Abraham Moses Luncz (December 9, 1854 – 1918) () was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

scholar and editor born at

Kovno Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. At age 14 he came to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Luncz, who suffered from early

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

, founded, in conjunction with Dr. Koisewski, an institution for the blind at Jerusalem. In the exploration of the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, Luncz has rendered great services from the historical, geographical, and physical standpoints, through his guide-books for

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, his Palestine annuals, and his Jerusalem

almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other ...

: * ''Netibot Ẓiyyon we-Yerushalayim:

Topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of Jerusalem and Its Surroundings'' (vol. i, 1876) * ''Jerusalem, Jahrbuch zur Beförderung einer Wissenschaftlich Genauen Kenntnis des Jetzigen und des Alten Palästina'' (Hebrew and German, 6 vols., 1881–1903, Hebrew: ) * ''Literarischer Palästina-Almanach'' (Hebrew; since 1894). He owned a Hebrew

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...

in the

Ezrat Yisrael Ezrat Yisrael ( he, עזרת ישראל, "Help of Israel") is a former courtyard neighborhood in Jerusalem. The neighborhood consisted of buildings on either side of a lane, today named Ezrat Yisrael Street. The street is blocked on one end and ope ...

neighborhood, across the street from his own home in Even Yisrael. From there he issued a number of works by Jewish Palestinian scholars, Estori Farḥi's ''Kaftor wa-Feraḥ'' and Josef Schwarz's ''Tebu'ot ha-Areẓ'' being the first works published. He also produced a travel guide to Israel. As of 1904, he had in press a new edition of the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...

with commentary and introduction.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

*Sokolow ''Sefer Zikkaron,'' p. 184.

References

* 1854 births 1918 deaths Yishuv journalists Blind academics Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Ashkenazi Jews in Ottoman Palestine Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Writers from Kaunas {{Judaism-bio-stub