Samuel Joseph Fuenn

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Samuel Joseph Fuenn (Template:Langx; 15 October 1818 – 11 January 1891),Template:Notetag also known as Rashi Fuenn (Script error: No such module "Lang".) and Rashif (Script error: No such module "Lang".), was a Lithuanian Hebrew writer, scholar, printer, and editor. He was a leading figure of the eastern European Haskalah, and an early member of Ḥovevei Zion.[1]Template:R/superscript

Biography

Fuenn was born in Vilna, Russian Empire, the son of merchant and Torah scholar Yitsḥak Aizik Fuenn of Grodno.[2]Template:R/superscript Though he received a traditional religious education until the age of 17,[3]Template:R/superscript he also acquired an extensive general knowledge of German literature and other secular subjects, and became proficient in Russian, French, Latin, Polish, and English.[4]Template:R/superscript He afterwards joined Vilna's circle of young maskilim.[5]Template:R/superscript

In 1848 the government appointed him teacher of Hebrew and Jewish history in the newly founded rabbinical school of Vilna.[6]Template:R/superscript Fuenn filled this position with great distinction till 1856, when he resigned. The government then appointed him superintendent of the Jewish public schools in the district of Vilna,[7]Template:R/superscript in which he introduced instruction in secular studies and modern languages.[8]Template:R/superscript Since Fuenn (Russian финѣ) was employed in the Russian civil service, there was a special feature for him as a Jew, he had to legally sign in Russian according to the applicable Russian laws. Excerpt from the text of the law § 6 The Jew of the Russian Empire in translation: "The use of the Jewish language is not permitted in legal transactions. However, Hebrew home wills are permissible. If a Jew who does not speak any language other than Jewish, a document written or signed in Hebrew must be accompanied by a translation and the signature duly notarized.[9]Template:R/superscript[10]Template:R/superscript

He was a prolific writer, devoting his activity mainly to the fields of history and literature.[8]Template:R/superscript With Eliezer Lipman Hurwitz he edited the short-lived Hebrew periodical Pirḥe tzafon ('Northern Flowers', 1841–43), a review of history, literature, and exegesis.[11]Template:R/superscript For twenty-one years (1860–81), he directed the paper Ha-Karmel ('The Carmel'; at first a weekly, but from 1871 a monthly), devoted to Hebrew literature and Jewish life, with supplements in Russian and German.[12]Template:R/superscript The paper contained many academic articles by the leading Jewish scholars of Europe, besides numerous contributions from Fuenn's own pen,[7]Template:R/superscript including a serialized autobiography entitled Dor ve-dorshav.[13]Template:R/superscript He opened a new Hebrew printing press in Vilna in 1863.[14]Template:R/superscript

Besides his scholarly work, Fuenn owned some property in Vilna, including a bathhouse on Zarechye Street.[15]Template:R/superscript He took an active part in the administration of the city and in its charitable institutions, and was for many years an alderman.[8]Template:R/superscript In acknowledgment of his services the government awarded him two medals.[4]Template:R/superscript He also presided over the third Ḥovevei Zion conference in Vilna, at which he, Samuel Mohilever, and Asher Ginzberg were chosen to direct the affairs of the delegate societies.[16]Template:R/superscript

Fuenn died in Vilna on 11 January 1891. He bequeathed his entire estate to his son, Dr. Benjamin Fuenn, his daughter having converted to Catholicism some years earlier.[15]Template:R/superscript After Benjamin's death, Fuenn's extensive library was added to the collection of the Template:Ill.[17]Template:R/superscript

Personal life

Fuenn was married off by his parents at a young age. His first wife died in 1845 while their daughter was still a baby, and his second wife died in the 1848 cholera pandemic, shortly after giving birth to their son Benjamin. He married a third wife in 1851.[1]Template:R/superscript

His niece was the Labour Zionist politician Manya Shochat.[18]Template:R/superscript

Work

Publications

File:Fuenn Ha-Otzar.jpg
Title page of Ha-otsar (1903 edition)
File:Samuel Joseph Finn.png
Samuel Joseph Finn's (Russian финѣ) Russian signature

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Unpublished work

Fuenn left in manuscript form a treatise on Jewish law entitled Darkhei Hashem ('The Paths of God'), written as a response to Alexander McCaul anti-Jewish work The Old Paths.[25]Template:R/superscript Other unpublished works included Ha-moreh ba-emek ('The Teacher in the Valley'), a commentary on Maimonides' Moreh nevukhim; Mishna berurah ('Clarified Teaching') and Ḥokhmat ḥakhamim ('Wisdom of the Sages'), commentaries on the Mishnah; Ha-Torah veha-zeman ('The Torah and Time'), on the evolution of laws and regulations; Sum sekhel, glosses on the Bible; Pirḥe Levanon ('Flowers of Lebanon'), a collection of verses; and Bein ha-perakim ('Between the Chapters'), a commentary on Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer.[17]Template:R/superscript

External links

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Notes

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References

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