Rabbi David Altschuler of Prague (1687-1769) was a biblical commentator and the author of a classic commentary, known as the Metzudot, to the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im and Ketuvim. Altshchuler is also known as the Baal Metzudot, "Author of the Metzudot."
Altschuler was born in Yavoriv in western Galicia. His family had its origins in Portugal, but were forced to leave with the expulsion of Jews from Portugal. It is reported that upon reaching Prague they built a synagogue using stones from the old Portuguese synagogues they had left, and therefore the family name became Altschuler ("of the old synagogue"). According to other reports, the family origin was in Provence.
In the year 5486 (1725-1726) he is recorded as serving as a rabbi or judge of Yavoriv. Apparently, after this he served as rabbi of Prague, as did other members of his family.
R. Altschuler saw that the study of Tanakh , Hebrew Bible, had become weak among European Jews and even among scholars. Believing that the reason for this was the lack of a sufficiently simple and clear commentary, he wrote his commentary "Metzudat David" to fit this need. The commentary covers all Neviim and Ketuvim except for Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther. It is principally based on the commentary of Radak, but includes ideas from many other previous commentators. According to the Hida, these sources include Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ralbag, Moshe Alshich, Saadiah Gaon and Ramban. [1] The commentary was published in Zhovkva in 1753, and later published a second time before his death.
David's son Yechiel Hillel Altschuler also served as rabbi of Yavoriv, and finished his father's great work, and traveled extensively in Europe in order to publish and spread it. David published the commentary as one work, but Yechiel divided it into two works: Metzudat David which explains the meaning of the verses, and Metzudat Tzion which explains individual words and phrases. The two works are collectively known as the Metzudot.
In time the Metzudot became one of the basic commentaries on Neviim and Ketuvim, printed in most editions of the Hebrew Bible with commentators. See Yeshiva § Torah and Bible study.
Shlomo Yitzchaki, commonly known by the acronym Rashi, was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible.
A targum was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible that a professional translator would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Biblical Hebrew. This had become necessary near the end of the first century BCE, as the common language was Aramaic and Hebrew was used for little more than schooling and worship. The translator frequently expanded his translation with paraphrases, explanations and examples, so it became a kind of sermon.
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writings. It aligns with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal, which translates to “literature [of our] sages” and generally pertains only to the sages (Chazal) from the Talmudic period. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmud, Midrashim, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms mefareshim and parshanim almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
The Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible, after the Torah ("instruction") and the Nevi'im "Prophets". In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually titled "Writings" or "Hagiographa".
Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser, better known as the Malbim, was a rabbi, master of Hebrew grammar, and Bible commentator. The name Malbim was derived from the Hebrew initials of his name. He used this acronym as his surname in all his published works and became known by it in common usage. His writings do not include works about Kohelet or Eicha.
Yechiel Michel ha-Levi Epstein (24 January 1829 – 25 March 1908), often called "the Aruch haShulchan" after his magnum opus, Aruch HaShulchan, was a Rabbi and posek in Lithuania.
Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba, the Hebrew acronym of his title and name: Rabbi Shlomo ben Avraham.
David Kimhi (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK (רַדָּ״ק), was a medieval rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian.
Meir of Rothenburg (c. 1215 – 2 May 1293) was a German Rabbi and poet, as well as a major contributing author of the tosafot on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud. He is also known as Meir ben Baruch, and by the Hebrew language acronym Maharam of Rothenburg. He was referred to by Rabbi Menachem Meiri as the "greatest Jewish leader of Zarfat" alive at the time.
The New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh (NJPS), first published in complete form in 1985, is a modern Jewish 'written from scratch' translation of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible into English. It is based on revised editions of earlier publications of subdivisions of the Tanakh such as the Torah and Five Megillot which were originally published from 1969 to 1982. It is unrelated to the original JPS Tanakh translation, which was based on the Revised Version and American Standard Version but emended to more strictly follow the Masoretic Text, beyond both translations being published by the Jewish Publication Society of America.
The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf among others, JPS is especially well known for its English translation of the Hebrew Bible, the JPS Tanakh.
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was produced in many different parts of the world throughout the medieval and modern eras, while contemporary Hebrew literature is largely Israeli literature. In 1966, Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature for novels and short stories that employ a unique blend of biblical, Talmudic and modern Hebrew, making him the first Hebrew writer to receive this award.
Hebrew Bible English translations are English translations of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) according to the Masoretic Text, in the traditional division and order of Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. Most Jewish translations appear in bilingual editions (Hebrew–English).
Soncino Press is a Jewish publishing company based in the United Kingdom that has published a variety of books of Jewish interest, most notably English translations and commentaries to the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. The Soncino Hebrew Bible and Talmud translations and commentaries were widely used in both Orthodox and Conservative synagogues until the advent of other translations beginning in the 1990s.
Shabbataiben Meir HaKohen was a noted 17th century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as the Shakh, which is an abbreviation of his most important work, Siftei Kohen on the Shulchan Aruch.
Jewish commentaries on the Bible are biblical commentaries of the Hebrew Bible from a Jewish perspective. Translations into Aramaic and English, and some universally accepted Jewish commentaries with notes on their method of approach and also some modern translations into English with notes are listed.
Sifrei Kodesh, commonly referred to as sefarim, or in its singular form, sefer, are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. These are generally works of Torah literature, i.e. Tanakh and all works that expound on it, including the Mishnah, Midrash, Talmud, and all works of Musar, Hasidism, Kabbalah, or machshavah. Historically, sifrei kodesh were generally written in Hebrew with some in Judeo-Aramaic or Arabic, although in recent years, thousands of titles in other languages, most notably English, were published. An alternative spelling for 'sefarim' is seforim.
The Seder ha-Mishmarah is a study cycle devised by the Ben Ish Ḥai and used by some Mizrahi Jews for reading the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah in the course of a year. It depends on the cycle of the weekly Torah portions read in the synagogue.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "ALTSCHUL, ALTSCHULER, ALTSCHUELER, or ALSCHULER". The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.