Rabbi Solomon Aaron Wertheimer (November 18, 1866 – 1935), was a Hungarian

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 ...

, scholar, and seller of rare books.

Life

He was born in Bösing in 1866. In 1871 he went with his parents to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, where he was educated. By 1890, he was residing in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, where he made a living as a rare bookseller and a collector and seller of

Cairo Genizah The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Ol ...

documents. According to

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in Al Andalus, medieval Muslim ...

S.D. Goitein, he also published papers on them, but "in a somewhat unscientific way."Goitein, S.D. ''A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza. Vol. I: Economic Foundations''. University of California Press, 1999, p. 2 For five years starting in 1893, he tried to sell the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

Geniza documents for pennies on the dollar, but many were declined.Reif, Stefan C. ''A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo: The History of Cambridge University's Genizah Collection''. Culture and civilisation in the Middle East. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000, p. 7
google books preview
/ref> He is best known for his midrashic scholarship, his work is one of the two standard midrash compilations from the period (the other is

Adolph Jellinek Adolf Jellinek ( ''Aharon Jelinek''; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice (Uherské Hradiště District), Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholarly method, scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845 ...

's ''Bet Ha-Midrasch''). He died in Jerusalem in 1935.

Publications

*''Ebel Mosheh'' (1885),

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 ...

delivered on the death of Sir

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of London. Born to an History ...

*''Ḥiddushe Rabbi Nissim'' (1888) * ''Pirḳe Hekalot'' and ''Ẓawwa'at Naftali'' (1889) * ''Darke shel

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

'' (1891), guide to the theory 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 ...

and to the fundamental principles of the

Halakah ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

and

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

* ''Ḥatam Sofer'' (1891), Talmudic studies, with notes; ''Batte Midrashot'' (4 parts, 1893–97), a collection of short ''

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

im'' from manuscripts, with glosses, notes, and introduction * ''Ginze Yerushalayim'' (3 parts, 1896–1902), a collection of scientific, literary, and poetic treatises, from rare manuscripts, with notes and introduction * ''Midrash Ḥaserot wi-Yeterot'' (1898), from the Parma manuscript, collated with three Egyptian manuscripts * ''Leshon Ḥasidim'' (1898), notes and introduction to the ''Sefer Ḥasidim'' * ''Ḳohelet Shelomoh'' (1899), a collection of

geonic ''Geonim'' (; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy , Pumbedita, in t ...

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

'', with notes and introduction, and with Hebrew translations of the Arabic ''responsa'' * '' 'Abodat Ḥaleb'' (1902), a commentary on the Jewish prayers; and ''Leket Midrashim'' (1903). *פירוש נביאים וכתובים לרבינו ישעיהו הראשון מטראני, the first printed edition of

Isaiah di Trani the Younger Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani (the Younger) (Hebrew: ישעיה בן אליהו דטראני) was an Italian Talmudist and commentator who lived in the 13th century. He was the grandson, on his mother's side, of Isaiah (ben Mali) di Trani the Elder ...

's commentary to Hebrew Bible#Nach (1956). Today, his midrashim are normally printed in a combined two volume set edited by his grandson A. J. Wertheimer. Also entitled ''Batei Midrashot'' (Jerusalem: 1967), the work brings together midrashim from ''Batei Midrashot'' and ''Leket Midrash'' with notes and commentary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wertheimer Hungarian rabbis 1866 births 1935 deaths People from Pezinok