R' Shmuel "Shmeilke" Zak (Zera Kodesh)

He was named after his maternal ancestor Shmuel "Reich" Schmelke Sax. He studied in his father's yeshiva in Lvov and became a learned Talmudist. Rabbis all over Poland respected R’ Shmelke. The Meginei Shlomo was a great admirer and called him “The Amud HaYemini and Ner Yisrael of the Generation.”

During the 1650s, Rabbi Shmelke assumed the rabbinate in Ostrog where his paternal grandfather had originally been rabbi. He headed the local yeshiva there and rebuilt at his own expense the local shul that had been destroyed by the Cossacks in 1648. The shul was named after him in his honor and served the Jewish community faithfully until 1889.

Rabbi Shmelke was succeeded as Chief Rabbi by his son-in-law the Semichas Chachamim. ________________________________________

According to the introduction in the SMICHAT CHACHAMIM he was niftar on tuesday, י ניסן תמ"ז. This date fell on monday so there is a discrepancy.

GEDCOM Note

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GEDCOM Note

From Kaganoff, Benzion C. Jewish Surnames Through the Ages: An Etymological History. Commmentary, September 1, 1956:

Zak comes from Zera K'doshim = "descendants of the martyrs."

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Za´´k = Zera´ Kodashim = Seed of Holy Men

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Zak is an acronym for Zera Kadosh (Holy Seed).

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He was named after his maternal ancestor Samuel Leib Shmelkes-Reich. He studied in his father's yeshiva in Lvov and became a learned Talmudist. Rabbis all over Poland respected R’ Shmelke. The Meginei Shlomo was a great admirer and called him “The Amud HaYemini and Ner Yisrael of the Generation.”

During the 1650s, Rabbi Shmelke assumed the rabbinate in Ostrog where his paternal grandfather had originally been rabbi. He headed the local yeshiva there and rebuilt at his own expense the local shul that had been destroyed by the Cossacks in 1648. The shul was named after him in his honor and served the Jewish community faithfully until 1889.

Rabbi Shmelke was succeeded as Chief Rabbi by his son-in-law the Semichas Chachamim. ________________________________________

According to the introduction in the SMICHAT CHACHAMIM he was niftar on tuesday, י ניסן תמ"ז. This date fell on monday so there is a discrepancy.

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In the 1670s, Shmuel Shmelka Zak rebuilt the Great Kloiz of Ostroh with his own money near the Great Synagogue and established a yeshiva there.

From Encyclopedia Judaica (2007):

The Ostrog yeshivah was restored soon after the Cossack destruction through the efforts of Samuel Shmelke, who loaned a large sum to the Council of the Four Lands for its reestablishment and the maintenance of students.

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From the JewishEncyclopedia.com:

In the [1670s] the community of Ostrog had as its rabbi Shmelka Sack, who was at the head of the local yeshiva and who rebuilt, at his own expense, the synagogue destroyed [by the Cossacks] in 1648. His synagogue was ruined by fire in 1889. Sack died in 1680....

בוצינא קדישא,המאור הקדוש ושר התורה, הג"ר שמואל שמעלקא ז"ק,זצוק"ל, אב"ד ור"מ אוסטראה
היה מראשי גליל וואלין בועד ד' ארצות,מילא את מקומו של הט"ז שברח משם בשנת ת"ח ות"ט

https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=9642#p=572&fit...

https://tablet.otzar.org/#/b/28853/p/-1/t/1649648487583/fs/YNiWcaOl...

https://tablet.otzar.org/#/b/168748/p/120/t/1660073803156/fs/BbGtqn...