Samuel Löw Brill (September 14, 1814 – April 8, 1897) was a Hungarian rabbi and
Talmudical
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 ...
scholar born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. He was educated by his father, Azriel Brill (1778-1853), who was teacher and associate rabbi at
Pest, Hungary
Pest () is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two-thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda and Óbuda, the western parts of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable sights are the ...
, and the author of several works 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 ...
. After having been carefully grounded at home in Hebrew studies, and graduating with honors from the Protestant Lyceum of his native city, he attended the Talmud schools at Eisenstadt (1832) nder M. J. Perls Presburg (1834–35) nder Moses Sofer">Moses_Sofer.html" ;"title="nder Moses Sofer">nder Moses Sofer and Prague (1836), where he obtained, at the age of twenty-two, his rabbinical degree. In 1842-43 he was registered in the University of Berlin, where he attended the courses of famous teachers, such as [ oeckh, the classical philologist, Ritter, the geographer, Leopold Ranke, the historian,
Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual
* Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher
* Felix Emanuel Schelling (1858–1945), American educat ...
, and others, and associated with
Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies (''Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation ...
and
Michael Sachs
Michael Yechiel Sachs (; 3 September 1808 – 31 January 1864) was a Prussian rabbi from Groß-Glogau, Silesia.
Life
He was one of the first Jewish graduates from the modern universities, earning a Ph.D. degree in 1836. He was appointed Rabbi i ...
.
Returning to his native city, he was appointed assistant rabbi in 1843, and associate rabbi in 1850. Although he did not come before the public at large either in print (his only publication was an anonymous necrology of his teacher
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
, in the ''Allg. Zeit. des Judenthums,'' 1838) or on the platform, he soon became widely known by his Talmudic lectures, which he enlivened with material drawn from Hebrew and general literature. Among his earliest pupils were
W. Bacher
Wilhelm Bacher ( hu, Bacher Vilmos; yi, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בּאַככֿר, he, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בכר ''Benjamin Ze'ev Bacher''; 12 January 1850 – 25 December 1913)I. Goldziher.
Brill was highly esteemed not only by his coreligionists, but also by the Hungarian government, and was its first counselor when it was preparing to institute a rabbinical seminary (see Moritz Bloch Ballagi). He was also one of the founders of the
Budapest University of Jewish Studies
The Budapest University of Jewish Studies ( hu, Országos Rabbiképző – Zsidó Egyetem, or Országos Rabbiképző Intézet / ''Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies'' / german: Landesrabbinerschule in Budapest) is a univ ...
(''Landesrabbinerschule''), inaugurated in 1877, in which institution he held the position of teacher of Talmud from 1877 till 1887, having previously (since 1872) been president of the rabbinical college of Budapest. He also took part in the Israelitic county-congress of 1868-69. During Brill's lifetime a number of subtle extracts from his Talmudic glosses were published in the ''Monatsschrift,'' 1896-97, and the ''Magyar Zsidò Szèmle,'' of the same years, by
Ludwig Blau
Lajos Blau (German: Ludwig Blau; 29 April 1861 – 8 March 1936) was a Jewish–Hungarian scholar of philosophy and Oriental studies, professor of Jewish studies, and publicist born at Putnok, in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Biography
Blau was ...
. A few sermons have also been printed in the last-named periodical.
Brill's valuable Hebrew library became the property of the seminary at Budapest.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
* L. Blau, ''Samuel Löw Brill: His Life and Character'', in Hungarian, with portrait, Budapest, 1902.