David Levi (1742 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– 1801) was an English-Jewish writer,

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 ...

, Jewish apologist, translator, and poet.

Biography

Levi was born to poor immigrant parents who could not afford to educate him. He worked as a shoemaker, then as a hatter, then as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

. He read voraciously in Jewish literature from ancient times to the present, as well as in Christian writings about Judaism and about the Bible. Self-educated, he realised how little both Jews and Christians in England knew about Judaism and resolved to explain and defend his faith. His first published work, ''A Succinct Account of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews'' (1782), tried to explain Judaism to Jews and to correct Christian misconceptions about Judaism. Next, he translated the prayer books of both the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

and

Spanish and Portuguese Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...

. He supervised a translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

into English and published a Hebrew grammar and dictionary, and a guide to the Hebrew language. In 1786,

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

published his ''Letter to the Jews'' (1786), urging them to convert. Levi published a lengthy answer, which led to many arguments with Christian divines. This led to his three-volume ''Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Old Testament'' (1793–1800), which he printed and published himself. It was republished in London in 1817 in two volumes. Levi's work was well known in Christian circles; his ''Dissertation on the Prophecies'' was accepted as authoritative by many scholars, both Jewish and Christian, well into the nineteenth century. His six-volume English translation of the liturgy served as the foundation for later editions published in England and in the United States. His Protestant friend

Henry Lemoine Henry Lemoine (21 October 1786 – 18 May 1854) was a French music publisher, composer, and piano teacher. Life Henry Lemoine was born in Paris, to Antoine Marcel Lemoine and his wife. His father was a music publisher. The boy became a pupil ...

published an obituary in the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term '' ...

'' (October 1801), "He's Gone! the Pride of Israel's Busy Tribe". It praised him as a great explainer and defender of Judaism against both Christians and sceptics. Levi was also poet in ordinary to the synagogue, and furnished odes when required on several public celebrations, as, for instance, on the king's escape from assassination in 1795.

References

* Oxford

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

* Obituary: H. Lemoine, ''Gentlemen's Magazine'', 1st ser., 71 (1801), 934–5 * J. Picciotto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish history, rev. edn, rev. Israel Finestein (1956) * R. H. Popkin, 'David Levi, Anglo-Jewish theologian', Jewish Quarterly Review, 87 (1996), 79–101 *

Simeon Singer Simeon Singer (1846–1906) was an English Rabbi, preacher, lecturer and public worker. He is best known for his English translation of the ''Authorised Daily Prayer Book'', informally known as the "Singer's Siddur". Biography Personal life and ...

, 'Early translations and translators of the Jewish liturgy in England', Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, 3 (1896–8), 36–71 *

Goldman, Yosef Yosef Goldman (1942 – August 4, 2015) was a scholar of History of the Jews in the United States, American Jewish history and the co-author of the two-volume reference work, ''Hebrew Printing in America, Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A Hist ...

. ''

Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography ''Hebrew Printing in America, 1735–1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography'' () is a history and bibliography of Hebrew books printed in America between 1735 and 1926 by Ari Kinsberg. It records 1208 items, annotated with bibliographical infor ...

'' (YGBooks 2006). . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, David (scholar) Writers from London Jewish British poets British milliners Shoemakers 1742 births 1801 deaths Jewish apologists English male poets 18th-century English poets 18th-century English Jews 18th-century English translators