ר׳ יהושע פלק כ״ץ

ר׳ יהושע פלק כ״ץ (1555–1614), commonly known as הסמ״ע and as the author of דרישה ופרישה, was one of the formative halakhists of early modern Poland. He studied under his relative ר׳ משה איסרליש and under ר׳ שלמה לוריא, absorbing both the Kraków codificatory tradition and the Maharshal’s close talmudic criticism. After marriage he settled in Lemberg, where the communal leader Joseph Edels supported the yeshiva he headed. His בית ישראל commentary on the ארבעה טורים was divided in print into פרישה, explaining the rulings, and דרישה, probing their talmudic foundations and disagreements. His ספר מאירת עינים—whose initials form סמ״ע—became a standard commentary on the חושן משפט section of the שולחן ערוך. Falk also played a public role in the Council of Four Lands; enactments he proposed were adopted at Kremenets in 1607. A controversial get issued at Vienna in 1611 produced a major debate with the מהר״ם מלובלין and the לבוש, illustrating both his independence and authority. He died in Lemberg in 1614.