Solomon David Sassoon (1915–1985) was an educator,

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 o ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, fundraiser, and collector of Jewish manuscripts.

Biography

Early life

Solomon David Sassoon was born in August 1915 in London.William D. Rubinstein, ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 86

/ref> He is a member of the wealthy Sassoon family. His father was David Solomon Sassoon (1880–1942), the renowned collector of Hebrew manuscripts from Baghdad. His paternal grandmother was

Flora Sassoon Flora Sassoon (18 November 1859 – 14 January 1936) was a Jewish Indian businesswoman, scholar, Hebraist and philanthropist. Tombstone at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. Early life Flora Gubbay was born in 1859 in M ...

. As a result, his paternal great-grandfather was

Albert Abdullah David Sassoon Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, 1st Baronet, (25 July 181824 October 1896) was a Baghdad-born businessman and philanthropist. Biography Life and career Sassoon was born on 25 July 1818 in Baghdad, Ottoman Empire, into the Sassoon family o ...

(1818–1896), and his paternal great-great-grandfather was

David Sassoon David Sassoon may refer to: *David Sassoon (designer) (born 1932), British fashion designer *David Sassoon (treasurer) (1792–1864), Iraqi-Jewish treasurer *David Solomon Sassoon (1880–1942), Iraqi bibliophile See also *Sassoon family *Albert A ...

(1792–1864), a leading trader of cotton and opium who served as the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829. He was tutored in Talmud by Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler.

Career

He made original contributions to linguistic analysis, philosophy, physiology and

Biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. In 1953 and again in 1964, he declined requests to put his name forward as a candidate for the position of Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. His varied interests and literary output were maintained until his death.

Death and legacy

Solomon David Sassoon built a library in Letchworth, England, to house his father's collections of Jewish manuscripts and incunabula. Some of these holdings were later auctioned by Sotheby's of London in Zurich and in New York, between the years 1975 - 1994, in order to satisfy the Sassoon estate's British tax obligations.David Sassoon - The Bibliophile of Bombay
/ref> Today, what remains of this priceless collection has been transferred to University of Toronto, in Canada. He died in May 1985. His son,

Isaac S.D. Sassoon Isaac S. D. Sassoon (born 1946) is an Sephardic rabbi (hakham), scholar and educator. Hakham Sassoon, who is currently one of the leading scholars in the Sephardic world, was born into the Sassoon family of London and grew up speaking Judeo-Arabi ...

, is also a rabbi.

Bibliography

*''Reality Revisited: A New Look at Computers and Minds, Physics and Evolution'', Feldheim; 2nd Revised edition (1991), *''Natan Hokhma liShlomo: A Collection of Torah Commentary, Essays on the Talmud and Assorted Philosophical Writings (1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sassoon, Solomon David English religious writers Bibliophiles Sassoon family Sephardi rabbis British Orthodox rabbis 1915 births 1985 deaths British people of Indian-Jewish descent Baghdadi Jews British writers of Indian descent