Rabbi David ben Aryeh Leib of

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

( 1650 – 1696) wrote works of

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

, including ''Sefer

Shomer Shabbat A person who is ''shomer Shabbat'' or ''shomer Shabbos'' (, "one who observes/keeps the Sabbath") is someone who observes the mitzvot (commandments) associated with Judaism's Shabbat, or Sabbath, which begins at dusk on Friday and ends after ni ...

'' and books on the

613 Mitzvot According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments (). Although the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the . Th ...

, bris milah, the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...

, the

Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth (, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings ( Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books ...

, and

Jewish ethics Jewish ethics are the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics, Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues, and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western phil ...

(''Divrei David'', 1671). He was accused of

Sabbateanism The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) are a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), an Ottoman Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza. Vast ...

, not to mention

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

, but was absolved of wrongdoing by the Council of the Four Lands. He died in

Lviv 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 ...

(Lemberg).

Biography

His uncle (mother's brother) was the R. Moses Rivkes, author of "Be'er ha-Golah." Besides serving initially as the rabbi of Lida (for which he is named), he also functioned as the of Zwolin and Mainz. In 1682, he was appointed the Ashkenazi rabbi of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia: "The inscription on his tombstone bears the date 5450 = 1690, but Polak (see "Ḳol Bat Gallim," p. 3) proves this to be a mistake, as several works are extant which were endorsed by him after the year given in the inscription. Stern (see "Bikkurim," i., Preface, p. xxxvi.) gives Ḥeshwan, 5448, which may, however, be a misprint for 5458 = 1698."

Works

*''Be'er 'Eseḳ'' (The Well of Dispute), 1684 *''Divre David'', a moral treatise *''Ḥalluḳe Abanim'' (Smooth Stones), a commentary on Rashi to the Pentateuch (Fürth, 1693) *''Ir Miḳlaṭ'' (The City of Refuge), a commentary on the 613 commandments (Dyhernfurth, 1690) *''Migdal David'' (The Tower of David), a cabalistic commentary on Ruth (

, 1680) *''Berit Adonai'' (The Alliance of God), a treatise in Judæo-German on circumcision (Amsterdam, 1684) *''Sod Adonai'' (The Secret of God), a treatise in Hebrew on circumcision, with a commentary entitled "Sharbiṭ ha-Zahab" (The Golden Scepter), written at

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

in 1680, and published at Amsterdam 1694 *''Ir Dawid'' (The Town of David), a collection of homilies, edited by his son Pethahiah (Amsterdam, 1719) *''Shir Hillulim'' (Wedding Song), a poem on the occasion of presenting a

Sefer Torah file:SeferTorah.jpg, A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema file:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG, An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Inte ...

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyru ...

to the synagogue (Amsterdam, 1680)

Sources

* ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', V:1348 1650s births 1690s deaths 17th-century Polish rabbis {{poland-rabbi-stub