Lipschuetz

views updated

LIPSCHUETZ

LIPSCHUETZ (Lipschutz, Lifschitz, Lifshyts, Lipszyc, Liebschuetz ), widely dispersed Jewish family, which provided a large number of rabbis and scholars. The name is probably an indication of their origin and points to either Loebschuetz (Lubczyce; now Glubczyce) in Silesia, Liebschuetz in Thuringia, or to Liebeschitz in Bohemia. The derivation from the feminine name Liebscha is not acceptable. According to M. *Brann (see bibl.), the first well-known bearers of this name were the 16^th-century R. moses ben isaac lipschuetz of Brzesc-Kujawski and Gdansk (Danzig), and isaac lipschuetz of Poznan. In the first half of the 17^th century members of this family included r. benjamin benush, rabbi in Brest-Litovsk, son-in-law of R. Saul *Wahl and perhaps the son of the aforementioned R. Moses; r. israel mordecai ben elijah, who was one of those who approved in 1609 the Prague edition of R. Eliezer b. Nathan's Even ha-Ezer (1610); r. Ḥayyim ben isaac, ḥazzan in Poznan, who published additions to a commentary on the kinot by the ḥazzan Asher b. Joseph (Lublin, 1617); r. moses ben noah isaac in Poznan; and R. Gedaliah b. Solomon *Lipschuetz from Lublin. In the second half of the 17^th century r. elijah lived in Brest-Litovsk, r. moses ben enoch in Burgpreppach. From Gedaliah Lipschuetz (see Israel b. Eliezer *Lipschuetz and his son Gedaliah), who lived in Ostrava at the beginning of the 17^th century, descended an unbroken line of learned rabbis right to modern times. Among the last members of this learned family were the Mishnah commentator R. Israel b. Gedaliah *Lipschuetz and his son R. Baruch Isaac *Lipschuetz.

bibliography:

Ẓ.H. Edelmann, Gedullat Sha'ul (1854), 24a; I.T. Eisenstadt and S. Wiener, Da'at Kedoshim (1897–98), 57, 83; D. Kaufmann, Die letzte Vertreibung der Juden aus Wien… (1889), 203; H.N. Maggid-Steinschneider, Ir Vilna (1900), 38–40; J.L. Feinstein, IrTehillah (1886), 23f., 154f., 202; S.Z. Kahana, Anaf Eẓ Avot (1903), 23; M.M. Biber, Mazkeret li-Gedolei Ostraha (1907), 62; I. de Terni, Sefer ha-Makhri'a (1897), introd.; A.J.L. Lipschuetz, Avot Atarah le-Vanim (1927), 46, 144; E. Kohan, Kinat Soferim (1892), 92a; J. Perles, Geschichte der Juden in Posen (1865), 49; A. Berliner, in: mgwj, 50 (1906), 215–7; M. Brann, ibid., 218f.; L. Lewin, in: jjlg, 5 (1907), 101ff.