Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob (January 10, 1801,
Ramygala
Ramygala (, literally "quiet end") is a city in Lithuania. It is located some south from Panevėžys on the banks of the Upytė River, a tributary to the Nevėžis River. According to 2017 estimate, it had 1,440 residents.
History
The name "R ...
– July 2, 1863,
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
) was a
Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas o ...
Maskil
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Eur ...
,
best known as a bibliographer, author, and publisher. His 17-volume Hebrew Bible included
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
,
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
, as well as his own ''Mikraei Kodesh'' which "emended" the biblical text and helped spread the Haskalah movement.
Biography and works
Before he learned Russian
[ his parents moved to Vilnius, "and there he received instruction in ]Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
grammar and rabbinical
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...
lore."[Pending further edits, "Biography and works" is a rewrite of AND THE SINGLE SOURCE for the rest of this Wiki article.]
Benjacob began to write early, and composed short poems and epigrams in pure Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
Hebrew which are among the best of their kind in Neo-Hebraic literature. For several years he lived in Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
, where he was engaged in business, always studying and writing in his leisure hours. Later he became a publisher and book-seller and went to Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
, where he published his first work, ''Miktamim ve-Shirim'' (Epigrams and Songs), which also contains an important essay on epigrammatic composition (Leipzig, 1842). Of the other works which he published there, his corrected edition of R. Bahya ibn Pakuda's '' Chovot ha-Levavot'', with an introduction, a short commentary, and a biography of the author, together with notes and fragments of Joseph Kimhi Joseph Qimḥi or Kimchi (1105–1170) ( he, יוסף קמחי) was a medieval Jewish rabbi and biblical commentator. He was the father of Moses and David Kimhi, and the teacher of Rabbi Menachem Ben Simeon and poet Joseph Zabara.
Grammarian, ...
's translation by H. Jellinek, is the most valuable (Leipzig, 1846; Königsberg, 1859, without the introduction).
In 1848 Benjacob returned to Vilnius, and for the next five years he and the poet Abraham Dob Bär Lebensohn were engaged in the publication of the Bible with a German language translation (in Hebrew type) and the new ''Biurim'' (Vilnius, 1848–1853, 17 vols.), which did much good as a means of spreading the knowledge of German and a proper understanding of the Hebrew text among the Jews in Russia
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
. When this work was done he brought out his corrected and amended edition of Chaim Joseph David Azulai
Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (1724 – 1 March 1806) (), commonly known as the Hida (the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious ...
's ''Shem ha-Gedolim'' (Vilnius, 1853; Vienna, 1862), which is still the standard edition of that important work. In 1862 Benjacob announced his intention to begin the publication of popular editions of classical Hebrew works which had become rare or high-priced. He died soon after the appearance of the first volume of Azariah dei Rossi
Azariah ben Moses dei Rossi (Hebrew: עזריה מן האדומים) was an Italian-Jewish physician and scholar. He was born at Mantua in 1511; and died in 1578. He was descended from an old Jewish family which, according to a tradition, was b ...
's ''Meor 'Enayim,'' with which he started the series (Vilnius, 1863).
Communal activities
In his later years Benjacob was one of the leaders and representatives of the Jewish community of Vilnius, and took an active part in all communal affairs. In his correspondence with Isaac Bär Lewinsohn
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...
, which is partly published in ''Ha-Kerem'' (pp. 41–62, Warsaw, 1888), Benjacob throws much light on the condition of the community in the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, and especially on the lamentable condition of the Rabbiner Schule (Rabbinical Seminary) which the government established there and in Jitomir in 1848, and closed in 1873. Benjacob himself was originally destined to be one of the teachers of the Vilnius Seminary, but never filled the position, and later he became one of the severest critics of that institution. These letters are also interesting on account of the idea they give of the perplexities of the old Maskilim
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
of the Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
ian school in Russia, like Benjacob, who were being swept aside by the younger generation which had the advantage of a Russian training. He could not speak 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 ...
, and most of the representatives of the community suffered from the same disability, excepting a few merchants who cared little for the fate of the seminary; the older members were at a great disadvantage when pitted against the young students, who could gain whatever they desired from the authorities on account of their correct Russian accent.
Benjacob corresponded with Jewish scholars in Western countries, and was known during his lifetime for his great achievements as a bibliographer, although his monumental work, the ''Otzar ha-Sefarim, Thesaurus Librorum Hebræorum tam Impressorum quam Manuscriptorum,'' did not appear till seventeen years after his death (Vilnius, 1880). It was published by his son Jacob, and contains 17,000 entries of Hebrew printed and manuscript works, with valuable notes by M. Steinschneider. An author-index to the work together with additions has been promised (as of 1906) by Steinschneider (''Hebr. Bibl.'' xx. 73; ''Festschrift,'' p. vii.). It is the greatest Jewish bibliographical work in the Hebrew language
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, and is still the standard bibliography of printed books down to 1863.
Besides other minor works and articles published in various Hebrew periodicals and collections, Benjacob also commenced a German-Hebrew dictionary and a Mishnaic
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
-Talmudic
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 ...
dictionary with a German translation, both of which were left unfinished.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*Julius Fürst
Julius Fürst (; 12 May 1805, Żerków, South Prussia – 9 February 1873, Leipzig), born Joseph Alsari, was a Jewish German orientalist and the son of noted maggid, teacher, and Hebrew grammarian Jacob Alsari. Fürst was a distinguished schola ...
, ''Bibl. Jud.'' i.103-104 (see also vol. iii, Preface, p. vii);
*Brüll Brüll or Bruell is a surname.
The British surname Bruell has been identified as a variation of Brewell, derived from the village of Braithwell, West Yorkshire.
Other variants of this surname include Briel Brill and Bril
Notable people with ...
's ''Jahrbücher,'' v.217;
*''Monatsschrift,'' xxx.375-384, 570-572;
*''Kerem Ḥemed,'' v.8;
* Fuenn, ''Keneset Yisrael,'' pp. 597–599;
*''Ha-Maggid,'' vii.234;
*''Ha-Karmel
''Ha-Karmel'' () was a Hebrew periodical, edited and published by Samuel Joseph Fuenn in Vilna from 1860 to 1880. It was one of the important forces of the Haskalah movement in the Russian Empire.
History
''Ha-Karmel'' was founded by Samuel Joseph ...
,'' iii.365, 366.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjacob, Isaac ben Jacob
Jewish printing and publishing
Benjacob, Isaac ben Jacob
Benjacob, Isaac ben Jacob
Jews from the Russian Empire
People from Ramygala
Writers from the Russian Empire
People of the Haskalah