Bodek, Jacob

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BODEK, JACOB

BODEK, JACOB (1819–1855), Galician Hebraist. Bodek was born in Lemberg. He and his brother-in-law, A.M. *Mohr, were two of the maskilim in Lemberg who published a journal entitled Ha-Ro'eh u-Mevakker Sifrei Meḥabberei Zemannenu ("Criticism of the works of Contemporary Authors," 1838–39), criticizing the works of S.J. Rapoport, S.D. Luzzatto, and I.S. Reggio. He and Mohr later edited a periodical called Yerushalayim (1844–45) to which many Galician maskilim contributed. Bodek published biblical commentaries and translations of poetry in the periodical Kokhevei Yiẓḥak. His letters, which contain valuable material on the historical and cultural background of the early 19th century, were printed after his death in Ha-Boker Or, Ha-Shaḥar, and other journals.

bibliography:

Klausner, Sifrut, 2 (19522), index; G. Bader, Medinah va-Ḥakhameha (1934), 33.

[Getzel Kressel]