Jacob ben Abraham Kahana ( he, יעקב בן אברהם כהנא; died 1826) was a rabbinical author. His father was rabbi at
Brestowitz, government of
Grodno. Jacob was the son-in-law of Rabbi Issachar of Vilna, brother of the
Vilna Gaon. He lived with his father-in-law, and was supported by him for many years, so that he was able to devote his time to the study of the Law; and he became one of the leading
Talmud
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 ce ...
ical scholars in
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
. After Issachar's death Jacob was appointed trustee of the charities of the city. He died in Vilna.
Jacob was the author of ''Shittot,'' a commentary on the tractate
Erubin. The work is divided into three parts, the first consisting of
novellæ on the
Gemara, the second of novellæ on the
Tosefta
The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
, and the third of novellæ on the corresponding tractates in the
Yerushalmi. The manuscript was revised and the work published in Lemberg, 1863, by
Raphael Nathan Rabbinowicz.
References
*
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: Fuenn, ''Keneset Yisrael,'' p. 550; idem, ''Kiryah Ne'emanah,'' p. 240.
19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire
1826 deaths
Year of birth missing
Rabbis from Vilnius
{{Judaism-bio-stub