HESCHEL, ABRAHAM JOSHUA BEN JACOB

HESCHEL, ABRAHAM JOSHUA BEN JACOB
HESCHEL, ABRAHAM JOSHUA BEN JACOB (d. 1664), talmudic scholar of Lithuania and Poland. His father was rabbi of the community of Brest-Litovsk and head of its yeshivah, where Abraham Joshua became a teacher as a young man. In 1630 his father was appointed rabbi of Lublin and head of the yeshivah, where Abraham Joshua again assisted him. After his father's death in 1644, he succeeded him as head of the yeshivah. Some scholars claim that he also inherited the rabbinic position, others that he became rabbi of Lublin only in 1650 after the death of Naphtali Katz, who was his father's successor. In 1654, Abraham Joshua became rabbi and head of the yeshivah of Cracow, succeeding the famous Yom Tov lipmann heller . Heschel was a wealthy man, of outstanding piety, and his reputation as a teacher attracted numerous students. A number of them became famous in their own right, among them shabbetai b. meir ha-kohen , aaron samuel koidanover , gershon ashkenazi , and Hillel of Brest Litovsk. His teaching methods were based on dialectics (pilpul). Heschel's renown as a legal authority spread far and questions were addressed to him from all parts of Europe. Although in many cases he was reluctant to give decisions, when he did, they were brief, logical, and to the point. During the Chmielnicki persecutions many cases of agunot came before him, and Heschel exercised considerable leniency in dealing with them. In one such instance, involving a certain Jacob (grandfather of jacob emden ), who was missing after an attack on Vilna, witnesses gave evidence that he had been killed by the Cossacks, and Heschel decided that the wife could remarry; six months later Jacob returned, whereupon Heschel resolved that he would refrain in the future from giving decisions in such matters (see Megillat Sefer by Jacob Emden (1897), 7; and J.M. Zunz, Ir ha-Ẓedek (1874), 111). He was commissioned by the communities of Poland to solicit aid from the wealthy Jewish communities of Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia for the victims of the Chmielnicki massacres. Heschel was received everywhere with great respect, and his mission was crowned with success. He was supposedly even received by the emperor of Austria who accorded him great honor. Heschel died in Cracow.   His commentaries on the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol of moses of coucy were published in its Kapost edition in 1807; they are short and logical, and reveal a fine command of the Hebrew language. Aaron Kelniker, a student of Heschel's in Lublin, published a work, Toledot Aharon (Lublin, 1682), containing some of his teacher's novellae on Bava Kamma, Bava Meẓia, and Bava Batra, compiled from lecture notes. Later editions were entitled Ḥiddushei Halakhot (Offenbach, 1723; etc.). In the preface, Kelniker briefly described the famous yeshivah of Lublin during his period of studies there under Heschel. The Ḥanukkat ha-Torah of E.J. Ersohn (1900) contains 600 of Heschel's homilies on the Bible, gathered from different rabbinic sources of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Events connected with Heschel and his time are recorded by the author in the appendix, Kunteres Aharon, which, although containing some legends, also includes much material of historical value. Some of Heschel's responsa are to be found in works of his contemporaries. His novellae and a commentary on the Shulḥan Arukh are still in manuscript (see kunteres Aharon, 103). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J.M. Zunz, Ir ha-Ẓedek (1874), 104–14; Kaufmann, in: MGWJ, 39 (1895), 556; E.J. Ersohn, Ḥanukkat ha-Torah (1900); Halpern, Pinkas, 84, n. 1. (Shlomo Eidelberg)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jacob Neusner bibliography — This is a list of books by Professor Jacob Neusner as of early 2005. Articles, reviews, etc. are not included here.* A Life of Yohanan ben Zakkai. Leiden, 1962: Brill. Abraham Berliner Prize in Jewish History, Jewish Theological Seminary of… …   Wikipedia

  • BLOCH, MATTATHIAS BEN BENJAMIN ZE'EV (Wolf) ASHKENAZI — (1610/1620–after 1668), preacher and one of the leaders of the Shabbatean movement. Bloch was born in Cracow. His grandfather, Feivel Bloch, was one of the leaders of the community during the first half of the 17th century and its representative… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LONDON, JACOB BEN MOSES JUDAH — (first half of 18th century), rabbi and scholar. Born in Wesel, Germany, Jacob was taken to London as a child, when his father was appointed cantor there. There are those, however, who maintain he was born in London. When his father died, Jacob… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Judaism — /jooh dee iz euhm, day , deuh /, n. 1. the monotheistic religion of the Jews, having its ethical, ceremonial, and legal foundation in the precepts of the Old Testament and in the teachings and commentaries of the rabbis as found chiefly in the… …   Universalium

  • Classic Judaism — or classical Judaism represents a theology comprising a unique set of discernible styles, modes, forms, and content prevalent from the year 70 until the 19th century, styles rooted in classical Jewish thought as found in classical rabbinic… …   Wikipedia

  • Deutscher evangelischer Theologe — Liste von Theologen und Theologinnen: christlich: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Evangelisch-lutherischer Theologe — Liste von Theologen und Theologinnen: christlich: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Evangelischer Theologe — Liste von Theologen und Theologinnen: christlich: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lutherischer Theologe — Liste von Theologen und Theologinnen: christlich: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Theologen — Liste von Theologen und Theologinnen: christlich: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”