KATZENELLENBOGEN, ẒEVI HIRSH

KATZENELLENBOGEN, ẒEVI HIRSH (Naphtali; 1796–1868), one of the early maskilim in Vilna, Hebrew author, and educator. In his youth, he wrote Netivot Olam, a commentary on the Baraita of the 32 Rules (Vilna, 1822). He also wrote poetry and eulogies, among them a eulogy of R. Ḥayyim of Volozhin\>\> , " Naḥal Dimah " ("A Stream of Tears," 1821). He was popular both with the old generation in Vilna and with the maskilim, and contributed to the periodicals Pirḥei Ẓafon and Ha-Karmel. When the government rabbinical school was founded in Vilna in 1847, he became director of Hebrew studies despite the opposition of the Orthodox, and served for 18 years. Upon his retirement his son Ḥayyim succeeded him. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: H.N. Maggid, Ir Vilna (1900), 232–48; S. Ginzburg, Historishe Shriftn, 2 (1937), 91–116. (Yehuda Slutsky)