responsa on Shulchan Aruch under the title Avnei Nezer.
Yalkut Reuveni - R' Reuven Hoshke HaKohen Sofer (died 1673), Prague; Kabalist and rabbi of Prague. Yalḳuṭ Reuveni is a vast compendium of Midrashim derived from the nigleh level (the oral tradition contained mainly in the Talmud) and nistar level (the esoteric tradition of Kabbalistic writings). Arranged according to the order of the weekly parasha and subject matter.
Bnei Yissaschar - R’ Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov (1783-1841), Poland; nephew of Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk. The Chozeh of Lublin told him that he was a reincarnation of the great early Torah sages of the tribe of Yissaschar. Best known for his work Bnei Yissas'char, discourses on the Torah and Festivals as viewed from a kabbalistic prospective; Derech Pikudecha, exposition on the 613 mitzvot; Agra DeKallah, a commentary on the Torah; and Hagahot Mahartza on the Zohar.
Alsheich HaKadosh - Rabbi Moshe Alsheich (1508–1593), Tzefat; Student of Rabbi Yosef Caro; Rebbe of Rav Chaim Vital.
Drashot Beit Yishai - Rav Shlomo Fisher (1932-2021), Yerushalayim; Served as Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivat Itri. Studied in Mir under Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel and served as a member and then as the head of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court. Rav Fisher was equally at home in the religious Zionist Torah community, giving shiurim in Merkaz Harav, Shaalvim and other yeshivot and celebrating Yom Yerushalayim in his own inimicable way – teaching Torah ideas about Jerusalem.
