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and others. His contribution to the modern study of rabbinical
literature was of far-reaching importance. Epstein’s essays
and reviews appeared in many learned periodicals, and he was
cofounder and coeditor of the quarterly Devir (1923–24), and
edited the first 23 volumes of the quarterly Tarbiz (1930–52).
He was an active member of the Vaad ha-Lashon and presided
over several of its committees.
Bibliography: Sefer ha-Yovel… J.N. Epstein (= Tarbiz, 20,
1950); S. Abramson, J.N. Epstein, Reshimah Bibliografit … ve-Toledot
Ḥayyav (1942); M. Schwabe, et al., Le-Zikhro shel J.N. Epstein
(1952); Loewinger, in: S. Federbush (ed.), Ḥokhmat Yisra’el be-Ma’arav
Eiropah, 2 (1963), 49ff.
EPSTEIN, JEAN (1897–1953), French director. Epstein was
born in Warsaw but lived and worked in France. As a young
man the experimental cinema attracted him, and he directed
his first film, Pasteur, when he was 25, thereafter working
largely in the realistic mode, using outdoor settings and everyday
scenes in such films as La Belle Nivernaise and Finis
Terrae (1928), a documentary-style tale of Bannec island fishermen.
In La Chute de la Maison Usher (1928) he created notable
indoor atmospheric effects as well, introducing the use
of slow motion. One of his last films was Les Feux de la Mer
(1948). His sister MARIE EPSTEIN (1899–1995) worked with
him and also with Jean Benoît-Lévy, writing the screenplay
for and sharing direction of the classic La Maternelle (1933)
with Benoît-Lévy.
EPSTEIN, JEHIEL MICHAL BEN AARON ISAAC HA-
LEVI (1829–1908), rabbi and halakhic authority. Epstein was
born in Bobruisk, Belorussia. He studied in Volozhin under
R. Isaac of Volozhin from 1842. At first unwilling to enter the
rabbinate, he was persuaded to do so by the rabbi of his native
town, R. Elijah Goldberg, who formally ordained him, and
c. 1862 he was appointed to his first rabbinate in Novosybkov
where there were many *Chabad Ḥasidim. During that period
he visited R. Menahem Mendel of Lyubavich, author of
Ẓemaḥ Ẓedek, from whom he also received semikhah. In 1874
he was appointed rabbi of Novogrudok, Belorussia, where he
remained until his death.
Epstein’s fame rests upon his Arukh ha-Shulḥan, consisting
of novellae and halakhic rulings on the four parts of the
Shulḥan Arukh: Oraḥ Ḥayyim (1903–07), Yoreh De’ah (1894–
98), Even ha-Ezer (1905–06), and Ḥoshen Mishpat (1884–93).
In the introduction to the volume on Ḥoshen Mishpat, Epstein
explains that just as Maimonides saw the need to compose the
Mishneh Torah and Joseph Caro the Shulḥan Arukh, in order
to codify the halakhah in their times, there was now a need
to bring the Shulḥan Arukh up to date by giving the halakhic
rulings which had been promulgated by authorities subsequent
to Caro, both in works devoted to that purpose and in
responsa. He said that “great anxiety and confusion” had resulted
from those new rulings and his work was intended to
give the final halakhic summation up to his day. Although in
its external arrangement the work follows the chapters of the
epstein, jehiel michal ben abraham halevi
Shulḥan Arukh, in its internal arrangements he conforms to
that of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides. According to Epstein
the principal aim of the study of Torah is not dialectical
and casuistic exercise, the “uprooting of mountains”; but
to arrive at a definite knowledge of the halakhah. He showed
a marked tendency toward leniency in his rulings, and he
gave expression to this tendency in a statement to Rabbi J.L.
*Maimon who obtained semikhah from him. “When any problem
in connection with the prohibitions of the Torah comes
before you, you must first presume it is permitted, and only
after you have carefully studied the rishonim and can find no
possibility of leniency are you obliged to rule that it is forbidden”
(Maimon, Sarei ha-Me’ah, p. 112).
The Arukh ha-Shulḥan has become an authoritative
work. Like the Shulḥan Arukh on which it is based, it deals
only with the laws which have a practical importance. After
Epstein completed it, however, he undertook the writing of
additional works dealing with such laws as are not applicable
at the present time, to which he gave the suggestive title
Arukh ha-Shulḥan le-Atid (“Arukh ha-Shulḥan for the Future”),
which were published posthumously. They deal with
agricultural laws (Zera’im, 3 pts., 1938–46); Sanhedrin, Mamrim,
Melakhim, Shekalim, and Kiddush ha-Ḥodesh (1962); and
Kodashim (1969). In them he takes especial care to indicate
his sources, tracing the development of each law from its first
source to its latest form. His son Baruch *Epstein gives an attractive
picture of the manner in which his father would encourage
candidates to the rabbinate. He would exhort them
always to consider the pros and cons before giving a halakhic
decision, and to show every consideration to the person putting
the problem, so as not to confuse him.
Among his other works are Or la-Yesharim (1869), a commentary
on the Sefer ha-Yashar of Jacob *Tam in which he defends
Tam against the criticisms leveled against him by later
authorities. Only two of his responsa have been published (in
the Even Me’ir of M. Gordon, 1909).
Bibliography: B. Epstein, Mekor Barukh, 3 (1928), 1163–75;
H. Tchernowitz, Toledot ha-Posekim, 3 (1947), 299–305; J.L. Maimon
(Fishman), Anashim shel Ẓurah (1947), 133–79; S.Y. Zevin, Soferim
u-Sefarim (1959), 30–35; A.Z. Tarshish, R. Barukh ha-Levi Epstein
(1967), 41–69.
[Yehoshua Horowitz]
EPSTEIN, JEHIEL MICHAL BEN ABRAHAM HALEVI
(d. 1706), German rabbi and author. Epstein is principally
known for his Kiẓẓur Shelah (Fuerth, 1683, 1696) and for a
siddur which he issued with a translation of the prayers, laws,
and customs in Yiddish, entitled Derekh Yesharah (Frankfurt,
1697). These he wrote largely for the benefit of Jews living in
isolated villages that were without the guidance of rabbis and
teachers. Kiẓẓur Shelah, mainly an abbreviated version of Isaiah
*Horowitz’ Shenei Luḥot ha-Berit (Shelah), also contains
glosses as well as new laws and customs which Epstein extracted
from works appearing after the publication of Horowitz’
book. In addition, the author deals with Jewish educa-
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