Alexander Sender Schor "Tevuos Schor"

Alexander Sender Shor (Appx 1655 to 1737)was the son of R' Efraim Zalman Shor , Magid of Lvov; he was born in Lvov and orphaned as an infant. Alexander was something of a prodigy and was appointed Rabbi of Hovenov (vicinity of Belz) as a youth (some say as early as 1670). Shor was marrried to Voytel, the daughter of Moshe Mordechai Leibush of Zolkiew, president of the Council of Four Lands.

About 1704 he resigned his position in Hovenov, feeling himself both unwilling and unable to continue to bear the responsibility of the rabbinate. He went to live in Zolkiew where he remained for the rest of his life, devoting himself to study and writing and earning his living working in a distillery. He died 27 Shvat 5497 (1737) and is buried in Zolkiev; his wife died in Zolkiew on 24 Heshvan 5500.

Shor was considered one of the foremost scholars of his age. He was the author of a definitive work on shehita and kashrut referred to in its entirity as 'Tevuot Shor'. The work was published in Zolkiew in 1733. In accordance with rabbinic custom (relating to the authors of landmark works of scholarship) he is known by the title of his work - as the Tevuot Shor (frequently abbreviated to 'the TEVUSH'). Actually, he was/is sometimes called Tevuot Shor the Younger, since an earlier Shor relation - R'Ephriam Zalman B"R Naphtali Herz Shor - had also published a noteable work by the same name.

'Tevuot Shor'consists of three parts: Simlah Hadashah (a digest of the laws of ritual slaughter - shehita and trefut), Tevuot Shor (an Index to the laws) and 'Bekor Shor' (miscellaneous appended material including novellae on both the 'halaka' and 'aggada' to 'Hulin' and other tractates). The work attained great popularity. It has been republished at least 17 times and came to be regarded as the authoritative work on the subject. Schor generally assumes a stringent interpretation of the relevent laws. In practice, knowledge of' 'Tevuot Schor' was regarded as a prerequisite for a 'Shohet' before he was granted a 'kabbala' (a permit to practice 'shkita').

The name of the book became almost a concept: of an expert in the laws of 'shkita' it was said: "he is an expert in the 'Tevuot Schor'. Commentaries were written on it, the most important being 'Levushei Serad' of D S Eybeshuetz (Moghilev, 1812) and the 'Tikunei ha-Zeva' of Isaiah Borochowitz (1883).

Alexander Shor had a sister to whom he was devoted. There is no record of her name or the identity of her husband, however, she had a son, Efraim Zalman who was called R'Zalman Lokovar. R'Zalman composed a poem which his uncle (the Tevuot Shor) included in his work Behor Shor (Masehet Taanit) with the inscription: "These are the words of my nephew, the complete scholar and outstanding rabbi Our Teacher the Rabbi Rav Efraim Zalman, may god preserve him, Maggid in the Great synagogue of our congregation. His son, Menahem Mendel Zolkovar, was Magid in the city of Brody (see Maalot Yochsin, pp 55).