RODKINSON, MICHAEL LEVI

RODKINSON, MICHAEL LEVI (Frumkin; 1845–1904), Hebrew writer and editor. Born in Dubrovno, Belorussia, his first books were tales of the Ḥasidim. After a short stay in St. Petersburg he moved to Koenigsberg, Germany, where he began publishing various Hebrew periodicals between 1876 and 1880, including Ha-Kol (1877–78), Kol ha-Am (in Yiddish), Asefat Ḥakhamim (1877–78), and Ha-Me'assef. He was a careless editor, but his collaborators, who included E.W. Rabinowitz and M. Vinchevsky, obtained contributions from such Haskalah Hebrew writers as Lilienblum, Kaminer, J.L. Gordon, and others. In 1879 Ha-Kol was banned in Russia and soon ceased publication. In the early 1880s Rodkinson published several books advocating religious reforms as a means of solving the "Jewish question." In 1889 he emigrated to the United States, where he attempted to revive his periodicals (Ha-Kol (1889) and Ha-Sanegor (1890). In his later years he devoted himself to translating the Talmud into English. The value of this translation, printed in two editions, lies only in the fact that it is a pioneering effort. He was the brother of israel dov frumkin . -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Vinchevsky, in: Ha-Toren, 10 (Dec. 1923), 55–61; Rejzen, Leksikon, 4 (1929), 70–77; S.L. Zitron, in: Haolam, 15 (1927), index; I. Davidson, Parody in Jewish Literature (1907), index; Kressel, Leksikon, 2 (1967), 838–9. (Yehuda Slutsky)