Shapiro, David S.

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SHAPIRO, DAVID S.

SHAPIRO, DAVID S. (1909–1989), U.S. Bible scholar and rabbi. Born in Philadelphia, Shapiro studied at the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology. He served as the rabbi of Orthodox congregations in Savannah, Georgia (1936–38); Erie, Pennsylvania (1938–41); Indianapolis, Indiana (1941–48); and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1948–1989). Shapiro also taught at the University of Wisconsin and the Graduate School of the Hebrew Theological College.

In 1936 he published Yesodei ha-Dat ha-Universalit, an attempt to establish the theory of a universal religion on the basis of rabbinic sources. Shapiro issued Midrash David in 1952, consisting of essays on the festivals and halakhic discourses. In 1961, his Torat Moshe ve-ha-Nevi'im appeared. It includes biblical studies which attempted to prove the dependence of the prophets on the Mosaic law.