Israel ben Moses ha-Levi Zamosz (c. 1700, Buberki – April 20, 1772,

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 ...

) was an eighteenth-century

Talmudist 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 center ...

, mathematician and poet.

Biography

He was born in Buberki to an undistinguished family and studied in Zamosz, where he also taught at a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

. At the same time he occupied himself with the study of secular sciences, particularly with mathematics, and while there wrote many notes on the ''Yesod Olam'' of

Isaac Israeli ben Joseph Isaac Israeli ben Joseph or Yitzhak ben Yosef (often known as Isaac Israeli the Younger) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer/astrologer who flourished at Toledo in the first half of the fourteenth century. He was a pupil of Asher ben Yehiel, at ...

and on the ''Elim'' of

Joseph Delmedigo Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (or Del Medigo), also known as Yashar Mi-Qandia ( he, יש"ר מקנדיא) (16 June 1591 – 16 October 1655), was a rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist. Born in Candia, Crete, a descendant of ...

. During his residence at Zamosz he also wrote his ''Arubbot ha-Shamayim'', a work on descriptive geometry and astronomy. Zamosz first gained fame with the publication of his ''Neẓaḥ Yisrael'' in 1741, which took the form of a traditional text discussing topics addressed in the Talmud, but innovated by interpreting numerous passages from a mathematical and astronomical viewpoint. About 1742, after he had published his ''Neẓaḥ Yisrael'', Zamosz settled in Berlin, where he remained several years, living in poverty. There he instructed

Aaron Solomon Gumperz Aaron Solomon Gumperz (December 10, 1723 – April 10, 1769) was a Jewish German scholar and physician. In March, 1751, Gumperz graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Frankfurt (Oder), his dissertation being "''Ueber die Temper ...

and

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

in mathematics and logic, and his scholarship was much appreciated by

Lessing Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman". Lessing may refer to: A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a lin ...

Work

Zamosz was a versatile writer, his knowledge comprising rabbinics, religious philosophy, and secular sciences. The only works of his published during his lifetime were the ''Neẓaḥ Yisrael'' (1741) and his edition of the ''Ruaḥ Ḥen'' of

Ibn Tibbon Ibn Tibbon (), is a family of Jewish rabbis and translators that lived principally in Provence in the 12th and 13th centuries. Prominent family members Prominent members of the family include: * Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon (1120–after 1190), ...

Jacob Anatoli Jacob ben Abba Mari ben Simson Anatoli (c. 1194 – 1256) was a translator of Arabic texts to Hebrew. He was invited to Naples by Frederick II. Under this royal patronage, and in association with Michael Scot, Anatoli made Arabic learning acce ...

, to which he appended a commentary of his own (1744). After his death appeared the ''Nezer ha-Dema'' (1773), a work in poetical prose on man's desire for luxury, the ''Oẓar Neḥmad'' (1796), a commentary on the ''

Kuzari The ''Kuzari'', full title ''Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion'' ( ar, كتاب الحجة والدليل في نصرة الدين الذليل: ''Kitâb al-ḥujja wa'l-dalîl fi naṣr al-dîn al-dhalîl''), also k ...

'', and the ''Ṭub ha-Lebanon'' (1809), a commentary on the '' Ḥobot ha-Lebabot''.

References

* * Gad Freudenthal, "R. Israel Zamość’s Encounter with Early Modern Science (Berlin, 1744): The Subversive Commentary on Ruaḥ Ḥen and the Birth of a New Conservative," in ''Thinking Impossibilities: The Legacy of Amos Funkenstein'', ed. Robert S. Westman and

David Biale David Biale is an American historian specializing in Jewish history. Biale earned a degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1971, and remained at the institution to complete a master's degree in modern European history ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamosz, Israel 1772 deaths 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian rabbis 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian mathematicians Year of birth uncertain