Sentenced to Death, Saved by Providence

If you didn’t fast on the 5th of Tammuz this year, chances are you’re not a descendant of Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller. In his will, he instructed all his children and their descendants to fast on this date and to celebrate on Rosh Chodesh Adar, the day he was saved from death by fire.

“And I, having endured what I did, hereby decree that you and your offspring, my sons, daughters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, until the coming of the redeemer, shall fast on the fifth of Tammuz.”

The False Accusation and the Death Sentence

Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller was born in 1579 in Wallerstein, Germany, and became a renowned disciple of the Maharal of Prague. At the age of 18, the Maharal appointed him as a dayan (rabbinic judge), a position he held for 28 years. In 1627, he was appointed Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Prague, the spiritual and political center of Central European Jewry.

During the Thirty Years’ War, the emperor required Jewish communities to pay enormous sums of money. As head of Jewish tax distribution, Rabbi Yom Tov developed a fair system that placed a greater burden on the wealthy to spare the community's impoverished members. However, this practice earned him some powerful enemies.

A group of wealthy informers accused him before Emperor Ferdinand II, claiming he sought to undermine the monarchy, citing the name of his commentary on the Rosh, Ma’adanei Melech (“Delicacies of the King”), as supposed proof of his royal ambitions.

On the 5th of Tammuz, Rabbi Yom Tov was arrested and sentenced to death by burning.

A Miraculous Rescue and a Joyous Commemoration

A famous drawing shows Rabbi Yom Tov speaking through the bars of his prison cell to his family. His salvation came unexpectedly: his son, returning from yeshiva, saved a noblewoman from being trampled by a raging ox. She turned out to be the wife of the French ambassador to Bohemia, who promised the young man any favor in return.

Upon learning of his father’s imprisonment, the son rushed back to the ambassador. The ambassador intervened, and the emperor commuted the death sentence in exchange for a ransom of 12,000 thaler, a staggering sum. With great effort, the fine was reduced to 10,000 thaler. Rabbi Yom Tov sold his home and collected donations until the amount was paid. Though he became gravely ill from the stress, he recovered and eventually resumed his rabbinic leadership.

He later became Chief Rabbi of Kraków and Rosh Yeshiva of Rabbi Heschel’s famed academy. His release occurred on Rosh Chodesh Adar, the day his descendants still commemorate with joy.

Lasting Legacy in Jewish Law and Learning

Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller was one of the greatest halachic (Jewish legal) authorities of his era. His Tosefet Yom Tov commentary on the Mishnah is still printed alongside the Bartenura, just as the Tosafot appears next to Rashi on the Talmud.

His halachic rulings and commentary on the Rosh remain foundational and are cited by later decisors to this day.

Rabbi Yom Tov passed away on the 6th of Elul, 1654. He is buried in the old Jewish cemetery of Kraków, where his grave continues to attract countless visitors even today.