Yechezkel Feivel ben Ze'ev Wolf (; 1755–1833) was the

Maggid A maggid (), also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a ''Darshan (Judaism), darshan'' (). The title of ''m ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in the early 19th century and the author of several books, including ''Toldos Adam'', a hagiography of Rabbi Zalman of Vilna, the famed brother of

Chaim of Volozhin Chaim of Volozhin (also known as Chaim ben Yitzchok of Volozhin or Chaim Ickovits; 21 January 1749 – 14 June 1821)Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 347–349; idem, Kiryah Ne'emanah, pp. 156–158; L ...

and student of the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

Biography

Ezekiel Feivel was born in

Polangen Palanga (; ; ) is a resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 1000 ft wide) an ...

in 1755. Early in life he filled the position of rabbi in his native town, and later at Deretschin. He then traveled as a ''

maggid A maggid (), also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a ''Darshan (Judaism), darshan'' (). The title of ''m ...

'' through Germany and Hungary, and, after residing for some time at Breslau, returned to Polangen and devoted himself to literary work. In 1811 he was appointed rabbi to the community of Vilna, which position he filled until his death.

Reception and Analysis of ''Toldos Adam''

Feivel's ''magnum opus'', the biography ''Toldos Adam'', achieved singular success in the rabbinic world. It is one of the few biographies which is cited in halachic works, including those of such leading scholars as Rabbi

Akiva Eiger Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , ), or Akiva Güns (8 November 1761 – 12 October 1837) was a Talmudic scholar, halakhic decisor and leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. Eiger is considered one of the greatest Talmudic ...

, Rabbi

Ephraim Zalman Margolioth Ephraim Zalman Margulies (sometimes transcribed as Margolis) (19 December 1762 – 24 August 1828) () was a Galician rabbi born in Brody, brother of Chaim Mordechai Margulies. Biography He received his Talmudic education at different yeshivas, in ...

, and Rabbi

Joseph Saul Nathansohn Joseph Saul Nathansohn (1808–1875) () was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day. Biography Rabbi Nathansohn was born at Berezhany (Berzan), Galicia (today's western Ukraine); he was the son of Aryeh Lebush Nath ...

. However, Feivel was criticized by various rabbinic authorities, including Rabbi

Zvi Hirsch Chajes Zvi Hirsch Chajes ( - November 20, 1805 - October 12, 1855; also Chayes or Hayot or Chiyos) was a Galician talmudic scholar. He is best known for his work ''Mevo Hatalmud'' (Introduction to the Talmud), which serves both as commentary and intr ...

and Rabbi

Chaim Elazar Spira Chaim Elazar Spira (December 17, 1868 – May 13, 1937), also known as the Minchas Elazar after his magnum opus, was a rebbe of the Hasidic Munkacs dynasty. Family background Spira was born in Strzyżów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ...

, for plagiarization and falsifying sources. It has been demonstrated that large parts of ''Toldos Adam'' were lifted verbatim from the works of leading

Maskilim The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Europe and th ...

such as

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

and

Naphtali Hirz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely (; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was a German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, Joseph Reis, fled from Podolia in 1648 on account of the Chmielnicki persecutions ...

, though not attributed to them.

Works

* * * ''Bi'ure MaRIF'', glosses on the ''

Midrash Rabba Midrash Rabba or Midrash Rabbah can refer to part of or the collective whole of specific aggadic midrashim on the books of the Torah and the Five Megillot, generally having the term "Rabbah" (), meaning "great," as part of their name. These midra ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yechezkel Feivel of Vilna People from Valozhyn 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis Rabbis from Vilnius 1755 births 1833 deaths