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 t ...

. He was also known as Binyamin ben Elʻazar, Benjamin Adolf Löw, and . Löw was born in Loslau (Wodzisław),

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. His father, Eleazar Löw, instructed him in

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

ic literature, and at an early age he became rabbi of a Polish congregation. One of his students was Abraham Judah ha-Kohen Schwartz. In 1812, following his father to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, he became rabbi of

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. In 1826 he was called as rabbi to Nagytapolcsány (Topoľčany), Royal Hungary, and in 1836 to Verbo (Vrbové), where he spent the remainder of his life. Löw's only work was ''Sha'are

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

'', 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 Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1821 and 1850;

Sátoraljaújhely Sátoraljaújhely (German language, German: ''Neustadt am Zeltberg''; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom;'' Yiddish: ''איהעל'') is a border town located in Borsod–Abaúj–Zemplén County, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hu ...

, 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 reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, was the daughter of Ephraim Zalman Margolioth of

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

; 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 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 college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

. 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 Rabbis from Austria-Hungary Polish Orthodox rabbis German Orthodox rabbis Austrian Orthodox rabbis Czech Orthodox rabbis Hungarian Orthodox rabbis German expatriates in Hungary Hungarian people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Prussian descent People from Wodzisław Śląski Clergy from the Province of Silesia