Solomon Joachim Chayim Halberstam (23 February 1832 – 24 March 1900) known from his acronym as ShaZHaH (שזחה), was an Austrian scholar and author.

Biography

He was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. His father, Isaac Halberstam, was a prominent merchant who devoted his leisure time to study, and left in manuscript a work which Solomon published in his honor under the title ''Siaḥ Yiẓḥaḳ,'' Lemberg, 1882. This work contains also notices on the genealogy of Halberstam, who numbered eminent rabbis among his ancestors both on his father's and on his mother's side. In 1860 he settled at

Bielitz Bielsko (, ) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town. Bielsko was founded by ...

as a prosperous merchant. The larger part of his time, however, he devoted to Jewish learning, and a considerable part of his income to increasing his library, which was especially rich in rare and valuable manuscripts, the love of collecting having been developed in him early. For half a century he corresponded widely with the representatives of Jewish learning of all shades of opinion; he took part in learned discussions on the most diverse questions, contributing to nearly all the periodical papers written 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 ...

and in other languages. Halberstam was one of the directors and chief supporters of both the old and the new Meḳiẓe Nirdamim, the publications of which include contributions from him. He contributed valuable introductions to the works of a great number of Hebrew writers, and was also a collaborator on collective works, such as the jubilee or memorial volumes in honor of Grätz,

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (; 30 March 1816 – 24 January 1907) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist, and an important figure in Jewish studies and Jewish history. He is credited as having invented the term ''antisemitism.'' Education Mo ...

, Kohut, and

Kaufmann Kaufmann is a surname with many variants such as Kauffmann, Kaufman, and Kauffman. In German, the name means ''merchant''. It is the cognate of the English '' Chapman'' (which had a similar meaning in the Middle Ages, though it disappeared from ...

. Halberstam's editions are: * ''Ḥiddushe ha-Riṭba'al Niddah,'' novellæ and discussions on the tractate

Niddah A niddah (alternative forms: nidda, nida, or nidah; ''nidá''), in traditional Judaism, is a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the ...

by R. Yom-Ṭob ben Abraham (abbreviated "Riṭba") of Seville, Vienna, 1868 *

Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

's ''Sefer ha-'Ibbur,'' a manual of calendar science, 1874 * Hillel ben Samuel of Verona's ''Tagmule ha-Nefesh,'' 1874 * Judah ben Barzilai of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

's commentary on ''Sefer Yeẓirah,'' 1884 * The same author's ''Sefer ha-Sheṭarot,'' 1898 In 1890 Halberstam issued a complete catalog of his manuscripts (411 items) under the title ''Ḳehillat Shelomoh.'' The greater part of them was acquired by

Montefiore College Judith Lady Montefiore College () is a Jewish theological seminary founded in 1869 by Sir Moses Montefiore in memory of his late wife, Lady Judith Montefiore, at Ramsgate, Kent. Though closed in 1985, the College re-opened in London in 2005. Ea ...

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

, England, while his large collection of printed books, and a considerable number also of manuscripts, was bought by Mayer Sulzberger and presented to the library of the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

. Halberstam died in

on 24 March 1900.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* Moses Reines, ''Dor wa-Ḥakamaw'', 1890 *

Chaim David Lippe Chaim David Lippe (; December 22, 1823 – August 26, 1900) was an Austrian-Jewish publisher and bibliographer. Biography Chaim David Lippe was born in 1823 in Stanisławów, Galicia (today Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). He later relocated to Tsch ...

, ''Bibliographisches Lexicon'' *

Moïse Schwab Moïse Schwab (Paris, 18 September 1839 – 8 February 1918) was a French librarian and author. Life He was educated at the Jewish school and the Talmud Torah at Strasburg. From 1857 to 1866 he was secretary to Salomon Munk; then for a year he ...

, ''Répertoire''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halberstam, Solomon Joachim 1832 births 1900 deaths 19th-century Austrian people Austrian Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Writers from Kraków