Benjamin Wolf Löw (1775 – 6 March 1851) was a Polish–Hungarian

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. He was also known as Binyamin ben Elʻazar, Benjamin Adolf Löw, and he, Binyamin Ṿolf Leṿ, a.b.d. ḳ.ḳ. Ḳollin u-Ṿerboi. Löw was born in Loslau (Wodzisław),

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. His father, Eleazar Löw, instructed him in

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic literature, and at an early age he became rabbi of a Polish congregation. One of his students was

Abraham Judah ha-Kohen Schwartz Abraham Judah ha-Kohen Schwartz ( hu, Schwartz Ábrahám; 1824–1883), also known by his responsa as the Kol Aryeh, was one of the leading Hungarian rabbis of the nineteenth century. He was a student of Moses Sofer and Benjamin Wolf Low. From 186 ...

. In 1812, following his father to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, he became rabbi of

Kolín Kolín (; german: Kolin, Neu Kolin, Collin) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 32,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administra ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. In 1826 he was called as rabbi to Nagytapolcsány (Topoľčany),

Royal Hungary Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, and in 1836 to Verbo (Vrbové), where he spent the remainder of his life. Löw's only work was ''Sha'are

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

'', a treatise on the principles of Talmudic law which shows the author's methodical mind and vast knowledge of Talmudic literature. Three parts of the work appeared in print (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 1821 and 1850;

Sátoraljaújhely Sátoraljaújhely (; archaic german: Neustadt am Zeltberg ; sk, Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom; yi, איהעל, Ihel, or ) is a town located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in northern Hungary along the Slovak border. It is east from the county ...

, 1872), while the 4th part was still in manuscript as of 1906. Löw was twice married; his first wife, from whom he obtained a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, was the daughter of Ephraim Zalman Margolioth of

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

; the second was the daughter of Isaac Landau, rabbi of Auschwitz (Oświęcim). Löw's son Jeremiah, rabbi in Sátoraljaújhely, was the recognized leader of the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

party in Hungary and its spokesman in an audience which its deputation obtained with the Emperor in order to protest against the establishment of a rabbinical

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. He was nevertheless opposed to the secession of the Orthodox from the whole body of Judaism and therefore refused to take part in a congress planned by the Orthodox. Upon his death in 1872 he was succeeded by his son Eleazar, who was later called to the rabbinate of Unghvar (Uzhhorod). Other grandsons of Wolf Löw were Abraham and Benjamin Singer, joint authors of ''Ha-Madrik'', a pedagogic anthology of the Talmud. Moses Löb Bloch was Wolf Löw's nephew and pupil.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loew, Benjamin Wolf 1775 births 1851 deaths 18th-century Polish rabbis Austro-Hungarian rabbis Hungarian Jews Polish Orthodox rabbis German Orthodox rabbis Austrian Orthodox rabbis Czech Orthodox rabbis Hungarian Orthodox rabbis German expatriates in Hungary German expatriates in the Czech lands Hungarian people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Prussian descent People from Wodzisław Śląski People from the Province of Silesia