Akiva Eger
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| Akiva Eger | |
 Picture of the pious sage, leader of the diaspora, our master rabbi Akiva Eger
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| Born | November 8, 1761 (11 Cheshvan 5522 Anno Mundi) Eisenstadt, Hungary |
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| Died | October 12, 1837 (aged 75) (13 Tishrei 5598 Anno Mundi) Poznań |
| Burial place | Poznań |
| Residence | Markisch Friedland, Posen |
| Nationality |  Hungarian |
| Other names | Akiba ben Moses Guens |
| Occupation | Rabbi |
| Religious beliefs | Haredi Orthodox Judaism |
Rabbi Akiva Eger, (born: Akiva Güns), (1761-1837), was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, influential halakhic decisor and foremost leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century.
Akiva Eger was born in Eisenstadt — the most important town of the Seven Jewish Communities of Burgenland, Hungary, (now Austria). He was a child prodigy and was educated first at the Mattersdorf yeshiva and later by his uncle, Rabbi Wolf Eger, (1756-1795) (b. 5516, d. 6 Tishrei 5556), at the Breslau (Wrocław) yeshiva, who later became Rabbi of Tziltz and Leipnik. Out of respect for his uncle he changed his surname to Eger. He therefore shared the full name Akiva Eger with his maternal grandfather, the first Rabbi Akiva Eger. (1722-1758) (b. 5482, d. 15 Elul 5518). the Mishnas De'Rebbi Akiva who was Rabbi of Tziltz, Silesia from 1749 and Pressburg from 1756.
He was the rabbi of Märkisch Friedland, West Prussia, from 1791 until 1815; then for the last twenty two years of his life, he was the rabbi of the city of Posen (Poznań). He was a rigorous casuist of the old school, and his chief works were legal notes and responsa on the Talmud and the Shulkhan Arukh. He believed that religious education was enough, and thus opposed the party which favored secular schools. He was a determined foe of the Reform movement, which began to make itself felt in his time.
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[edit] Progeny
Among his children were his two sons, Abraham (1781-1853) and Solomon (1785-1852), a rabbi in Kalisz, Poland and chief rabbi of Posen from 1837 to 1852. His daughter Sarel (1790-1832) (b. 5550, d. 18 Adar II 5592), was the second wife of the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839) Rabbi of Pressburg.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Jacob H. Sinason. Gaon of Posen: A Portrait of Rabbi Akiva Guens-Eger. Feldheim, 1990. ISBN 0-87306-548-4.
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