JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

admirer of Disraeli that, in 1972, he leased and lived in a wing
of Hughenden manor, Disraeli’s country house. Once a leftist
supporter of the Soviet Union, by the end of his life Edelman
was active in the movement for Soviet Jewry.
Bibliography: ODNB online.
[William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)]
EDELMANN, RAPHAEL (1902–1972), Danish scholar and
librarian. Born in Latvia, Edelmann immigrated to Copenhagen
as a child. In 1933 at the recommendation of David
*Simonsen he began working in the newly established Jewish
department of the Royal Library of Copenhagen, which consisted
of the rich library of Simonsen; from 1938 he headed the
department. From 1948 he lectured at the University of Copenhagen,
where he was in charge of Judaic studies, including
Yiddish. In 1955 he founded the Association of Libraries
of Judaica and Hebraica in Europe and in this capacity organized
training courses for Jewish librarians. Edelmann published
extensively in several scholarly fields and made important
contributions to the dissemination of Jewish scholarship
in Denmark. Among his works are Bestimmung, Heimat and
Alter der synagogalen Poesie (1932), and Zur Fruehgeschichte
des Machzor (1934), important works on the early history of
liturgical poetry. He compiled the catalog of Hebrew incunabula
of the library of L. *Goldschmidt, now at the Royal
Library (in Fund og Forskning, 3 (1956), 82–90); edited the series
Corpus Codicum Hebraicorum Medii Aevi (1954– ); and
edited the Subject Concordance to the Babylonian Talmud by
L. Goldschmidt (1959). He also arranged successful exhibitions
of the treasures of the Royal Library in Paris, Strasbourg, Milan,
and New York.
[Menahem Schmelzer]
EDELMANN, SIMḤAH REUBEN (Sar ha-Adulammi;
1821–1893), Lithuanian Hebrew scholar. Edelmann was born
in Vilna and studied at the Volozhin yeshivah. He tried his
hand in various branches of Jewish scholarship, and also wrote
poetry and was one of the first to “discover” J.L. *Gordon,
whom he befriended.
Among his published books are Shoshannim (1860);
Ha-Mesillot (1875); Ha-Tirosh (1871), on Genesis Rabbah; and
Doresh Reshumot (1893), on I.H. *Weiss’ historical work Dor
Dor ve-Doreshav, which Edelmann criticized for its liberal
views. Edelmann also contributed to Hebrew periodicals.
Part of his literary remains were used by A.D. Lebensohn and
I. Benjacob in their edition of the Bible (1849–53) and published
by Edelmann’s son Mordecai Isaac in his Me’arat Adullam
(1922) and Tovim ha-Shenayim (1913). An autobiographical
fragment was published by the son in his biography of his
father, Hakḥam ve-Sar (1896).
EDELMANN, ẒEVI HIRSCH (1805–1858), Hebrew scholar,
printer, and publisher. Edelmann, who was born in Svisloch,
Belorussia, published books at Danzig, Koenigsberg, and
London. In England, in particular, he carefully searched the
edels, samuel eliezer ben judah ha-levi
libraries for Hebrew manuscript material. Edelmann published
editions of hitherto unpublished medieval Hebrew literature
such as Estori Ha-Parhi’s Kaftor va-Ferah (1851, repr.
1959); Ginzei Oxford (translated into English by M.H. Bresslau
and published in Treasures of Oxford, 1851), a collection (with
L. Dukes) of liturgical and secular poetry by Spanish-Jewish
poets; Derekh Tovim (also translated into English by M.H.
Bresslau and published in Path of Good Men, 1852), varia by
Maimonides, Judah ibn Tibbon and others; Ḥemdah Genuzah
(1856), an important collection of philosophical writings
and letters, mainly by, to, or about Maimonides; Divrei Ḥefeẓ
(1853), another collection of philosophical and poetical material;
and also M.Ḥ. Luzzatto’s La-Yesharim Tehillah (1854).
Edelmann also published a number of important liturgical
items: Seder Haggadah (1845), with critical notes; Haggadah
Le-Leil Shimmurim (1845), with commentaries and
notes; and Siddur Hegyon Lev (1854) containing Edelmann’s
critical notes and emendations, No’am Megadim by J. Teomim,
and Mekor Berakhah by E. Landshuth. Edelmann’s first
publications, which were purely talmudic, were Haggahot
u-Vi’urim li-Me’irat Einayim (1839) and Alim le-Mivḥan, including
Megillat Sefer Iggeret ha-Purim (1844) on Esther. He
also wrote an historical study on Saul *Wahl, the alleged oneday
king of Poland, Gedul lat Sha’ul (1854), with an appendix
Nir David. His considerable publishing ventures were carried
out under conditions of great financial stringency. Edelmann
lived in Berlin from 1852 and died in the ward for the insane
in a Berlin hospital.
Bibliography: Jewish Chronicle (1841–1941) (1949), 55; A.
Berg, Birkat Avraham (1882); Kressel, Leksikon, 1 (1965), 24–25.
EDELS, SAMUEL ELIEZER BEN JUDAH HA-LEVI
(known as MaHaRShA – Morenu Ha-Rav Shemu’el Adels;
1555–1631), one of the foremost Talmud commentators. Born
in Cracow, he moved to Posen in his youth, where he married
the daughter of Moses Ashkenazi Heilpern. His mother-inlaw,
Edel, by whose name he was later known, was a wealthy
woman and supported him and his numerous disciples for a
period of 20 years (1585–1605). After her death, Edels took up
a rabbinic position in Chelm. In 1614 he was appointed rabbi
of Lublin, and in 1625 of Ostrog, where he founded a large
yeshivah. On the lintel of his house (burned down in 1889) was
inscribed the verse: “The stranger did not lodge in the street;
but I opened my doors to the traveler” (Job 31:32). His commentary
on the Talmud is one of the classical works of talmudic
literature included in almost every edition of the Talmud.
The commentary is divided into two parts. In his Ḥiddushei
Halakhot he explains the talmudic text with profundity and
ingenuity. In his introduction to the work he writes that “out
of love for terseness” he would refrain from elaboration. He
ends most of his comments with the phrases: “And weigh carefully”
or “And the meaning is simple,” although in reality it is
far from clear and many later scholars often found difficulty
in understanding his point. Often he poses a difficulty and
says: “And this may be solved,” leaving it to the students to
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 143