Yechezkel Feivel ben Ze'ev Wolf (; 1755–1833) was the

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 ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in the early 19th century and the author of several books, including ''Toldos Adam'', a hagiography of Rabbi Zalman of Vilna, the famed brother of Chaim of Volozhin and student of the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

Biography

Ezekiel Feivel was born in Polangen in 1755. Early in life he filled the position of rabbi in his native town, and later at Deretschin. He then traveled as a ''

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 ...

'' through Germany and Hungary, and, after residing for some time at Breslau, returned to Polangen and devoted himself to literary work. In 1811 he was appointed rabbi to the community of Vilna, which position he filled until his death.

Reception and Analysis of ''Toldos Adam''

Feivel's ''magnum opus'', the biography ''Toldos Adam'', achieved singular success in the rabbinic world. It is one of the few biographies which is cited in halachic works, including those of such leading scholars as Rabbi

Akiva Eiger 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 ...

, Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolioth, and Rabbi

Joseph Saul Nathansohn Joseph Saul Nathansohn (1808–1875) () was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day. Biography Rabbi Nathansohn was born at Berezhany (Berzan), Galicia (today's western Ukraine); he was the son of Aryeh Lebush Nath ...

. However, Feivel was criticized by various rabbinic authorities, including Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes and Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira, for plagiarization and falsifying sources. It has been demonstrated that large parts of ''Toldos Adam'' were lifted verbatim from the works of leading Maskilim such as

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

and

Naphtali Hirz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely (; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was a German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, Joseph Reis, fled from Podolia in 1648 on account of the Chmielnicki persecutions ...

, though not attributed to them.

Works

* * * ''Bi'ure MaRIF'', glosses on the '' Midrash Rabba''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yechezkel Feivel of Vilna People from Valozhyn 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis Rabbis from Vilnius 1755 births 1833 deaths