Eliezer Zweifel (1815–1888) ( he, אליעזר צבי צְוַויפֶל) was a Russian-Jewish writer who was associated with the
Jewish Enlightenment movement (''haskalah''). Zweifel's writings on
Hasidic Judaism were favourable to the movement. His book ''Shalom al Yisrael'' is believed to be one the earliest academic works on the Hasidic movement.
[Pollack, Gloria Wiederkehr. "Eliezer Zvi Hacohen Zweifel: Forgotten Father of Modern Scholarship on Hasidism." In Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, vol. 49, pp. 87–115. American Academy for Jewish Research, 1982.]
Biography
Eliezer Zweifel was raised in the Mogilev region of
White Russia. While in his twenties, Zweifel moved to
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, where he worked as a religious preacher and tutor for sixteen years. From 1853 to 1873, Zweifel was appointed as a Talmud teacher at Beth Midrash L'Rabbanim in
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...
, an institution associated with the
Jewish Enlightenment movement (''haskalah''). Zweifel's writings often contained anti-Haskalah statements and drew criticism from other Haskalah authors including
Mendele Mokher Sefarim. Zweifel authored a number of books and contributed dozens of essays to the Jewish periodicals of his time.
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Books
*
*
* – his magnum opus
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* – a defense of the Talmud
References
1815 births
1888 deaths
Russian Jews
Jewish religious writers
19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire
19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian Empire
Russian non-fiction writers
Male non-fiction writers
People of the Haskalah
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