Isaac ben Elijah Margolis (; 1842 – 1 August 1887) was a Russian-Polish rabbi and author.

Biography

Isaac Margolis was born in Kalvariya,

Russian Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish people, Polish State (polity), state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of ...

. He was the son of the rabbi of Wizhajny and a descendant of

Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom-Tov Lipmann ben Nathan ha-Levi Heller (c. 157919 August 1654), was a Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the Mishnah called the ''Tosefet Yom-Tov'' (1614–1617). Heller was one of the majo ...

. He received in his youth a traditional

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic education. In 1862, he married the daughter of a prominent member of the Jewish community in

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. In 1897, the governorate covered an area of and had a population of 1,591,207 inhabitants. The governorate was defined by the Minsk Governo ...

, and settled there. During this period, he developed an interest in the

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

, which drew criticism from religious zealots opposed to the movement. Combined with financial difficulties, these tensions eventually forced him to relocate. From there he moved to

Kovno Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, where he found work as a private tutor in the household of Ezekiel Jaffe. He eventually assumed a rabbinic position in Druskeniki, in the

Grodno Governorate Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...

. In 1884, Margolis immigrated to the United States, where he became the rabbi of Congregation Anshe Kalvaria in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. There he became widely known as a public lecturer and educator. He died suddenly of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on 1 August 1887. He was survived by his wife and five children, including

Max Margolis Max Leopold Margolis (born in Meretz (Merkinė), Vilna Governorate; October 15, 1866 – April 2, 1932 in Philadelphia) was a Lithuanian Jewish and American philologist. Son of Isaac Margolis; educated at the elementary school of his native tow ...

. His funeral services drew a crowd of over 2,000 attendees. On the preceding Sunday, which coincided with

Tisha B'Av Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusal ...

, he had reportedly remarked to a friend, "Today is the anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem. I think I shall fall, too. I don't believe I will outlive the day."

Work

Margolis was the author of ''Ma'oz ha-Talmud'' (Warsaw, 1869), a work defending the Talmud and the '' Shulḥan Arukh'' against contemporary criticism, and ''Ma'oz ha-Yam'' (Vilna, 1870), written in response to the critiques of

Moshe Leib Lilienblum Moshe Leib Lilienblum (; October 22, 1843, in Keidany, Kovno Governorate – February 12, 1910, in Odessa) was a Jewish scholar and author. He also used the pseudonym Zelophehad Bar-Hushim (). Lilienbloom was one of the leaders of the early Zioni ...

in the publication ''Megillah 'Afah''. He also wrote ''Sippure Yeshurun'' (Berlin, 1877), a compilation of Talmudic and

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

ic stories and legends. Margolis was a regular contributor to leading Hebrew-language periodicals of the time, including '' Ha-Maggid'', '' Ha-Tzefirah'', ''

Ha-Melitz ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860. History ''HaMelitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 1871, it was publis ...

'', and ''

Ha-Shaḥar ''Ha-Shaḥar'' () was a Hebrew language, Hebrew-language monthly periodical, published and edited at Vienna by Peretz Smolenskin from 1868 to 1884. The journal contained scientific articles, essays, biographies, and literature, as well as genera ...

''.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margolis, Isaac 1842 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American rabbis 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire American Orthodox rabbis American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Burials at Cypress Hills Cemetery Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Hebrew-language writers Jewish educators Jewish scholars Jewish writers Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis People from Congress Poland People from Kalvarija, Lithuania People of the Haskalah Polish Orthodox rabbis Rabbis from the Russian Empire