Joel Serkes

(known as Baḥ, from the initials of Bayit Ḥadash; 1561-1640). Rabbi and talmudic commentator in Poland. Born in Lublin, Serkes served as rabbi in Lublin and Brest-Litovsk and as head of the yeshivah and av bet din (head of the court) in Cracow from 1619. His major work is Bayit Ḥadash ("New Home"), a commentary on Jacob Ben Asher's Arba'ah Turim, which traces the sources of each halakhic decision from the Talmud and the Rishonim. He also wrote Responsa and notes on the Talmud. He strongly opposed philosophy as well as Pilpul and favored study of the Kabbalah.

---