Rav Yehuda Loew, known as the Maharal, lived from 1525 to 1609. Born in Posen, Poland during Pesach, he came from a prominent rabbinic family with ancestry tracing to King Dovid and was the youngest of four brothers. He married Pearl at age 32 and had six daughters and one son named Betzalel. The Maharal served as rabbi of Nikolsburg and Moravia beginning in 1553 for two decades, then relocated to Prague in 1573 where he established a yeshiva. He returned to Posen as rabbi in 1592 before moving back to Prague in 1598 to become its chief rabbi.
The Maharal advocated for educational reform, rejecting the practice of teaching young children and arguing instead that instruction should match a student's intellectual development. He encouraged group study of the Mishna among his students, notably R. Yom Tov Heller, author of Tosafos Yom Tov. Beyond Jewish learning, the Maharal engaged with contemporary scientific thought and maintained friendships with prominent scientists of his era, including Dovid Ganz, his disciple who worked at the observatory of astronomer Tycho Brahe.
He authored numerous works covering Jewish philosophy and ethics, among them Tiferes Yisrael on Torah and commandments, Nesivos Olam on ethics, Be'er Hagolah commenting on rabbinic sayings, Netzach Yisrael on exile and redemption, Or Chadash on Esther, Ner Mitzvah on Chanukah, and Gevuros Hashem on the Exodus. Rav Kook characterized the Maharal as foundational to both the Gaon of Vilna's approach and to Chassidus.
Also commemorated on this date are Rav Abdala Somech, born in Baghdad in 1813 and descended from Rav Nissim Gaon, who served as rebbe to Ben Ish Chai and head of Iraqi Jewry; and Rav Ze'ev Nachum Bornstein, author of Agudas Eizov and rabbi of Elkush and Biala, who died in 1885.
On 18 Elul historically, Shimon HaChashmona'i was elected Kohen Gadol and Jewish governor in 141 BCE, establishing the Chashmonaim dynasty. The Baal Shem Tov was born in 1698 and publicly revealed the Chassidic movement on his 36th birthday in 1734. The Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad, was born in 1745. Israel agreed to accept reparations from West Germany in 1952.