Joseph Saul Nathanson - Biography

Joseph Saul Nathanson (1808 - 1875) (Hebrew: יוסף שאול בן אריה הלוי) was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day.

Biography

Rabbi Nathanson was born at Berezhany (Berzan), Galicia (Central Europe) (today's western Ukraine); he was the son of Aryeh Lebush Nathanson, rabbi at Berzan and author of "Bet El." He studied Talmud at Lviv (Lemberg) together with his brother-in-law Mordecai Zeeb Ettinger. In the 1830s in Lemberg - then under the rule of the Austrian Empire - he founded an informal study-group under his tutelage; this “yeshiva” attracted some of the most brilliant students in Galicia. In 1857 Nathanson was elected rabbi of Lemberg, where he officiated for eighteen years. He was widely recognized as a rabbinical authority, and was asked to rule on various contemporary issues; his rulings are still widely cited (for instance he was one of the first to permit the use of machinery in baking Matzah [1]). Rabbi Nathanson was very wealthy, and was known for his activity as a philanthropist. He died at Lemberg March 4, 1875.

Works

Rabbi Nathanson was a voluminous writer, the author of many works, including:

• "Mefareshe ha-Yam" (Lemberg, 1828), in cooperation with his brother-in-law Mordecai Zeeb Ettinger: notes by Joshua Heschel on the "Yam ha-Talmud," to which they appended their own respona - HebrewBooks.org
• "Me'irat 'Enayim" (Wilna, 1839), also together with Ettinger, on the ritual examination of the lungs - HebrewBooks.org
• "Magen Gibborim" (Lemberg, part i., 1832; part ii., 1837), also together with Ettinger, on Shulkhan Arukh, Orach Chayim - at HebrewBooks.org: I, II

• "Yad Yosef" and "Yad Sha'ul," on the Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah (Lemberg, 1851)
• "Ner Ma'arabi", on the Jerusalem Talmud
• "Haggahot ha-Shass", critical notes on the Talmud
• "Ma'ase Alfas", commentary on Isaac Alfasi
• "Sho'el u-Meshiv", responsa (his Magnum opus) (Lemberg, 1865-79) - at HebrewBooks.org: Kama, Tinyana, Telisa'ah, Revia'ah, Hamisha'ah, Shesisa'ah
• "Dibre Sha'ul ve-Yosif Da'at", responsa (ib. 1879) - at HebrewBooks.org: Vol. I, Vol. II, Vols. I & II
• "Dibre Sha'ul", commentary on the Haggadah of Pesach - HebrewBooks.org
• "Dibre Sha'ul", on the Pentateuch and the Five Scrolls - HebrewBooks.org
• "Dibre Sha'ul", on Aggadah - HebrewBooks.org
• "Bitul Moda'ah", in defense of machine Mazot - HebrewBooks.org
• "Yados Nedarim", on the laws of Nedarim - at HebrewBooks.org: link, link
• "Dibre Sha'ul / Edus Be'Yosef" - HebrewBooks.org

He also wrote glosses to many other works, and innumerable approbations to the books of others.

External links and references

• His entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia
• The “yeshiva world” of Eastern Europe, Berel Wein
• Memorial page to the bygone world of Berezhany Jews
• Shillem Warhaftig's Encyclopedia Judaica entry on Nathanson, at the Jewish Virtual Library