Abraham Lewysohn (6 December 1805 – 14 February 1860) was a

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

and

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 ...

Peiskretscham Pyskowice (german: Peiskretscham) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesian Highlands. It is situated in the ...

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

. He left a large number of manuscripts, several hundred sermons in Hebrew and Danish, ''novellæ'' on the

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 cen ...

, verses, a German work on

Hebrew grammar 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 ...

, and a work titled ''Dorot Tannaim wa-Amoraim,'' a history of the

Tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

and Amoraim, the introduction to which, titled "Parnasat chakme ha-Talmud," was published in Kobak's ''Jeschurun'' (i, part 3, p. 81).

Publications

*''Me'ore Minhagim'' (Berlin, 1846), a critical essay on religious customs according to the Talmud, Posekim, and

Midrashim ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

(this work was afterward plagiarized by Finkelstein, Vienna, 1851); *''Shete Derashot'' (Gleiwitz, 1856), sermons; *''Toledot R. Yehoshua' ben Ḥananyah,'' biography of R.

Joshua b. Hananiah Joshua ben Hananiah ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ ben Ḥánanyāh''; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the seventh-most-frequently mentioned sage in ...

(in Keller's ''Bikkurim,'' 1865); *''Toledot Rab,'' biography of Rab or

Abba Arika Abba Arikha (175–247 CE; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ; born: ''Rav Abba bar Aybo'', ), commonly known as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. Abba Arikha establi ...

(Kobak's ''Jeschurun,'' vi and vii). Lewysohn was also a regular contributor to ''Ha-Maggid'' and to Klein's ''Jahrbuch.''

References

* ** Ludwig Lewysohn, in ''Ha-Maggid,'' vii.364; ** William Zeitlin, ''Bibl. Post-Mendels,'' pp. 208–209. 1805 births 1860 deaths 19th-century German rabbis German Hebraists Silesian Jews People from the Province of Silesia People from Pyskowice German male non-fiction writers {{Europe-rabbi-stub