Isaac Baer Levinsohn

Isaac Baer Levinsohn (Hebrew: יצחק בר לוינזון) (October 13, 1788 in Kremenetz – February 13, 1860 in Kremenetz) was a notable Russian-Hebrew scholar, satirist, writer and Haskalah leader. He was called "the Russian Mendelssohn". In his Bet Yehudah (1837), he formulated a philosophy and described Jewish contributions to civilization in an effort to promote Judeo-Christian understanding.

His father, Judah Levin, was a grandson of Jekuthiel Solomon, who settled in Kremenetz and acquired considerable wealth, and a son of Isaac, who had married the daughter of Zalman Cohen, famed for his wealth and scholarship. Levinsohn's father was a wealthy merchant and was popular among Jews and Gentiles alike. He was a master of Polish, wrote fluently in classical Hebrew (at that time a rare accomplishment), and was a thorough Talmudic scholar. At the age of three Levinsohn was sent to the ḥeder, where he soon manifested unusual aptitude for learning; and at nine he composed a cabalistic work that elicited the praise of scholars and rabbis ("Bet Yehudah," ii. 126, note 2). At ten he was versed in Talmudic lore, and knew the Old Testament by heart. He also studied and mastered the Russian language, an unusual achievement for a Russian Jew of that time. Thanks to his great mental power and industry, he rapidly familiarized himself with the rabbinical literature. At eighteen he married and settled in Radzivilov, supporting himself by teaching and translating; his married life, however, was unhappy, and he divorced his wife.

Some of Levinsohn's first literary efforts were in the domain of Hebrew poetry. Among others, he wrote a patriotic poem on the expulsion of the French from Russia, which was transmitted to the minister of the interior by General Giers, the commandant of the Radzivilov garrison. Levinsohn himself regarded his verses as mere literary exercises, and did not attempt to print them; the greater part of them was lost. Excessive study brought on nervous disorders, and Levinsohn journeyed to Brody, then the center of the Jewish Haskalah, in order to consult the local physicians. There the future reformer of the Russian Jews found a congenial atmosphere in the circle of the Maskilim. He soon made the acquaintance of Isaac Erter, the Hebrew satirist, and later of Solomon Rapoport. Though engaged as a bookkeeper in the local bank, he found time to continue his studies. Before long he passed the teacher's examinations and was appointed to teach Hebrew at the gymnasium of Tarnopol. There he soon became intimate with the scholar Joseph Perl, through whose influence he secured an instructorship at the Hebrew college of Brody.

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