The Sage of Leipzig is the title of a new Hebrew English book about the life and writings of Rabbi Simon Hurwitz.
The name Simon Hurwitz might not mean much to the layman, but he is known to every true Torah scholar. Rabbi Hurwitz’ literary efforts include his excellent edition of the monumental Machzor Vitry. The work was first published towards the end of the last century by the Mekitzei Nirdamim Society. It was reprinted in Nuremberg in 1923 and reproduced again in Israel some years ago.
The biography was written by Esra Shereshevsky, a great-grandson of Rabbi Hurwitz. Shereshevsky states in his introduction to the volume that he decided to write the biography after he realized that Rabbi Hurwitz’ numerous descendants – now scatted all over the world– probably knew nothing about their illustrious ancestor.
Shereshevsky, himself a distinguished scholar and educator — he studied at the Yeshiva of Telshe , at the Hebrew University and the Mizrachi Teachers’ Seminary in Jerusalem and taught in Sydney, London, Capetown and Philadelphia — accomplished the task he set himself in an admirable manner. He had to start from scratch, because those of his relatives who could have provided him with information were no longer among the living. Doing a tremendous amount of research he dug up much biographical material from a variety of sources and succeeded in locating novellae, letters, responsa and approbations by Rabbi Hurwitz in periodicals or in books by the rabbi’s contemporaries.
Shereshevsky presents us with a vivid description of Rabbi Hurwitz’ background and life and of the cultural milieu of the Jewish community of Zagare, Lithuania, where he resided for many years. This community produced a number of well-known rabbis, scholars and writers. Shereshevsky acquaints us with Rabbi Hurwitz’ activities as rabbi in Leipzig (where he lived for 30 years until his death in 1900) with his friends, correspondents and admirers and even with the fate of his fine personal library. (Part of his library came in the 1940s into the possession of the London collector Berthold Strauss, a native of Leipzig, whose parents were close to Rabbi Hurwitz. Strauss’ collection is now in the Gottesman library of Yeshiva University.)
Moreover, Shereshevsky describes in detail Rabbi Hurwitz’s scholarly contributions, discussing not only his main works,but also smaller publications (some of the latter are reprinted in the volume before us).
The last chapter tells of Rabbi Hurwitz’ family and his descendants.
Rabbi Hurwitz was born in Skudy, Lithuania. The scion of a rabbinical family of Mitnagdim, his character and outlook were shaped by his great admiration for the Gaon of Vilna. After his marriage at the age of 18, he and his wife settled in Zagare, where he opened a clothing store. The business was run, for the most part, by his wife. Rabbi Simon, devoting himself to the study of the Torah,would periodically visit the trade fairs of Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Paris to buy merchandise.
In 1859 was published in Vienna the second part of Rabbi Isaiah Berlin’s Hafla’ah SheBaArachin on Rabbi Nathan ben Yechiel’s Aruch. At the end of the volume were added notes and novellae by the “sharpwitted and erudite” Rabbi Simon Hurwitz, The latter’s annotations were very well received and exceedingly praised.
In 1870, Rabbi Hurwitz accepted a call from the Brody Tiktin Congregation Kehillat Yereim in Leipzig, to serve as their rabbi. The congregation had been founded by Jewish merchants from Galicia and Russia who had been granted permission to reside in the city.
(To be continued)
The Jewish Press, Friday, January 14, 1994 p. 68
Discussing Rabbi Hurwitz’ influence in Leipzig, Shereshevsky writes that by the time of the rabbi’s death,”the little congregation of Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, he had been called to lead, had grown into a formidable union of Orthodox congregations with five constituent synagogues and a total membership of 4,500, or twice that of the government sanctioned ‘establishment’ community, which was largely dominated by Reform Jews.”
It was in Leipzig that he wrote the works which spread his fame throughout the Torah world.
In 1871, he published , anonymously, a Hebrew pamphlet sharply attacking the Reform movement. The pamphlet was reprinted in the Hebrew newspaper HaLevanon, which was then published in Mayence.
When Marcus Lehmann, the founder and editor of Der Isaelit, prepared his annotated edition of Rabbi Shlomo Sirillo’s commentary of the tractate Berachot of the Jerusalem Talmud, he invited Rabbi Hurwitz to contribute comments of his own. The latter’s notes were printed with the title, “Sha’ar Shim’on.”
In 1879 the Warsaw publisher Y. Goldmannn put out a new edition of the Halakhic compilation Tanya Rabbati accompanied by notes from the pen of Rabbi Hurwitz. Rabbi Hurwitz supplied not only source references and explicatory notes, but also freed the text from numerous scribal or printing errors, which had made the understanding of the work extremely difficult.
In his introduction Rabbi Hurwitz refutes the opinion that the work was written by Rabbi Yechiel, a son of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (Rosh), and advances his own view regarding the authorship of the book which was produced in Italy in the 13th century.
Rabbi Hurwitz’ magnum opus was the annotation and edition from manuscript of the monumental Machzor Vitry. This work contains not only blessings and prayers with comments, piyutim, Aramaic versions of certain Haftarot and the laws relating to prayer and the reading of the Torah, but also features a large variety of Aggadic and Halakhic material, such as laws of Shabbat and the festivals, Tish’a beAv, writing of the Torah , Tefillin and Mezuzah, circumcision Niddah, Trefot, Halitza, samples of legal documents (including a divorce bill) and more. The Mahzor which had been originally compiled by R. Simcha B. Shmuel of Vitry, a prominent student of Rashi, contains decisions and responsa by Rashi and other authorities who lived in his time or before him (especially by the Geonim). The work as it has come down to us includes later additions.
Rabbi Hurwitz’ notes reveal his mastery of the entire Talmudic and Midrashic literature and wide erudition in rabbinical writings.
Separately printed were the rabbi’s introduction and indices of the Machzor.
(Mahzor Vitry’s commentary on Avot with the notes by Rabbi Hurwitz was reprinted in the Vilna Mishna editions.)
Rabbi Hurwitz contributed to the Hebrew periodical HaMisderona and participated in the jubilee volume published on the occasion of the 70th birthday of his friend Rabbi Ezriel Hildesheimer.
He received enquiries on matters of Jewish law from far and near. Shereshevsky discusses some of the rabbi’s responsa.
Rabbi Hurwitz was not privileged to publish a collection of his responsa (a number of them have been preserved in works of contemporaries) nor to print his notes and novellae on the entire Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud.
He died on the fifth of Adar II, 5660 (March 6, 1900). Shereshevsky quotes at length from the eulogy delivered at the funeral by Rabbi Dr. Josef Nobel of Halberstadt. Rabbi Nobel spoke of the deceased’s invaluable contributions to rabbinic literature, praised his humility and tolerance and told of his confidential help and counsel to young students whose faith had been weakened by doubts.
(To be continued)
The Jewish Press, Friday, January 21, 1994 p. 13
A well known and often reproduced picture shows the Gaon of Vilna – wrapped in a Tallith and adorned with Tefillin – sitting in his study, one hand grasping a book and the other holding a quill and writing.
The original portrait was in the possession of Rabbi Hurwitz. He reproduced and disseminated it. Shereshevsky devotes several pages to the picture and its story.
Shevereshvksy’s thoroughly researched and well written work, which is illustrated with photogaphs – including one of Rabbi Hurwitz- and the gravestones of the rabbi and his wife- will be warmly welcomed and avidly ready by all interested in the biographies and works of prominent Torah scholars.
I would like to concludes with some observations.
Raphael Nathan Nata Rabinovitz, author of Dikdukei Soferim was a friend of Rabbi Hurwitz. The book includes a reproduction of a letter Rabbi Hurwitz sent to Rabinovitz. Shereshevsky describes the latter as the discoverer of the Munich Talmud manuscript. This is probably a “slip of the pen.” The Talmud manuscript was known to scholars before Rabinovitz visited the Munich library.
We read in the book (p. 55) of Rabbi Hurwitz inquiring from Rabbi E J. Hildesheimer about “a man from the family of one Emil (Ovadiah) Lehman.” The correct name of the person is Lachmann. He was well known in orthodox circles (see R. Hildesheimer’s letter in the book, Hebrew part, p. 151-152 and Rabbi Dov Katz, Tenuat Mussar, vol.1 p. 214).
When did Hurwitz’ edition of the Mahzor Vitry appear in print?
Shereshevsky writes (p. 35) “This descrepancy in dating- 1889 for the edited text, but 1896 for the introductory selection – indicates that, contrary to sources that place the publication date of the Mahzor Vitry at 1889, the work actually did not appear in print until 1896; 1889 is the year in which R. Horwiz first completed the work and considered it ready for submission to the publisher.”
Rabbi Hurwitz submitted at least part of his work in 1889, as is evident from his letter –mentioned later in this article – to Abraham Berliner. Printing started immediately. The entire Mahzor Vitry was printed in five installments between 1889-1893. The last installment— though bearing the date 1893 must have been completed in 1894, for Rabbi Hurwitz’ colophon is from that year, when the installments were bound into a single volume with thin covers and separate title pages which indicated the years of their respective publication- were discarded. Hence the confusion about the years of printing (in the copy of the Mahzor Vitry, found in the Public Library, the covers and separate title pages have been preserved. Shereshevlsky, apparently did not see them.)
The Mahzor Vitry was printed in 1889-1893(1894). Rabbi Hurwitz’ introduction and indices (with Berliner’s additions) followed a few years later in 1896-1897, which is not unusual.
Shereshevsky acquaints us (p. 36) with a letter (printed in the Mahzor Vitry editions) which Rabbi Hurwitz wrote to Abraham Berliner, chairman of the Mekitzei Nirdamaim Society who commissioned the work on the Machzor. R. Hurwitz writes -inter alia- that he had left the scriptio plena of the original manuscript unaltered explaining that “according to the introduction written by R. Solomon ben Yechiel Luria to his, Luria’s edition of the Geonic responsa, the original scriptio plena had been accepted by several French Talmudists in unvocalized texts.”
Rabbi S. Luria did not edit any Geonic reponsa. Shereshevsky, apparently was misled by the words “HaGaon Maharshal R”P” in R. Hurwitz Hebrew letter. He did not refer to Rabbi S. Luria, but to Rabbi Shlomo (Yehuda) Leib Rapoport who wrote an introduction to David Cassels’ edition of Teshuvot Geonim Kadmonim, Berlin 1848).
Finally I would like to note that in 1976-1980, the late Rabbi Gedalia Felder of Toronto reprinted Rabbi Hurwitz’ edition of Tanya Rabbati with comprehensive comments of his own. The book also features an essay on Rabbi Hurwitz by Rabbi Felder, based on material he had assembled.
The Jewish Press, Friday, January 28, 1994 p. 13