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Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew language: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his Masterpiece BAyit CHadash), was a prominent Ashkenazi Jews posek and Halakha, who lived in Central Europe and held rabbinical positions in Belz, Brest-Litovsk and Kraków, and is considered to be one of the greatest Talmud scholars of Poland. He is known for his liberal rulings in his Responsa in which he challenges the rabbinic status quo.
The Bach's responsum provides a concise overview of the social and economic conditions of Polish Jewry, as well as the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in early 17th century Poland. One of his responsa, in particular, was censored by the Christian authorities because the work addresses the case of a Jew who was martyred for allegedly stealing a small statue of Jesus. The Polish authorities also demanded the surrender of another Jew accused of receiving the stolen item from the martyr, and threatened to exterminate all the Jews of Kalisz if they refused to surrender the individual. To this, the Bach suggests that the community was permitted to surrender the individual if he was proven to have taken the stolen statue from the martyr. The Bach also discusses cases of apostasy from Judaism, in which he states: “ It is common knowledge at present that the majority of apostates have converted solely out of their lust for robbery, promiscuity, and consuming forbidden foods in public.” Both his responsum and the Bayit Ḥadash display the Bach's liberal attitude towards Judaism and his deprecation of undue religious stringency, one stating: “ He who wishes to be stringent, let him be stringent for himself only.”
The Bach allowed the acceptance of Remuneration and special privileges by rabbis in return for their services. He extended the permission to sell leavened food to a non-Jew before Passover to include the sale of the room in which such food was found. He permitted the reading of secular, non-Hebrew books on the Sabbath and liberalized certain laws to allow for the greater enjoyment of the festivals. He allowed Jewish physicians to violate the Sabbath when treating non-Jewish patients. He permitted church melodies in the synagogue if they were universal in appeal. He excused people sensitive to colds or those lacking warm clothing from the obligation to dwell in booths during Sukkot and permitted women to dress in men's clothing during extreme weather conditions when this type of attire was more comfortable. The descendants of the Bach served prominent and important rabbinic positions all over Poland and Ukraine. His son-in-law was David HaLevi Segal, and among the Bach's descendants is the prominent Ukrainian rabbi Betzalel HaLevi of Zhovkva (1710–1802), who was the maternal grandfather of the Hasidic master, Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827).
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