SCHULHOF, ISAAC

SCHULHOF, ISAAC (d. c. 1733), rabbi; chronicler of the siege of Buda (Ofen, see *Budapest) of 1686. Born in Prague, on his mother's side he was a descendent of *Judah Loew b. Bezalel. He married the daughter of Ephraim Cohen, a fugitive from the *Chmielnicki massacres. The family settled in Buda in 1666, where Ephraim was appointed rabbi; he died in a plague, before the siege. After the death of his father-in-law, Schulhof became the leading figure in one of the circles for prayer and study which devoted three nights a week to prayer. In his work Megillat Ofen ("Scroll of Ofen"), he describes the capture of the city from the Turks, the desperate defense they put up, and the extreme cruelty of the Austrians, who looted, massacred, and thirsted after Jewish blood. His wife Esther lost her life and his eight-year-old son was taken captive and carried off to Raab (*Györ) in northwestern Hungary, where he died as a result of the torments endured in captivity. Schulhof parted from the prisoners and after many hardships arrived in *Mikulov. He proceeded to Prague, where he was appointed dayyan in 1697, remarried, and lived to an old age.

His only work (published by S. *Kohn and D. *Kaufmann in 1895) is an important source not only for the events described therein but also for information on that period and contemporary Jews.

bibliography:

D. Kaufmann, Die Erstuermung Ofens… (1895), introduction; idem, Gesammelte Schriften…, 2 (1908–10), 296–327; S. Kohn, Héber kutforrások és adatok Magyarorszāg történetéhez (1881).

[Baruch Yaron]