Zvi Hirsch Kalischer

Zevi(Zwi) Hirsch Kalischer ( 1795 - 1874 ) was a rabbi and one of the Zionism pioneers in Germany . German rabbi and colonizer; born March 24 , 1795, at Lissa , Posen ; died Oct. 16 , 1874, at Thorn , on the Vistula. Destined for the rabbinate, he received his Talmudic education from Jacob of Lissa and Akiba Eger of Posen. After his marriage he left Lissa and settled in Thorn, where he spent the rest of his life. Here he took an active interest in the affairs of the Jewish community, and for more than forty years held the office of "Rabbinatsverweser" (acting rabbi). Disinterestedness was a prominent feature of his character; he refused to accept any remuneration for his services, his wife, by means of a small business, providing their meager subsistence. In his youth he wrote "Eben Bochan", commentary on several juridical themes of the Shulchan 'Aruk , Choshen Mishpat' (Krotoschin, 1842), and "Sefer Moznayim la-Mishpat'", commentary , in three parts, on the whole Choshen Mishpat' (parts i. and ii., Krotoschin and Königsberg, 1855; part iii. still in manuscript). He also wrote: glosses on Shulchan 'Aruk , Yoreh De'ah, published in the new Wilna edition of that work; "Sefer ha-Berit," commentary on the Pentateuch; "Sefer Yetzi'at Mitzrayim," commentary on the Pesach Haggadah; "Chiddushim" on several Talmudical treatises; etc. He also contributed largely to Hebrew magazines, as "Ha-Maggid," "Tziyyon," "Ha-'Ibri," and "Ha-Lebanon."¹