Malbim
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Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser (1809 - September 18, 1879), better known by the acronym Malbim (Hebrew: מלבי"ם), was a Russian rabbi, preacher, and Bible commentator. The name "Malbim" is derived from the Hebrew initials of his name, and became his surname by frequent usage.
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[edit] Biography
Malbim was born at Volochysk, Volhynia and educated in Hebrew and the Talmud by his father and, after being orphaned a a child, by his stepfather, Rabbi Leib of Volochisk. At the age of 13 he went to study in Warsaw. where his was known as the 'iluy (prodigy) from Volhynia. He showed talent from his early childhood, and his works indicate that he had a considerable knowledge of secular sciences. From 1838 to 1845 he was rabbi of Wreschen, in the district of Posen, and in the latter year was called to the rabbinate of Kempen, where he remained until 1859; he was thereafter also known as "der Kempener Magid".
In 1859 Malbim became chief rabbi of Bucharest, Romania. He did not get along with the upper-class German Jews there; they wished to introduce the rites and practices of Reform Judaism, which were at great variance with the beliefs and practices of the traditional rabbinic Judaism. The Malbim defended Orthodox Judaism, which demanded adherence to Jewish law and tradition, and rejected almost all editing of the Siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book, and changes to other observances.
By intrigues his opponents succeeded having him thrown into prison. Though he was soon liberated through the intervention of Sir Moses Montefiore, it was upon the condition that he leave Romania.
Malbim went to Constantinople and complained to the Turkish government, but obtained no satisfaction. After staying six months in Paris, he went to Lunshitz, Kalisz guberniya, Russian Poland, as successor to his deceased father-in-law, Hayyim Auerbach (1866). Shortly afterwards he became rabbi at Kherson, and thence was called to the rabbinate of Mahilyow (Moghilef), on the Dnieper (1870). There, too, his lack of subservience provoked the resentment of the richer Jews; these denounced him as a political criminal, and the governor of Moghilef ordered him to leave the town.
Malbim then went to Königsberg as chief rabbi of the Polish community, but there he fared no better than in Bucharest and Moghilef; he was continually harassed by the German Jews. When Malbim passed through Vilna in 1879 the community there would have appointed him rabbi in place of Isaac Elijah Landau, but the governor of Vilna opposed the election on the ground that he could not sanction the appointment of a rabbi who had been expelled from Moghilef as a political criminal. Thereafter he declined appointment as chief rabbi of New York City.[1] In September of the same year Malbim was on his way to Kremenchuk, to the rabbinate of which town he had been appointed, when he fell sick and died at Kiev.
Malbim's fame and popularity rest upon his novel commentary to the Bible. His first published commentary was on Megillas Esther (1845), followed by his commentary to other books of the Bible from then until 1876.
His commentary on the Bible is based upon the principle that there are no true synonyms in the Bible; apparent stylistic repetitions are not that, but rather each introduces a distinct idea.
[edit] Works
- "Artzoth haChayim", commentary and novellae on the Shulchan Aruch (section Orah Hayim, Breslau, 1837);
- "Artzoth haShalom", collection of sermons (Krotoschin, 1839);
- "HaTorah vehaMitzva", analytical and innovative commentary on the Pentateuch and the midrash halakha (Warsaw, 1874-80), including the linguistic guide Ayelet ha-Shachar on differences between similar terms in Hebrew;
- "Mikra'ei Kodesh", commentary on the Prophets and Hagiographa (ib. 1874; this commentary is in parallel, on the words and on the sense; Malbim always endeavored to explain the different meanings of synonyms);
- "Mashal uMelitza," dramatic philippic, in verse, against hypocrisy (Paris, 1867).
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- ^ The Malbim : Leadership and Challenge as Reflected in his Introduction to Vayikra and His Torah Commentary "Hatorah Vehamitzvah" Study Sheet on the Weekly Torah Portion (No. 124. Parashat Vayikra 5756, 1996), from the Office of the Campus Rabbi of Bar-Ilan University
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
