Klein, Samuel Shmelka

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KLEIN, SAMUEL SHMELKA

KLEIN, SAMUEL SHMELKA (d. 1875), Hungarian rabbi. Klein was a disciple of Shalom Ulman Ḥarif of Lakenbach. After serving in Balkany, he was appointed rabbi of Huszt (Mármaros region), a large city which had authority over half the district. There he founded a great yeshivah. In 1860 he moved to Szöllős, although it was a much smaller town. In Szöllős Klein became very well known, many Hungarian rabbis turning to him with their difficulties. Because he inclined to Ḥasidism, his admirers began to relate extraordinary stories about him. He was the author of Ẓeror ha-Ḥayyim (1876), novellae on the Talmud. His sons were Jacob, rabbi of Técső and Bilke; Moses, rabbi of Csev; Shalom, rabbi of Halmi; and Phinehas Ḥayyim who succeeded him in Szöllős.

bibliography:

S.Z. Klein, Rabbi Shmelka (Heb., 1956).

[Itzhak Alfassi]