מחברים

Since 1999, Rabbi Dr. Yehuda (Ronnie) Warburg has served as a dayan (rabbinical judge) on various battei din panels in the Chasidic, Modern Orthodox, Sephardic, and Yeshiva communities in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. For over two decades, Rabbi Warburg has taught classes is Yeshiva Rabbi Issac Elchanan's semikha (rabbinic ordination) students.

Ernest David Klein was a Hungarian-born Romanian-Canadian linguist, author, and rabbi. He spent time in his youth teaching himself new languages, and by the end of his life knew 40 languages. In addition to rabbinical studies, Klein studied languages, philology and exact philosophy at the University of Budapest and the University of Vienna, receiving his Doctorate of Philosophy from the latter in 1925. He served as the rabbi of the Nové Zámky community, Czechoslovakia from 1931 to 1944, when he was deported to Auschwitz and Dachau. After the war, he served briefly as the rabbi in his hometown of Satu Mare, before emigrating to France, where he served a rabbi of a synagogue in Paris. He emigrated to Canada in 1951 and served as rabbi of Congregation Beth Yitshak in Toronto.

Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lectures on the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic thought at academic, psychoanalytic, and Jewish educational institutions around the world. In 1995, she received the National Jewish Book Award for Genesis: The Beginning of Desire. She lives in Jerusalem.

Avigdor Shinan is a contemporary Jewish scholar living in Israel. He is a professor emeritus in the departments of Hebrew Literature, Yiddish, and Comparative Jewish Folklore at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Shinan has also served as head of the departments of General Studies and of Hebrew Literature, and as dean of the university. His work focuses on Jewish literature produced during the first six centuries of the first millennium CE.

Avraham Oppenheim was an early 19th-century Hungarian rabbi who died at the young age of 28. He was the author of Har Evel, on ritual regulations on visiting the sick and mourning customs, and of a treatise entitled Nishmat Chaim, about the immortality of the soul. Both books were published by Oppenheim’s relative, Simon Oppenheim, a rabbinic judge in Budapest.

Avraham followed in his father's footsteps and took over all of his father's duties at 18, when his father died. Thus he became leader of the Jewish community (naggid) and court physician in Egypt. His was able to use his great talents in these capacities, as well as in the writing of many works, foremost among them a defense of Rambam's writings.

Rabbi Avraham Dov Baer of Ovruch (1765–1840), a Chasidic rebbe in Europe for 40 years and in Safed for ten, was a disciple of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and of the first two rebbes of the Chernobyl dynasty.

The translator and editor of the Metsudah Judaica series.

Rabbi Avraham Remer was a 20th-century Israeli scholar and educator. He learned at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav and was influenced by his relationship with Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook. Among other works, Remer wrote a series of books on the early Prophets. They bear the imprint of his approach to Bible studies, which focused on the realistic aspects of biblical events and sought out the timeless messages buried in biblical stories.

Everett Fox is a scholar and translator of the Hebrew Bible. He is currently the Allen M. Glick Professor of Judaic and Biblical Studies and director of the program in Jewish Studies at Clark University.

Rabbi Aaron Berakhiah ben Moshe, born in 1549 in Modena, was an Italian rabbi and kabbalist. He is best known for his liturgical guide, Ma’avar Yabbok, written to assist the work of the local chevra kadisha (Jewish burial society) on behalf of the dying and deceased, and also containing deathbed prayers and guidance. He had previously composed another collection of prayers, Ashmoret HaBoker, at the request of a local group whose members would rise early for extra prayer. Berakhiah also wrote a number of other works, including kabbalistic treatises and commentaries.

Rabbi Aharon HaLevi was a student of Ramban and a descendant of R. Zerachiah HaLevi (the Ba'al HaMaor). He was involved in the talmudic discussions of the Spanish rabbis of his time. This led him to write a gloss on Rashba's Torat HaBayit called Bedek HaBayit and commentaries on several volumes of the Talmud. Most scholars deny the claim that he was the anonymous author of Sefer HaChinukh.

Aharon Meir Altshuler was a 19th-century scholar, ritual slaughterer in Mariupol, and descendant of the kabbalist Rabbi Klonymous Kalman of Chausy. Altshuler published Kelalei Hatchalat HaChokhmah, a work of his great-grandfather, as well as Keren Shachar, his own compilation of assorted laws related to daily living.

Ora Wiskind-Elper holds a PhD in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Hasidic Commentary on the Torah (2018), Wisdom of the Heart: The Teachings of Rabbi Ya’akov of Izbica-Radzyn (2010) and Tradition and Fantasy in the Tales of Reb Nahman of Bratslav (1998). She is associate professor in the Graduate Program in Jewish Thought at Michlalah Jerusalem College and at Ono Academic College, Israel.

Achai Gaon, also known as Achai of Shabcha was an eighth-century Babylonian scholar and the author of the Sheiltot, the first known Jewish book published after the completion of the Talmud. The title “gaon” attached to his name is somewhat of a misnomer. Though he was widely regarded as fit to take on the position of gaon (president) of the talmudic academy in Pumbedita, he was slighted by the ruling exilarch, who held a personal grudge against Achai and selected Achai’s pupil instead. Achai emigrated to the land of Israel following this incident, where he lived for the remainder of his life.

He studied with many of the great Eastern European rabbis of his time, including Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and the Chafetz Chaim, and became the rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Slutsk. Always a supporter of the return to Zion, he eventually moved to Jerusalem, where he became one of its most important rabbis and the rosh yeshiva of the Etz Chaim yeshiva. He left his mark both through his many students and his important writings which include Evan HaEzel on Shulchan Arukh.

Rabbi Eliyahu Chazan was born in Smyrna in the mid-19th century. After settling in Jerusalem in his youth, his scholarly reputation grew, and he was appointed secretary and then judge of the Sephardic rabbinic court. While on a fundraising trip, he agreed to remain as rabbi in Tripoli, where he stayed for 14 years and helped develop key community institutions, including an organized Jewish educational system that included languages and other studies he believed were essential to modern life. Chazan then served as chief rabbi in Alexandria for 20 years until his death. He was influential in developing these communities, especially regarding maintaining traditional Jewish life in a changing world.

Elijah Benamozegh, was a 19th-century Italian Sephardic Orthodox rabbi and a renowned kabbalist, philosopher, and biblical commentator. He began working in commerce, spending his leisure time studying, but soon abandoned his commercial career to fully focus on his scholarship. Benamozegh served as rabbi of Livorno, Italy, for 50 years, and established a printing press there. He was known for his use of non-Jewish religious and academic sources in his writing, and some of his published works elicited fierce controversy.

Rabbi Eliyahu Guttmacher was a 19th-century talmudic scholar, kabbalist, and active supporter of the early Zionist movement. Born in Borek in the district of Posen, he entered the talmudic academy of Rabbi Akiva Eger at age 19 and became a disciple of Eger’s. He served as rabbi in Pleschen and later in Graetz (Grodzisk Wielkopolski), and composed commentaries on the Talmud and Shulchan Arukh, responsa, and works of kabbalistic thought.

Rabbi Elijah de Vidas (1518–1587) was a rabbi in Ottoman Palestine, a disciple of Rabbi Moses Cordovero and Rabbi Isaac Luria, and one of a group of prominent kabbalists living in Hebron during the late-16th and early 17th centuries. He wrote Reshit Chokhmah (The Beginning of Wisdom) a popular kabbalistic work on ideal character traits, largely based on the Zohar.

A student of Rabbi Avraham Gombiner (author of Magen Avraham), he was a rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Prague. Though many of his writings got destroyed, he is most known for his important Eliyah Rabbah commentary on Shulchan Arukh.

Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Berkovits was one of the most important Jewish scholars and philosophers of the 20th century. He wrote broadly on subjects of Jewish thought, contemporary Halakhah and communal interest. Collaborating with Sefaria, his family enthusiastically released much of his work into the commons, in order to make these seminal works available to all.

Rabbi Eliezer bar Yehudah of Pintshov was an av beit din (head of the rabbinical court) in Pintshov. He wrote a commentary on Midrash Rabbah as well as commentaries on talmudic stories.

Born to the Beit El rosh yeshiva, Zalman Baruch Melamed, he followed in his father's footsteps to study for several years with his father's teacher, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook. After teaching for many years in Beit El, he eventually established his own yeshiva in Har Berakhah. A noted educator, his Peninei Halakha series on Jewish law is widely used throughout the Jewish world.

A Turkish rabbi of the 18th century, and a prolific writer. He is most known for his commentary on Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi's classic supercommentary on Rashi.

Alexander Sender Schorr was an 18th-century Polish talmudist and rabbi for a period in Hovnov, Belz district. He made a living selling vodka and is known for his works Simlah Chadashah, Tevuot Shor, and Bekhor Shor.

Rabbi Elazar Rokeach was a scholar in the first half of the 18th-century. He served as a rabbinic judge in Krakow, Poland, and as community rabbi in Rakow, then Brody, and then Amsterdam. In 1740, he emigrated to Safed, becoming the head of a small community for the remainder of his life. Rokeach was a vocal opponent of Sabbateanism, and was involved in several conflicts with adherents of Shabbatai Tzvi over the course of his life.

Rabbi Ephraim Navon was a rabbi and rabbinical court judge in the 17th and 18th centuries. Born in Constantinople, he emigrated to Jerusalem as an adult, later returning to Constantinople as an emissary raising money for Jerusalem’s Torah institutions. He remained in Constantinople for the rest of his life, and there he composed his widely-recognized commentary on the Mishneh Torah, Machaneh Ephraim.

A contemporary Canadian rabbi and writer about halakhah, living and teaching in Israel.

Rabbi Aryeh Leib Gunzberg was a prominent 18th-century rabbinic figure. He founded and served as head of a yeshiva in Minsk, rabbi in Volozhin, and av beit din and head of a yeshiva in Metz. He is known as the Sha’agat Aryeh for his halakhic work of that name and as the Turei Even after his Talmud commentary.

Rabbi Aryeh Leib Lifkin was a community rabbi, author, and publisher in 19th-century Lithuania.

Dr. Erica Brown is an award-winning educator, speaker, and prolific author on a range of topics related to Bible and Jewish thought. Among other roles, she has served as director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership and as associate professor of curriculum and pedagogy at the George Washington University. In 2021, Dr. Brown was appointed as vice provost of Values and Leadership and inaugural director of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Center for Values and Leadership. She has held many scholar-in-residence positions and is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation.

Ben Sira, also known as Simeon ben Jeshua ben Eleazar ben Sirach, was a second-century BCE Hellenistic Jewish scribe and sage from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem. He wrote the book of Ben Sira, also known as Ecclesiasticus, an apocryphal poetic book of guidance for living a wise, ethical, and God-fearing life.

An important groundbreaking religious judge who dealt with many issues of modernity and the new state of Israel. He was Israel's first Sephardic chief rabbi.

Rabbi Benjamin Motal was a scholar in 17th-century Constantinople. He published the book Tumat Yesharim, a compilation of several earlier compositions, among them notes on the Rif’s Talmud commentary and a booklet on talmudic concepts.

Rabbi Benjamin ben Saul Katzenellenbogen was an 18th-century author and head of the rabbinical courts in Samter (Prussia), Krotoschin, Krojanke and Gelnhausen.

A Hungarian rabbi and a colleague and friend of Rabbi Moshe Sofer (Chatam Sofer). He was chosen as the first rabbi of Budapest, but his rabbinate became contested, which led him to take on a smaller rabbinate in Bonyhad instead.

Barukh ben Isaac of Worms was born in France around 1140 and is sometimes referred to as Barukh ben Isaac the Frenchman (HaTzarfati). He is often confused with another Barukh ben Isaac of the same period, who was born in Worms but lived in Regensburg. A member of the Franco-German school of tosafists, he is credited as author of some portions of the Tosafot commentary printed in the Vilna edition of the Babylonian Talmud. He also wrote Sefer HaTerumah, among the first practical codes of Jewish law in Germany.

A prolific talmudist and rabbi in Central Europe. Among his writings is Barukh Ta'am, a commentary on the Talmud.

A teacher, writer and playwright, he moved several times until he eventually established himself as a fixture of the Yiddishist immigrant community of New York.

Rabbi Dovid Oppenheim was a scholar in the 17th and 18th centuries who served as chief rabbi of Nikolsburg and later of Prague. He authored over 20 works, among them books of Torah and Talmud commentary, responsa, and theology. Oppenheim was known as an avid collector of Hebrew and Yiddish books and manuscripts, and his vast collection is housed at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.

Rabbi David Gruenhut was a German talmudist and kabbalist in the 17th and 18th centuries.

David Nieto was born in 1654 in Venice. He studied medicine and philosophy as well as Jewish texts, and his first work focused on calendrical calculations and errors. After serving as a physician and rabbi in Italy, he moved to London to lead its Spanish and Portuguese community. There, Nieto shared views about the relationship between God and nature that earned him accusations of heresy; he was eventually cleared with further explanation and the support of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi (Chakham Tzvi). Nieto argued for the legitimacy of rabbinic tradition in his Matteh Dan (Kuzari Part II) and against Sabbateanism in his Esh Dat.

Rabbi David ben Naphtali Frankel was a leading rabbinic figure in 18th-century Germany. Born in Berlin to the chief rabbi of the city, Rabbi Frankel served as rabbi of Dessau before returning to Berlin to serve as chief rabbi in 1742. He is known for his running explanatory commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, Korban HaEdah, which he composed at a time when serious study of the Jerusalem Talmud was not widespread even among Torah scholars. Rabbi Frankel also composed the Sheyarei Korban, a work of more detailed analytic commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud.

David Solomon Eibenschutz was an 18th-century Russian scholar. He served as rabbi of the shtetl of Chorostkov, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, of Soroki, Bessarbia, and of Jassy, Romania. Toward the end of his life, he emigrated to Safed, Israel, where he lived for three years until his death. He authored many legal and kabbalistic works, some of which still exist in manuscript form. Among his more known works are: Levushei Serad, consisting of commentary on the Shulchan Arukh and on the Turei Zahav and Magen Avraham, Arvei Nachal, consisting of chasidic commentary on the Torah and sermons, and Neot Desha, a compilation of responsa.

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Rose is a British-born Jewish educator with experience working globally for educational institutions as an educator, content and curriculum developer, and educational consultant.

Heinrich Guggenheimer was a renowned mathematician who specialized in topography, as well as a historian, grammarian, and linguist who read at least 30 languages. He was born in Germany, studied in Switzerland, and taught at universities in Israel and then throughout the United States. Guggenheimer spent the last 20 years of his life composing a scholarly translation and commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud.

Menachem ben Solomon Meiri was one of Provence's most important scholars, he was a prolific writer, whose writings were largely only rediscovered in the early 20th century. Nevertheless, his famous liberal positions regarding Christians and Muslims were already known and influential before then.

A child prodigy who developed into a famous scholar and rabbi. Immigrating to Holland at the start of World War I, he eventually made his way to Pittsburgh, PA where he was a community rabbi and a prolific writer. While in Holland, he wrote a groundbreaking book on the status of women in Judaism.

A scholar who wrote one of the most important commentaries on Midrash Rabbah, as well as on other midrashic works.

Rabbi Zev Reichman is the director of the preparatory program at Yeshiva University and a community rabbi in New Jersey. He has also written two motivational books based in Jewish Thought.

Rabbi Zerachiah HaLevi, known as the Ba’al HaMaor, was a 12th-century Spanish rabbi who also lived in Provence. His best-known work, Sefer HaMaor, is a critical commentary on the Halakhot of the Rif that he began writing at the age of 19. He was criticized in turn for his audacity by scholars such as Ramban and Ra’avad, each of whom wrote defenses of the Rif, though they also expressed respect for the Ba’al HaMaor. Other disputes with Ra’avad include a critique of Ra’avad’s Ba’alei HaNefesh and an exchange of letters entitled Divrei Rivot ("Words of Dispute"). He also composed many poems, a number of which are included in Sephardic liturgy.

Rabbi Hezekiah da Silva was a 17th-century scholar. Born in Livorno in 1659, he emigrated to Jerusalem at age 20. There he learned in the yeshiva of Rabbi Moses Galante for 10 years, after which he took on the position of head of the yeshiva there upon Galante’s death. De Silva is known for his Pri Chadash, a celebrated legal work on the Shulchan Arukh, a version of which is printed in most standard editions of the Shulchan Arukh.

Rabbi Chaim ben Betzalel of Friedberg, older brother of the famed Maharal of Prague (Yehuda Loew ben Betzalel), was born in Poland then moved to Germany in 1549, where he studied in Worms for about fifteen years before relocating to Friedberg. He was a teacher and community leader in Friedberg, even as he never accepted a formal position as a judge or local rabbi. A colleague of the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles), Rabbi Chaim disagreed sharply with Rema’s efforts to publish a simplified guide to Jewish law, publishing his objections in a work titled Vikuach Mayim Chaim. He also wrote on ethics, Hebrew grammar, philosophy, and other subjects.

Chaim Chaykl (Chaika) Levin of Amdur (ca. 1730–1787), also known as the Amdurer Rebbe, was an 18th-century Chasidic rebbe and one of the earliest founders of Lithuanian Chasidut. A leading disciple of Dov Baer (the Maggid) of Mezeritch, in 1773, he founded the Amdur Chasidic dynasty in Indura, Belarus, where he faced fierce opposition from local mitnagdim, the opponents of Chasidut. His Torah insights were published posthumously in 1891 in Warsaw under the title Chayyim VaChesed.

An American modern Orthodox rabbi, dayyan, and writer. He is an expert on divorce law and has written a great deal about contemporary halakhah more generally, and on other topics.

Chanokh Zundel ben Yosef was a 19th-century talmudist from Bialystok. He wrote commentaries on Ein Ya’akov and Midrash Rabbah, among other works. His writing consists of summaries of earlier commentaries, alongside which he also incorporated his own novel interpretations.

Rebbe Chanokh Zvi HaKohen Levin was a son-in-law and advisor of the Gerer rebbe, Rebbe Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. He was also the rabbi of the Jewish community of Bendin, a Polish community that dated back to the 13th century, and a leader of Polish Jewry. Most of his writings were lost in the Holocaust.

Yedaya HaPenini was a poet, physician, and philosopher in Spain during the 13th and 14th centuries.

A rabbi, scholar and merchant who became chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire. Among his most important works are Mishneh LeMelekh, a commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah, and the classic homelitic book, Parshat Derakhim. He was also known for his strong opposition to the Sabbateanism of his time.

Dr. Judith Hauptman is a Talmud scholar and professor at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Her work and research focuses on the history of the Talmud and how it came into being, as well as women’s roles in Judaic thought, bringing evaluation of the rabbinic period into conversation with contemporary issues. Hauptman is also the founder of Ohel Ayala, an outreach project for young Jews on the margins, named in memory of her mother.

A great Spanish-Italian expert in halakha, author of the Shiltei Giborim and several indispensable cross-referenicing arrangements in the Talmud.

After studying at Yeshivat Mir in Jerusalem, he went on to teach at various institutions of learning in Israel, while writing his voluminous commentary on the works of Maharal. He later moved to London, where he is the director of the beit midrash at the Hasmonean High School.

A rabbi and businessman close to the Russian court, he was able to spend much of his time involved in his rabbinic studies and in philantrophy. He supported a cadre of outstanding scholars in his magnificent beit midrash.

Italian rabbi and scholar in the early 16th century. He was also an author, publisher, and writer of responsa. Widely known is his commentary on the festival prayer book according to the Roman rite, published anonymously under the title 'Kimcha D'Avishuna' (Bologna, 1540). He was extremely active as a proofreader of midrashic works and in the establishment of accurate readings of the tractates he studied with his pupils. His glosses to the Halakhot of R' Isaac Alfasi (Rif), his approbations to the works of his contemporaries, and his responsa, are extant today. He also compiled a commentary on the laws of kosher slaughter and the halakhot of issur v'heter of the Mordekhai by Mordekhai b. Hillel (Venice, 1550). His piyutim and poems are also known. Of his three sons the best known is Raphael Joseph who was a posek, as well as a book publisher.

American rabbi, has served as Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC), dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), and director of the Beth Din of America.

Yosef ben Abba Meir ibn Kaspi was a prolific 14th-century author who wrote about philosophy, biblical exegesis, and language. A dedicated follower of Maimonides and Aristotle, Ibn Kaspi traveled a great deal, partly in search of like-minded scholars with whom to study. Ibn Kaspi's biblical commentaries, which focused on the simple meaning of the text, drew criticism from some who felt they added little, and many opposed his extreme views on philosophical issues such as eternity of the universe and limitations on divine knowledge.

Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was a major 20th Century American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish ‎philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty. As a Rosh ‎Yeshiva of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University in New York City, The ‎Rav, as he came to be known, ordained close to 2,000 rabbis over the course of almost half a ‎century. He served as an advisor, guide, mentor, and role-model for tens of thousands of Jews, ‎both as a Talmudic scholar and as a religious leader. He is regarded as a seminal figure by Modern ‎Orthodox Judaism. During his tenure at Yeshiva University, in addition to his Talmudic lectures, ‎Soloveitchik deepened the system of "synthesis" whereby the best of religious Torah scholarship ‎would be combined with the best secular scholarship in Western civilization. In his major non-‎Talmudic publications, which altered the landscape of Jewish philosophy and Jewish theology, ‎Soloveitchik stresses the normative and intellectual centrality of the halakhic corpus. In The Lonely ‎Man of Faith, Halakhic Man, and Halakhic Mind is a four-part analysis of the historical correlation ‎between science and philosophy. Only in its fourth and last part does the author introduce the ‎consequences on the Halakha of the analysis performed in the previous three parts.‎

One of the mussar movement's oustanding personalities, he established the ascetic approach of Novardok. Besides the yeshiva of Norvodak, he established and had a profound influence on many other institutions of learning.

An important scholar of halacha, he grew up in Safed, but had to leave several times, before leaving Palestine altogether and settling in Constantinople. There, his stature grew and he become the chief rabbi of Turkey. He wrote several commentaries and volumes of responsa.

He followed the expulsion from Spain and became one of Egypt's leading rabbis, writing one of the most important commentaries on Rambam's Mishneh Torah. He spent the last years of his life in Jerusalem.

One of the greatest and most original Jewish minds of the last few generations, he was connected to Chabad Chassidut throughout his life, but also studied under Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik in Slutzk. Hence he was universally accepted and answered a large quantity of responsa well beyond his responsibilities as the rabbi of the chassidic community of Dvinsk. His most famous work was his Tzafnat Paneach commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

Women advisors on Jewish legal matters trained at Nishmat, an institution for advanced Torah study for women based in Jerusalem

Rabbi Yechezkel Panet was a leading rabbi in 19th-century Romania and founder of the Dayzh chasidic dynasty. Born in the town of Bielsko-Biała, Poland in 1783, he studied in Leipnik under Rabbi Boruch Frankel Thumim, in Prague under Rabbi Yehuda Leib Fishel, Rabbi Shmuel Landau, and Rabbi Elazar Fleklis, as well as in Linsk under Rabbi Menachem Mendel Rabin. He also studied with the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, who became his chief teacher.

Rabbi Yaakov ben Chananel Sikili was a rabbi in the 13th and 14th centuries, and a student of the Rashba. He lived in Cordoba, Spain, but in 1317 took an oath, together with a friend, to emigrate to the Land of Israel within two years. Sikili sold his possessions and prepared to go, but was prevented from going due to a report that Portuguese war ships were on the lookout for Jews and Muslims at sea, planning to “plunder and rob” them. He ultimately settled in Damascus, where he served as a halakhic authority and gave classes on the weekly Torah portion.

Jacob ibn Habib was a rabbi and talmudist at the turn of the 16th century, best known as the author of Ein Ya’akov, a compilation of all the aggadic material in the Talmud together with commentaries. He was born in Zamora, Spain, then fled to Portugal when Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and ultimately settled in Salonica. There he composed Ein Ya’akov, availing himself of two large libraries to which he had access there. He also came to lead the large community of expelled Jews in Salonica.

Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky was a rabbi and educator in the mid-19th and turn of the 20th centuries. He served as a rabbi of several communities in Lithuania and Belarus and founded a yeshiva in Slutsk, Belarus, before emigrating to the United States, where he was elected elder rabbi by the United Orthodox Rabbis of America. Toward the end of his life, he emigrated to Israel, establishing a yeshiva in Safed. He is known for two central commentaries that he composed on the Jerusalem Talmud, Chiddushei Ridvaz and Tosfot Rid.

Rabbi Jacob Joshua Falk was an early 19th-century scholar and rabbinic authority, known for his celebrated Talmud commentary, Penei Yehoshua. At the age of 22, Falk was trapped as the result of an explosion that killed his wife, child and mother. He vowed that if he made it out alive, he would intensify his study of the Talmud and its commentators, and the Penei Yehoshua was a result of the fulfillment of that promise. Falk subsequently remarried and had more children. He served as rabbi in several communities, including Lemberg, Berlin, Metz, and Frankfurt. Falk’s involvement in the controversy between Jacob Emden and Jonathan Eybeschutz compelled him to leave the pulpit in Frankfurt, and he spent several years wandering from place to place.

Author of the Yedei Moshe commentary to Midrash Rabbah.

Jacob Nachum Epstein (1878-1952) was a professor of Talmud at Hebrew University who made a profound impact on the modern study of rabbinic literature. Born in Brest-Litovsk, Epstein studied with his father, at the Mir Yeshiva, and at universities in Vienne and Bernne. He received his doctorate from the latter and served as a lecturer in Berlin before taking a post at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His magnum opus, Mavo LeNusach HaMishnah, is a foundational and comprehensive work on the textual history of the Mishnah.

Rabbi Yaakov Kranz is known as the Dubner Maggid ("the storyteller of Dubno"), though his career began in Mezeritch. Supported for a time by his father-in-law, Rabbi Kranz studied and taught Torah, including frequent sermons on the weekly Torah portion, without pay. He became known for his creative, sometimes sharp-witted approach, filled with parables and simple messages. Rabbi Kranz also served as a rabbi in several other cities before settling in Dubno. Though Rabbi Kranz likely intended to publish, his teachings were not printed until Avraham Dov Ber Flahm found his notes in Mezeritch and set out to publish them, with permission from Kranz's son.

Isaac ben Abba Mari was a 12th-century French rabbi often referred to as “Ba’al HaIttur,” (“Author of the Ittur”) for his magnum opus, Sefer HaIttur. From a family of notable rabbinic scholars, Isaac began writing legal works at the age of seventeen. In addition to his impactful Sefer HaIttur, he also wrote comments on Rabbi Isaac Alfasi’s Sefer Halakhot, entitled Meah Shearim.

Rabbi Yitzchak ben Mordekhai Gershon was a 12th century German Tosafist. He studied in Regensburg under Rabbeinu Tam and Rabbן Yitzchak ben Asher Halevi (Riva), and later served as the head of the city's bet din. He compiled tosafot to most tractates of the Talmud.

Born in central Europe, his studies took him west to the great Torah luminaries of the day in France. When he returned, he brought their Tosafist approach back to central Europe, first to Wurzburg and then to Vienna. He is most famous for his legal tract, Ohr Zarua. Among his students was Maharam of Rothenburg.

A rabbi who lived most of his life in poverty in Izmir. He is most famous for his Sha'ar HaMelekh commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

Isaac de Leon — who was born in Toledo — was a kabbalist and the author of Ma'aseh Nissim, was a native of Leon, ‎and the pupil of Isaac Campanton. He was part of the kabbalistic circles that produced the work "‎Sefer HaMeshiv." An opponent of philosophy, he nonetheless studied Aristotelian logic as part of ‎the formal approach to halakhah of the school of Isaac Campanton. Joseph Karo and others ‎honored him with the title of "the great teacher." He was more than 70 years of age at his ‎death, which occurred shortly before the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.‎

A very close student of Rabbi Isaac Nunis-Belmonte, he published many of his teacher's works posthumously. Eventually he became one of the main rabbis of Izmir and published his own commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah, as well as other works.

Rav Yitzchak Nissim (1896-1981) was the second chief rabbi of the state of Israel, serving between 1955 and 1972. Born in Baghdad, Rav Nissim immigrated to Israel in 1925. He worked as a businessman alongside his rabbinic studies, and published responsa throughout his life. After his death, his son, Professor Meir Benayahu, established Yad HaRav Nissim - an academic publishing house and research institute as well as a beit midrash - in his memory.

He was born and grew up in Toledo. However, due to the inquisition, he first moved to Portugal and then to Turkey. There, he published his masterful commentary on the Torah and raised his nephew, Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh. He eventually went to live in Israel, but it is not clear if he arrived and how and where he died.

A son of the second Izbizer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Leiner (Beis Yaakov), he was a scholarly relgious writer and editor.

A secular Israeli writer and thinker, he was instrumental in creating an educational and intellectual basis for secular Zionist Judaism in Israel.

A Hungarian rabbi who lived in Jerusalem as a child. After his family returned to Hungary, he studied under Avraham Sofer (Ketav Sofer) in Pressburg.

Rabbi Yisrael Eisenstein was a 19th-century scholar of Jewish law and chasidut, who served as rabbi in the cities of Bogopol and Nikolaev in present-day Ukraine. He wrote a collection of responsa entitled Amudei Esh, which was published together with some of his commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud entitled Amudei Yerushalayim. His other works, including a commentary on the Book of Joshua, remain in manuscript form.

Rabbi Yisrael ben Yosef Alnaqua was an ethical writer and martyr who lived in Toledo, Spain. He died at the stake in the summer of 1391.

One of the youngest of the disciples of the Vilna Goan, he moved to Palestine, where he first became rabbi of Safed and then Jerusalem. He nevertheless traveled to Europe as an emissary for the Jews living in Palestine.

A student of Rabbi Moses Isserles (Remah), he is the author of the important commentary on Midrash Rabbah, Matanat Kehunah. There is a tradition that he spent his last few years in Palestine, studying with Rabbi Moshe Cordovero and finally dying in Hebron.

A child prodigy from a Chasidiic family in Poland, he was sent away to study Torah at an early age. Growing older, he drew close to the Sefat Emet of Ger and particularly to Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, the first Sochatchover Rebbe.He held the rabbinate of several communities while devoting much time to Jewish communal affairs more generally.

Rabbi Meir HaLevi Rotenberg was nominated in 1809 to serve as a rabbi in Apt (Opatów) and, in 1815, in Stavnits (Stopnica). He was drawn to chasidism under his brother’s influence and considered Rabbi Yaakov Yitzcḥak Horowitz (the Seer of Lublin) his unequivocal mentor. Upon Horowitz’s death in 1815, he took on the role of a tsadik, and according to one tradition was officially appointed the Seer’s successor.

A rabbi of several important Eastern European communities, including Brisk. He was a prolific writer, focusing most of his energies on the Jerusalem Talmud and the Order of Kedoshim in the Babylonian Talmud

Orphaned as an infant, he nevertheless followed in his father's footsteps, penning a shorter version of his father's Ohr Zarua. He also wrote many of his own responsa, sermons and halachic essays, while serving as a rabbinic leader in Germany and Austria for most of his life.

Born in Germany, Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen spent his youth in Prague before moving further south to study Torah in Padua. He then became rabbi of that community and the titular head of the community in Venice. He was involved in responsa, some of which were a part of his correspondence with Rabbi Moshe Isserles, one of his relatives, as well as an ill-fated publication of Rambam's Mishneh Torah that was copied by a rival printing house and caused great controversy.

Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky is an Israeli scholar who shifted professions from civil law to Jewish text study and education. She studied at Matan Women's Institute and at Bar Ilan University, where she obtained a doctorate with a dissertation analyzing the Minchat Chinukh, a complex Jewish legal text. She has headed a number of advanced women’s learning programs and served in other leadership positions, including as the first woman on the religious board of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization. Rabbanit Tikochinsky has written extensively on many areas of Bible, Talmud, and Jewish law. A number of her essays on the weekly Torah portion were collected for publication under the title Karati Bekhol Lev.

Makhon Orot HaYerushalmi is a Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to reviving the study of “Torat Eretz Yisrael,” or Torah that is unique to the Land of Israel. The institution focuses on researching the Jerusalem Talmud and promoting its study.

Menachem ben Yosef was a second-generation chazzan (prayer leader) who lived in Troyes, a city in the Champagne region of France (home of Rashi, famous 11th-century exegete and legal authority), in the second half of the 13th century. He wrote Seder Troyes because he had received many questions about the details of local prayer customs and wanted to preserve the community’s traditions as his father had taught them.

A 12th centruy Italian scholar and Hebrew grammarian, he is most well-known for his authorship of Midrash Sekhel Tov. He also composed another major work on Hebrew vocabulary and grammar, Evan Bohan, loosely based on the work Menachem ben Saruq.

Rabbi Menachem di Lonzano was a 16th-century rabbi, lexicographer, and kabbalist. He was born in Italy or Turkey, moved to Jerusalem as a young adult, and lived in Constantinople and Italy before returning to Jerusalem at the end of his life. He wrote works of poetry, a work discussing the masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, a dictionary of talmudic words, and notes on the Jerusalem Talmud, among other books.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Krengel was a Polish author and bibliographer from the city of Krakow. His main contribution to Jewish scholarship was his revised edition of Chaim Yosef David Azulai’s bibliographical work, Shem HaGedolim. Krengel added a biography of the author (known as the Chida), a bibliography of the Chida’s works, extensive annotations, and additional names of authors from Krakow that the Chida had omitted from Shem HaGedolim. Krengel was also involved in an extended controversy with Krakow’s rabbi over the eruv in Krakow, and published a work on the matter entitled “Torat Eruvin.”

Menachem Mendel Lefin (or Levin) was born in 1749 in Satanow, Podolia, in the region of present-day Ukraine. He received a traditional Jewish education and was introduced to the Jewish Enlightenment, or Haskalah, after meeting Moses Mendelssohn. Lefin believed, however, that it was possible to integrate traditional Judaism with secular study. He was a fierce opponent of chasidic thought and Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, preferring the rationalist approach of Maimonides. His writings included arguments against chasidism and in favor of studying natural sciences, and a translation of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed into Rabbinic Hebrew. His most well-known work is Cheshbon HaNefesh, a guide to systematic introspection and self-improvement.

He studied under Rav Chaim Soloveitchik in Brisk and served as a rabbi in several communities, including Novardok. He wrote a comprehensive commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah, sermons and many articles.

Menasseh ben Israel was a 17th-century Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher. Born into a family of conversos in the midst of the Inquisition, ben Israel established the first Hebrew printing press in Holland. He was also active in advocating for the return of expelled Jews to England, motivated in part by a belief that the settlement of Jews throughout the world would hasten the coming of the messiah.

The great-grandson and namesake of the author of the Mei HaShiloach, he moved his followers to Warsaw, where he became an influential leader of global Orthodox Jewry. He wrote books defending his father's innovations, especially regarding the dye of tsitsit, as well as a book of his own original ideas on the holidays and parshat hashavua.

Rabbi Mordechai Yafeh Margaliyot was born in Hungary and served as rabbi in Kirchberg, Austria and later in Budapest, Hungary. His notes on the Jerusalem Talmud were originally published in the Vilna edition of the Jerusalem Talmud.

Markus Horovitz was a Hungarian rabbi and historian. The descendant of a family of scholars, he pursued his rabbinical studies at the yeshivot of Ujhely, Verbé, and Eisenstadt (the last-named then under the auspices of Israel Hildesheimer). He studied (1868–71) philosophy and Orientalia at the universities of Vienna, Budapest, and Berlin, taking his PhD. degree at Tübingen. In December 1871, he was called as rabbi to Lauenburg in Pomerania; in 1874, to Gnesen, Prussian Posen; and in September 1878, to Frankfurt am Main. At Frankfurt he organized two model religious schools. Horovitz was a director of the Deutsche Rabbinerverband and president of the German Jewish orphanage in Jerusalem. Horovitz was rabbi in Frankfurt at a time when the disagreements between the Orthodox and Reform factions were reaching their peak. Horovitz was appointed to chair a committee on ritual to placate the Orthodox followers of Samson Raphael Hirsch, who were threatening to found a separate community, the Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft ("Religious Society of Israelites"). He was given authority over the entire community's religious institutions, and promoted the construction of a new Orthodox synagogue on the Börneplatz, which was dedicated on September 10, 1882. Horovitz promoted the coexistence between the different factions, maintaining that it was possible for a unified community to exist while both sides exercised autonomy over their own institutions.

Rabbi Moshe ben Machir headed a yeshiva in Ein Zeitim, near Safed, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Fundraising letters still extant portray it as a typical Sephardic yeshiva of the time, with students studying under one leading Chakham, or head rabbi. The yeshiva was influenced by the kabbalistic and messianic atmosphere in Safed and its curriculum included the Zohar, but it focused more on other areas of Torah study. Moshe ben Machir is best known for his work, Seder HaYom, which sets out a daily program of prayer and behavior to achieve spiritual and personal fulfillment.

Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto was an early twentieth-century Italian historian, rabbi, and scholar of the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Near East, and Semitic languages. He served as chief rabbi of Florence and then became a professor, teaching at the University of Florence, the University of Rome La Sapienza, and finally the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Cassuto wrote a popular Hebrew commentary on the Bible and more detailed commentaries on the book of Genesis and part of the book of Exodus.

Rabbi Moshe ben Yosef di Trani was a student of Rabbi Yaakov Beirab and was part of the kabbalistic circles of 16th-century Safed. He was appointed that community's rabbi at the age of 20 and continued in that role for the next 55 years. During that time, he authored many works, including two volumes of responsa and an important commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Margalit was an 18th-century Lithuanian rabbi and the author of two central commentaries on the Jerusalem Talmud, Penei Moshe and Mareh Panim. He served as the rabbi of the city in which he was born, Keidan, and traveled Europe in search of manuscripts and knowledge that would aid him in composing his commentaries. Rabbi Margalit also registered to study botany at a university in Brandenburg at the age of 70 in order to better inform his commentary on Seder Zeraim, the Order of the Talmud dealing with agricultural laws.

A history, prolific writer and librarian who moved from France to Israel in 1949.

Rabbi Moses Kimchi was a medieval biblical commentator and grammarian. He authored a popular grammar work entitled "Mahalakh Shevilei HaDa'at," and commentaries on the Books of Ezra, Nehemia, and Proverbs that were mistankenly attributed to Kimchi's more well-known contemporary, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. Kimchi taught and was instrumental in raising his younger brother, David Kimchi (known as “Radak”) after the passing of their father, Joseph Kimchi

Polish rabbi, writer and orator. He was involved in, and supportive of. the Zionist cause.

A Bohemian rabbi who served in several communities before becoming the chief rabbi of the state. He was involved in several controversies as chief rabbi, trying to contain what he saw as moves towards reform. He wrote several works, including a commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

A product of Enlightenment-era Germany, Wessely came from a wealthy family with business connections to many of the leaders of Europe. He studied Torah under Rabbi Yochanan Eybeschutz, but received a broad education as well. Later, he worked with Moses Mendelssohn on the Biur translation of the Torah into German, and also wrote many other works. He became controversial for his vigorous support for the study of German and secular studies in Jewish schools.

Rabbi Naftali Weinberger is an alumnus of Yeshivas Kol Torah of Yerushalyim, where he was a student of Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Yeshivas Mir Yerushalyim. He has authored biographies of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, and Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman.

Rabbi Natan ben Yehuda was a 13th-century scholar of Jewish law and served as a prayer leader. He wrote Sefer HaMachkim, a guide to the daily and holiday prayer service and customs, based on teachings of his father, great-grandfather, and others. He was also knowledgeable in other areas of Jewish law, and scholars such as the Rashba report corresponding with him on various topics.

Rabbi Nathan Nota Spira was a Polish rabbi and kabbalist who served as chief rabbi of Krakow in the early 17th-century. He came from a long line of Torah scholars claiming descent from the celebrated 11th-century commentator Rashi. He led the Krakow community and its yeshiva but did not take a salary, as his in-laws supported him financially. Rabbi Spira focused on talmudic analysis with his yeshiva students, but his community sermons had mystical elements and inspired many listeners to study Kabbalah. His writings include a commentary on the Rif’s Halakhot and two works titled Megalleh Amukkot: a full Torah commentary and an extensive analysis offering 252 explanations of Moses’ prayer to enter the land of Israel.

Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as the Alter of Slobodka, was an influential Lithuanian Jewish leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe. He founded and led the Slobodka Yeshiva (Yeshivat Knesset Yisrael), shaping its identity as a flagship institution incorporating the study and practice of Musar. In 1924, he helped create a branch of his yeshiva in Hebron, ultimately relocating there himself for the final two years of his life. Many of his students became major leaders of Orthodox Judaism in the USA and Israel. His son, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, became the head of the Mir Yeshiva, the largest post-high school yeshiva in the world today.

Susan Handelman received her BA at Smith College, and her MA and PhD in English Literature from the State University of New York, Buffalo. She taught in the English Department at the University of Maryland College Park from 1979- 2000. She moved to Israel in 2000, to take a position as Professor of English literature at Bar-Ilan University. She has published many books and articles on the relation of Jewish thought and literature, academia and spirituality.

Simi Peters is a contemporary scholar of Tanakh and Midrash who serves on the faculty of Nishmat, the Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions, and Darchei Bina Seminary. She also serves as text consultant to the JCC Association of North America's Ethical Start Pirkei Avot Curriculum Project and was a Jerusalem Fellow. Peters has an M.A. in Linguistics from the Graduate Center of CUNY.

Samuel Rolles Driver was a British scholar whose work focused primarily on textual and critical study of the Hebrew Bible and earned him a number of honors, including several honorary doctorates. A prolific writer, he composed commentaries on many books of the Bible and participated in the creation of the English Revised Version of the King James Bible in the late 19th century, as well as the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, a renowned resource for biblical scholarship.

Noted for his brilliance as a child, he became a scholar of halakhah and was the rabbi of the large Jewish community of Posen for the last twenty years of his life. He was a staunch opponent of the nascent Reform movement and the introduction of secular studies into Jewish schools, but he is best known for his many sharp comments on the Talmud and on the Shulchan Arukh. He adopted his uncle's last name to honor him for teaching him Torah early in life.

Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona was one of the leading kabbalists of his day. His works show the influence of his teacher Isaac the Blind, and he, in turn, greatly influenced his contemporaries and the kabbalists of the 13th and 14th centuries, who quoted his works frequently. He wrote a commentary on the Song of Songs and commentaries on talmudic legends and prayers. Until recently, his own writings were often confused with those of his younger contemporary Azriel of Gerona.

Israeli poet writer and life-long kibbutz member, he spent much of his days as a shepherd. He also spent many years studying Judaism and attempting to incoroporate it into his ultimately secular worldview, while distancing himself from traditional religion.

A prolific Italian rabbi, kabbalist and merchant, he spent several years in Palestine studying from the great kabbalist rabbis there. Among his writings was the Mishnat Hasidim, a reformulation of Kabbalistic concepts according to the organization of the Mishnah.

Francis Brown was an American Semitics scholar with a particular interest in linguistic and lexical studies. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the ecumenical Union Theological Seminary who later studied in Berlin, Brown’s publications earned him several honorary doctorates. He is perhaps best known as the lead author of the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, a renowned resource for biblical scholarship.

Charles Augustus Briggs, an American scholar of Hebrew and theology, was born in New York and graduated from the University of Virginia and the Union Theological Seminary. He served in the New York Militia during the Civil War and then continued his studies at the University of Berlin, after which he was appointed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Roselle, New Jersey. He was a professor at Union Theological Seminary for several decades, holding various positions, despite being tried and excommunicated for heresy by the Presbyterian Church during that time – a move some felt was influenced by the tone and not only the content of controversial ideas Briggs had expressed. After being ousted from the Presbyterian Church, he was ordained as a priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Briggs was awarded a number of honorary doctorates in recognition of his biblical scholarship, work which included collaborating with Francis Brown and S.R. Driver on the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon among many other publications.

Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes was the rabbi of Zolkiev, Galicia, in the early 19th century. He was the author of several works, including glosses to the Talmud, which are printed in the Vilna edition of the Talmud.

Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan, an 11th-century rosh yeshiva in Narbonne, is primarily known for his midrashic scholarship, which led to his appellation, HaDarshan. One of the earliest French exegetes, he compiled a work on the Bible that included and expanded on ancient midrashim as well as apocrypha, even sources at odds with rabbinic tradition. Usually called Yesod, but never fully organized or given a formal title, it was quoted by Rashi and others but is no longer extant. The midrash Bereshit Rabbati on Genesis is often attributed to Rabbi Moshe but was likely composed later, based on Yesod.

Amram Gaon, or Amram of Sheshna, was a ninth-century gaon, or head of the talmudic academy in Sura, Babylonia. He authored responsa and was the first known author to compile a set liturgy to be recited in prayer services. This work, known as Siddur Rav Amram or Seder Rav Amram, was an important influence on the development of Jewish liturgy.

Rabbi Yehuda ben Barzillai lived in 11th-12th century Barcelona and was a respected legal scholar and author. The word HaNasi (the prince) was often attached to his name, indicating that his family traced its lineage back to the leaders of Babylonian Jewry, and even further, to the dynasty of David. His writings were considered authoritative, especially Sefer HaItim, which primarily contains laws of Shabbat and holidays and is quoted frequently by later authorities. His works are rooted in earlier scholarship, including geonic material, some of which is preserved only through ben Barzillai’s references.

He lived in France in the second half of the thirteenth century and was one of the scholars whose collective work was recorded in the Tosafot Sens. He also wrote an important commentary on the Torah called Paaneach Raza.

A late 13th century scholar in Provence, he is most known for his important commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

Rabbi Shlomo Shalem was a rabbi in Vidin, Bologna, Sofia, and Amsterdam in the 18th century.

Dedicated to Torah study from his youth, he became one of the period's greatest experts in halacha. He was one of the main editors of the Vilna edition of the Talmud and eventually became the rabbi of Vilna. Though he was more focused on study than communal affairs, he was an ardent supporter of the new Jewish settlements in Palestine.

Born into a Polish rabbinic family and noted as a child prodigy, he made his way to the chassidic court of Rabbi Meir of Apta. Connecting to several other chassidic figures along the way, he eventually established his own hassidic court in Radamsk, in the context of which he was able to use his great talents, both as a communal leader and as a hassidic rebbe.

A student of Rashba, he leaned more towards the side of Kabbalah and even wrote a super-commentary on the mystical elements of Ramban's commentary on the Torah. He also wrote the Migdal Oz commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

Mostly known for his commentary on Midrash Rabbah, he was the leader of the Ashkenazi community of Constantinople. He also wrote on Aggadah, Torah, homelitics and issued responsa.

An independent scholar and community activist, he was an important member of the Vilna community in his time. His prosperous business activities allowed him to devote himself to the poor and spend much of his time in the study of the Talmud. His notations are found in the back of the classic editions of the Babylonian Talmud used today.

Tamar Weissman is a noted lecturer in Bible and land of Israel studies, and is a certified Israeli tour guide.

A rabbi in Prussia, he became most famous for his Beit Meir gloss on the Shulchan Arukh. He held rabbinic positions in several larger Eastern European communities including Konigsburg, and his expertise in halacha was so renowned that he answered colleagues' questions from all over the region.

Rabbi Meshullam Feivush Heller was a leader in the formative stages of the chasidic movement. Born in 1742 into a rabbinic family with illustrious lineage — Heller was a fifth-generation descendant of the Mishnah commentator, Rabbi Yom-Tov Lippman Heller, among others — Heller became a student of Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zloczow, who himself had been a student of the Ba’al Shem Tov. Heller is mainly known for his Yosher Divrei Emet, a work in the form of two long letters to a friend, detailing key chasidic teachings and practices.

Rabbi Nissim Chaim Moshe Mizrachi was born in Jerusalem in 1690. Born with just the first name Moshe, his two other names were added when, as an adult, he was arrested by Turkish authorities hoping to extort money from the Jewish community. In 1744, he was appointed Rishon LeTzion, the title given to the chief rabbi of Jews living in the Land of Israel at the time. He served in the role for four years, until his death.

Simeon Kara was a French rabbi who lived in Mans in the 11th century; brother of Menahem ‎ben ‎Ḥelbo and father of Joseph He is counted among the prominent French rabbis, although no work ‎of his has ‎survived.‎

Rabbi Yisrael Friedman founded the short-lived but influential Ruzhin chasidic dynasty. Born in Pohrebyshche, he became head of its chasidim at 16, following the deaths of his father and older brother. He had little education, but his personality, talent for organizing, and early reputation for holiness gained him a large and loyal following in Pohrebyshche and then in Ruzhin, where he built a palatial home and lived in luxury. Though unusual for chasidic leaders, his followers saw his lifestyle as expressing God’s honor; he and others attested that he avoided personal comforts despite these outer trappings. After legal complications of uncertain merit, he ultimately settled in Sadigura. Rabbi Friedman had six sons, all of whom became leaders of important chasidic groups.

Rabbi Yissachar Eilenburg (1570–1620) was a rabbi in the district of Goritz and later in Austerlitz, Moravia. Born in Posen, he studied in yeshivot in Posen and in Prague. He wrote Be’er Sheva, a series of seven commentaries on the treatises of the Babylonian Talmud for which there are no tosafot commentaries. In the back of this commentary, he included a collection of responsa. Eilenburg also wrote Tzeidah LaDerekh, a supercommentary on Rashi’s Torah commentary.

Rabbi Yitzchak Adarbi was a 16th-century rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Salonica. He was considered a leading halakhic authority at the time, and received questions from all over the Balkans. Divrei Shalom, a collection of 30 sermons he delivered, reflects his efforts to unite the various Salonican Jewish communities. Divrei Rivot is a collection of his responsa, published five years after his death.

Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spector was a 19th-century Russian rabbi and communal leader. He served as rabbi in several communities throughout the Russian empire, was involved in the management of the Volozhin yeshiva and the establishment of other institutions of learning, and authored several works on Jewish law. He was active in opposing anti-semitic decrees of the Russian government, helping the Jewish community in the face of oppression, and supporting the efforts of the Chovevei Tzion proto-Zionist movement.