Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg (, ; 24 December 1860 – 23 October 1935) was a

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 ...

, author, and Jewish communal leader in Poland and Canada. He is best known for his Hebrew translation of the ''

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

'', and for popularizing the tale of the

Golem of Prague A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-centu ...

Biography

Rosenberg was born Judka Rozenberg on 24 December 1860 in

Gębarzów Gębarzów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Skaryszew, within Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Skaryszew, south of Radom, and south of Warsaw. References
...

, Poland (near

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

), the son of Maria Gitla () and Izrael Icek Rozenberg. He grew up in the nearby town of

Skaryszew Skaryszew is a town in Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,922 inhabitants (2004). The town is located on the ''Kobylanka'' river, and belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. Skaryszew lies on a regional road nr. 733, ...

, Poland. As a young boy, he was known as "the

Illui ''Illui'' ( he, עילוי or עלוי also ilui; pronounced plural: ''illuim'') is a young Torah and Talmudic prodigy or genius. The Hebrew term and title is applied to exceptional Talmudic scholars among Orthodox Jews. It is used among Engli ...

of Skaraschev". At age 17, he married Chaya Chava, the daughter of Shlomo Elimelech of Tarlow, granddaughter of the Otrovtzer Rav, Rabbi Liebish Zucker and great-grandchild of the Ostrovtzer Rebbe. After receiving his rabbinic designation, he served as rabbi in Tarlow (and thus became known in Poland as Rav Yudel Tarlow'er), Lublin, Warsaw, and Lodz. In 1913, Rosenberg immigrated to Canada, where he became the spiritual leader of Toronto's

Beth Jacob Congregation Beth Jacob Congregation is a Conservative Jewish synagogue located in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1985 and has a membership of 400 families. Beth Jacob is a community of Jews who come together to nurture relationship ...

, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Polish-born Jews. During his close to six years in the city, Rosenberg founded the Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah on D'Arcy Street, in a building which once was an Italian club. He moved to Montreal in 1919, where he became the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations, a group of synagogues serving immigrant

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

communities, and vice-chairman of the Jewish Community's Rabbinic Council, which he served as until his death in Montreal at age seventy-five on October 23, 1935. Among Rosenberg's grandchildren were

Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir ( he, שלמה-ישראל בן-מאיר, born Shlomo-Yisrael Rosenberg; 13 August 1910 – 4 April 1971) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset from 1952 until his death. Biography Born in War ...

, Meir Yehoshua Magnes, and the celebrated Montreal author

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

Work

Rabbi Rosenberg was a prolific author. Besides numerous halakhic works, his writing ranged from an anthology of the sciences (''Sefer ha-Berit''), which was a source of scientific knowledge for Jews unfamiliar with European languages, to a Hebrew translation of the ''

'', which he hoped would revive interest in

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

. He is perhaps most famous for his stories about the

, which he attributed to the

Maharal of Prague Judah Loew ben Bezalel (; between 1512 and 1526 – 17 September 1609), also known as Rabbi Loew ( Löw, Loewe, Löwe or Levai), the Maharal of Prague (), or simply the Maharal (the Hebrew acronym of "''Moreinu ha-Rav Loew''", 'Our Teacher, Rabbi ...

, published 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 ...

as ''Niflaʼot Maharal'' (1909). Rosenberg himself later translated the Hebrew text into a rather different

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

version, also available in English translation. Rosenberg's text claims to be an edition of a three-hundred-year-old manuscript found in an imperial library in Metz, but recent scholarship recognises the text as a work of fiction by Rosenberg.

Publications

*''Zeh sefer Nifleʼot MaHaRa"L : bo yesupar ha-otot ṿeha-moftim ... me-et ... Maharal mi-Prag ... asher hifli laʻas̀ot ha-golem ''(Podgorze etsel Ḳraḳo : Bi-defus Shaʼul Ḥanaya' Daiṭsher, 669

909 __NOTOC__ Year 909 ( CMIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Britain * King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish ...

epr. ''ha-Golem mi-Prag : u-maʻaśim niflaʼim aḥerim'', ed. by ʻEli Yasif (Yerushalayim : Mosad Byaliḳ, 1991)*''Refaʼel ha-malʼakh : be-sefer zeh niḳbetsu segulot ṿe- ḳameʻot ʻal kol tsarah she-lo tavo ... refuʼot moʻilot le-harbeh maḥalot ... leḥashim le-harbeh maḥalot ...'' (Pyeṭrḳov : Bi-defus Shelomoh Belkhaṭoṿsḳi, 671, 1911) *''Tifʼeret Maharal mi-Shpoli ha-niḳra "Der Shpoler zeyde" : ba-sefer ha-zeh yesupar toladeto tsidḳato ḳedushato u-moftaṿ ha-gedolim ṿeha-noraʼim asher herʼah be-yamaṿ ... maran Aryeh Leb mi-Shpoli'' (Pyetrḳov : Bi-defus Ḥanokh Henikh b. ha-r. Yeshay' Volf Folman, 672, 1912) epr._[Yerushalayim?[1968*9.html" ;"title="erushalayim?.html" ;"title="epr. [Yerushalayim?">epr. [Yerushalayim?[1968*9">erushalayim?.html" ;"title="epr. [Yerushalayim?">epr. [Yerushalayim?[1968*9 Yerushalayim : Karmel, 758, 1997] *''Sefer Ḳeriʼah ha-ḳedoshah : hu shulḥan ʻarukh ʻal hilkhot ṿe-minhagim shel ḳeriʼat ha-Torah'' (Nuyorḳ : Rozenberg Prinṭing, 679

919 __NOTOC__ Year 919 ( CMXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By Place Byzantine Empire * March 25 – Romanos Lekapenos, admiral (''droungarios'') of the ...

[partially repr. ‏מזמור לתודה :‏ ‏דין ברכת הגומל מתוך ספר קריװןײה הקדושה /$cמװןײת יהודה יודל רװןײזענבערג ... ; בתוספת מרװןײי מקומות, הערות וחילוקי הלכות למנהג עדות המזרח והמװןײמרים ׳ברכת הגומל לחוזרים מפעילות צבװןײית׳, ברכת הגומל לנוסע בכבישי יש״ע, ע״י מװןײיר יהושע בן־מװןײיר. izmor le-todah : din birkat ha-gomel mi-tokh sefer Ḳeriʼah ha-ḳedoshah( srael : ḥ. mo. l., 2003; repr. Sefer ḳerʼiah ha-ḳedoshah : hu shulḥan ʻarukh ʻal hilkhot ṿe-minhagim shel ḳeriʼat ha-Torah (Yerushalayim: . Ben Meʼir 764- 003 or 2004- *''Sefer Yedot nedarim: ṿe-hu beʼur maspiḳ ʻal kol kelomar asher be-fe.Rashi ṿeha-Ran u-sheʼar meḳomot ha-ḳashim shebe-masekhet Nedarim'' (Ṿarsha : Y. Ḳnaster, 1925) *''Sefer Nifle'ot ha-Zohar'' (Monṭreal bi-defus "Siṭi prinṭing Ḳo." 1927) *''Miḳṿeh Yehudah: ... la-ʻaśot be-khol bayit mikṿeh ḳaṭan ...'' (Toronto: s.n.,

*" ''Divrei Hayamim Asher Leshlomo"'' (Pietrokov 1914)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Yehudah Yudel 1859 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 19th-century Polish rabbis Canadian rabbis Hebrew-language writers Jewish Canadian writers Jews and Judaism in Montreal Polish emigrants to Canada Polish male writers Writers from Montreal