Meir (Ish Shalom) Friedmann (10 July 1831 in Kraszna (), district of Kashau (Košice Region),

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

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– 1908 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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) was an Austrian-Hungarian

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

scholar. His editions of the ''

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

'' are the standard texts. His chief editions were the '' Sifre'' (1864), the '' Mekhilta'' (1870), '' Pesiqta Rabbathi'' (1880). At the time of his death he was editing the ''

Sifra Sifra () is the Midrash halakha to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called Torat Kohanim, and in two passages ''Sifr ...

''. Friedmann, while inspired with regard for tradition, dealt with the Rabbinic texts with modern scientific methods, and rendered conspicuous service to the critical investigation of the Midrash and to the history of early homilies.

Biography

In 1844, at the age of 13, he entered the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

at Ungvar,

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region (now part of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) where he was attracted to Chasidism and

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

. At the age of sixteen, he was led by the "Bi'ur" of Moses Mendelssohn to the study of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and became deeply interested in Hebrew poetry, especially in Wessely's "Shire Tife'ret". At twenty, while living at

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

, where he earned his livelihood by giving ''

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 ...

'' instruction, he took up secular studies. In 1858 he entered the

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. In 1864, when the Vienna bet ha-midrash was founded, he was chosen as teacher of the Bible and Midrash. Later he was hired as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in the Israelitisch-Theologische Lehranstalt. Among his students there was Solomon Schechter.

Works

Friedmann has devoted himself chiefly to the editing of old

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

, to which he has added critical notes and valuable introductions. These notes, written in classical

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 t ...

nical style, are models of precision and are of great value. * Friedmann has published the following works in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: :* ''The Sifre'', Vienna, 1864 :* ''The Mekilta'', ib. 1870 :* ''Eshet Chayil'', a commentary on Proverbs, ib. 1878 :* ''The Pesikta Rabbati'', ib. 1880 :* ''Ha-Tziyyon,'' a rational interpretation of Ezekiel, ib. 1882 :* ''Dabar 'al Odot ha-Talmud'', on the question whether the Talmud can be accurately translated, ib. 1885 :* ''Masseket Makkot,'' a critical edition of the Talmudical treatise '' Makkot,'' with a commentary, ib. 1888 :* ''Sefer Shofetim'', notes to Judges, ib. 1891 :* ''Me'ir 'Ayin'', a commentary on the Passover Haggadah, ib. 1895 :* '' Tanna debe Eliyahu,'' ib. 1900 *Friedmann's German publications are: :* ''Worte der Erinnerung an Isaac Noa Mannheimer'', ib. 1873 :* ''Die Juden ein Ackerbautreibender Stamm'', ib. 1878 :* ''T. G. Stern, Gedenkrede'', ib. 1883 :* ''Zerubabel,'' German explanation of Isaiah, ib. 1890 :* ''"Worte zur Feier des 100 Jahrigen Geburtstages des Seligen Predigers'' Isaac Noa Mannheimer", 1893 :* ''" Onkelos und 'Akylos''," ib. 1896 *From 1881 to 1886 Friedmann published, together with Isaac Hirsh Weiss, the monthly ''Bet Talmud'', devoted to rabbinical studies. To this periodical Friedmann contributed, under the signature "Ish Shalom", many valuable essays, of which the most noteworthy are on the arrangement of the Pentateuch and on

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

Bibliography

''Jewish Encyclopedia'' Bibliography

* Brainin, in ''Luach Ahiasaf'', pp. 343 et seq., 1901 * '' Ha-Shiloach'', p. 573, 1901 * Solomon Schechter, in Jew. Chron. p. 17, June 28, 1901

Additional bibliography

* An MA on his works by Rabbi Binyamin Zeev Benedict

References

* Goldman, Yosef. '' Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography'' (YGBooks 2006). .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedmann, Meir 1831 births 1908 deaths People from Rožňava District Slovak Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary 19th-century Austrian Jews 19th-century Hungarian people Hungarian theologians 19th-century Jewish biblical scholars Talmudists 20th-century Jewish theologians 19th-century Jewish theologians 19th-century Hungarian Jews Rabbis from Austria-Hungary