Salomon Plessner (; – ) was a

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

and ''

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 ...

''.

Biography

Salomon Plessner was born in Breslau to Rabbi Yehuda Plesner, who died when Salomon was young. Having to support his mother and himself, Plessner engaged in business, but found time to study

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 ...

rabbinics Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...

, and

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, under Wessely's influence. He published in 1819 a Hebrew translation of the Apocryphal additions to the

Book of Esther The Book of Esther (; ; ), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Megillot, Five Scrolls () in the Hebr ...

, under the title ''Hosafah li-Megillat Ester'', with a literary-historical introduction. At the same time he became known as an eloquent ''

''. Many of his

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

s were published, among them his funeral oration on the death of , under the title ''Zekher Tzaddik li-Brakhah'' (1821). Through his sermons and his close association with Rabbi

Akiva Eger 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 ...

, Plessner became known as a defender of

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

against the growing

Reform movement Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social system, social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more Radicalism (politics), radical social movements such as re ...

. Forbidden by the police from delivering sermons, he in 1823 settled in Festenberg,

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. He presented a defense of the

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 ...

to the Posen government in 1826, prompting the government to revoke a decree forbidding Talmudic instruction in schools. Plessner moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1830, where he earned a livelihood by lecturing in the Berlin ''

beit midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), although ...

''. In 1832 his ''Nozelim min Lebanon'' was published, consisting of a Hebrew translation of a part of the

Apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

, with an appendix, entitled ''Duda'im'', containing exegetical notes, verses in Hebrew and German, and sermons. The following year he was invited to dedicate the new synagogue at Bromberg, for which occasion he composed poems in Hebrew and in German, which were published under the title S''hirim la-Ḥanukkat Bet ha-Tefillah'' (1834). He left Berlin and settled in Posen in 1843, where he remained active as a ''maggid'', chiefly at the Neuschul.

References

External links

* at the

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

Digitized works by Salomon Plessner
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

Koh Lechi

Derush veChidush

Ketuvim Acharonim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plessner, Salomon 1797 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Jewish biblical scholars 19th-century German rabbis Jewish translators German Orthodox rabbis Hebrew–German translators Translators to Hebrew 19th-century German translators People from Twardogóra Rabbis from Wrocław Maggidim