Samuel Hirsch Margulies (1858 – March 12, 1922) was an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

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 ...

and scholar. He was born in

Berezhany Berezhany ( ; ; ; , ''Bzhezhani''/''Bzhizhani'') is a small List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It lies about from the administrative center of the oblast, Ternopil. Berezhany hosts the administr ...

, western

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 ...

(then mainly

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

speaking town with mixed

, Ukrainian and

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 ...

population in the

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...

of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

), and studied at the Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary and at the universities of Breslau and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was rabbi in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

(1885–1887), district rabbi of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of ...

, (1887–1890), and he was appointed chief rabbi of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1890. In 1899, he became principal of

’s only rabbinical seminary, the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano when it transferred from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Margulies was a powerful spiritual force in

and trained many of its religious leaders. He founded and edited Rivista Israelitica, the learned journal published by the Seminary. His scholarly publications included an edition of Rabbi

Saadiah Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, gaon, Jewish philosopher, and exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic. Known for his works o ...

’s

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

translation of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

Impact on Italian Jewry

As rector of Italian Rabbinical Seminary (where he had been the Rabbi for more than three decades), Samuel Hirsch Margulies left a strong footprint on the life and culture of

Italian Jews Italian Jews (; ) or Roman Jews (; ) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the It ...

. Margulies was of

(

East Galicia Eastern Galicia (; ; ) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil), having also essential historic importance in Poland. Galicia was formed within the Austrian Empire during the year ...

, current western

) origin. As rabbi of

(from 1890) he managed to become the leader of all Italian Jewry. He became the spiritual leader in all the spheres of civic life, on account of his deep

Judaic Judaism () is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which the ...

knowledge, organisational abilities and personal favourite pursuits in the subjects of spirit and heart. Thanks to him, the indifferent religious life of

started to be a live artery filled with strong native Jewish traditions and culture. He initiated the centralized unification of all Jewish communities that resulted in creation of a new Collegio Rabbinico Italiano in

. This seminary produced an array of young Rabbis, who started the spiritual renaissance of Italian Jewry. One of his students, rabbi

Umberto Cassuto Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto (16 September 1883 – 19 December 1951), was an Italian historian, a rabbi, and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic literature, in the University of Florence, then at the University ...

, went on to teach in Italian universities, and in the wake of the

Italian racial laws The Italian racial laws, otherwise referred to as the Racial Laws (), were a series of laws promulgated by the government of Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy from 1938 to 1944 in order to enforce racial discrimination and segregation in the King ...

, accepted an invitation to chair the department of

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

for

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, becoming a notable scholar of Hebrew and Ugaritic literature and Italian history

Bibliography

* MARGULIES, Samuel Hirsch. Saadi al-Fajűmî's arabische Psalmenübersetzung ... Pp. iv, 51 6 Breslau: Druck von Grass, Barth und comp., 1884.

References

External links

Personality of the Week: Samuel Hirsch-Margulies

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Margulies, Samuel Hirsch 1858 births 1922 deaths Clergy from Florence Rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) 19th-century Italian rabbis 20th-century Italian rabbis