Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (; June 1, 1786 – October 15, 1867) was a Galician and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

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 t ...

and Jewish scholar. Rapoport was known by an acronym "Shir", שי"ר occasionally שיל"ר, formed by the initial letters of his Hebrew name "Sh"elomo "Y"ehuda "R"apoport. Shir literally means "song" in Hebrew. He was one of the founders of the new Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.

Life

Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport was born in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...

. His father, Rabbi Aharon Hayim Rappaport was a renowned scholar, and his primary teacher. Rappaport was also recognized as an '' illui''. In 1810, he married Franziska Freide Heller, the daughter of the well-known Aryeh Leib Heller. He died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. After various experiences in business, Rapoport became rabbi of

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

(1837) and of

(1840). He had been "thrown upon his own resources" about 1817, and became the collector of the meat-tax on farmers. Because of his work on

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

, see below, he received recognition in the scholarly world and gained "many enthusiastic friends", especially S. D. Luzzatto, leading to his appointment as Rabbi.

Works

Rapoport was instrumental in publishing his father-in-law's work ''Avnei Miluim'', writing the index, sources, and numerous comments. His chief work was the first part of an ( unfinished) encyclopaedia "Erekh Millin", 1852. Equally notable were his biographies of

Nathan ben Jehiel Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (, 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a dictionary for Rabbinic Judaism that was the first work to examine Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. He is therefore referred to as "the Arukh." B ...

(author of the '' Arukh''),

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (), better known as Hai Gaon (), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He receiv ...

, Eleazar Kalir, and others. His early writings were poems and translations. Thereafter his publications showed "evidence of marked critical ability". In 1824 he wrote an article for '' Bikkure ha-'Ittim'' on the independent Jewish tribes of

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

. His work on Saadia Gaon and his times was published in the same journal in 1829, the first of a series of his biographical works on the medieval Jewish sages.

Ten Sephirot as vowel sounds

Rapoport notes that according to the

Masoretes The Masoretes (, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe- scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in the Jewish centers of the Levant (e.g., Tiberias and Jerusalem) an ...

there are ten vowel sounds. He suggests that the passage in the ''

Sefer Yetzirah ''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is a work of Jewish mysticism. Early commentaries, such as the ''Kuzari'', treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory, as opposed t ...

'', which discusses the manipulation of letters in the creation of the world, can be better understood if the Sephirot refer to vowel sounds. He posits that the word ''sephirah'' in this case is related to the Hebrew word ("to retell"). His position is based on his belief that most

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

works written after ''Sefer Yetzirah'' (including the ''

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

'') are forgeries.

Footnotes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapoport, Samuel Judah Lob Rabbis from Austria-Hungary 1786 births 1867 deaths Age of Enlightenment Austrian Orthodox rabbis Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Orthodox rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Levites Rabbis of Prague Rabbis from Lviv Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria 19th-century biographers Austrian biographers Religious biographers People of the Haskalah Exponents of Jewish law