SIM?AH BEN JOSHUA OF ZALOZHTSY

SIM?AH BEN JOSHUA OF ZALOZHTSY (1711–1768), Polish author and Torah scribe. A preacher in the town of Zalozhtsy, near Brody, Poland, he was one of a group of ascetic ?asidim who had gathered around R. Na?man of Kossov, many of whose teachings he cites. He composed two works containing moral preaching in homiletic style and principles of conduct according to the kabbalist Isaac *Luria: Lev Sim?ah (Zolkiew, 1757) and Neti'ah shel Sim?ah (ibid., 1763). Several times in his books, he implies that the redemption will take place in 1768. He left Zalozhtsy in May 1764, later encountering R. Na?man of Horodenka and R. Mendel of Peremyshlyany, pupils of Israel b. *Eliezer Ba'al Shem Tov, who were also traveling to Ere? Israel. Sailing from Constantinople on September 15, they reached Jaffa on September 26 (the eve of Rosh Ha-Shanah). Sim?ah and the ?asidic leaders continued their journey by ship to Acre. Arriving in Safed, they found only 40–50 Sephardi families there. Unable to earn a living as a scribe, Sim?ah returned after seven months to Europe. Arriving in Leghorn, Italy, he found a generous Jew, who welcomed him into his home. At his request, Sim?ah wrote a book containing the full story of his journey. Sippurei Ere? ha-Galil ("Tales of Galilee") is a firsthand account of his experiences. Returning to Poland, Sim?ah became a preacher in Brailow, where he remained until his death. A copy of his book was published by his son-in-law, Solomon *Dubno (Grodno, 1790), under the title Ahavat ?iyyon ("Love of Zion"). Solomon Dubno added extracts from the writings of other travelers, notably chapters on Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus, and Egypt, which he took from the narrative of the Karaite *Samuel b. David (1641–42). He also added excerpts from various non-Jewish works. The book was republished under the title Doresh ?iyyon (1887) by ?ayyim Eliezer Hausdorf. It was first published in its original form by A. Yaari.

bibliography:

Luncz, in: Yerushalayim, 4 (1892), 137–52; J.D. Eisenstein, O?ar ha-Massa'ot (1926), 237–51; A. Yaari, Masot Ere? Yisrael (1946), 382–423, 773–5; Scholem, in: Tarbiz, 25 (1955/56), 429–40; Yaari, ibid., 26 (1956/57), 110–2; Tishbi, in: Zion, 32 (1967), 4–8.

[Avraham Yaari]