Samuel Joseph Fuenn (Hebrew: שמואל יוסף פין, romanized: Shmuel Yosef Fin; 15 October 1818 – 11 January 1891),[note 1] also known as Rashi Fuenn (רש״י פין) and Rashif (רשי״ף), was a LithuanianHebrew writer, scholar, printer, and editor. He was a leading figure of the eastern EuropeanHaskalah, and an early member of Ḥovevei Zion.[7]
In 1848 the government appointed him teacher of Hebrew and Jewish history in the newly founded rabbinical school of Vilna.[10] Fuenn filled this position with great distinction till 1856, when he resigned. The government then appointed him superintendent of the Jewish public schools in the district of Vilna,[11] in which he introduced instruction in secular studies and modern languages.[1] Since Fuenn (Russian финѣ) was employed in the Russian civil service, there was a special feature for him as a Jew, he had to legally sign in Russian according to the applicable Russian laws. Excerpt from the text of the law § 6 The Jew of the Russian Empire in translation: "The use of the Jewish language is not permitted in legal transactions. However, Hebrew home wills are permissible. If a Jew who does not speak any language other than Jewish, a document written or signed in Hebrew must be accompanied by a translation and the signature duly notarized.[12][13]
He was a prolific writer, devoting his activity mainly to the fields of history and literature.[1] With Eliezer Lipman Hurwitz he edited the short-lived Hebrew periodical Pirḥe tzafon ('Northern Flowers', 1841–43), a review of history, literature, and exegesis.[14] For twenty-one years (1860–81), he directed the paper Ha-Karmel ('The Carmel'; at first a weekly, but from 1871 a monthly), devoted to Hebrew literature and Jewish life, with supplements in Russian and German.[15] The paper contained many academic articles by the leading Jewish scholars of Europe, besides numerous contributions from Fuenn's own pen,[11] including a serialized autobiography entitled Dor ve-dorshav.[16] He opened a new Hebrew printing press in Vilna in 1863.[17]
Besides his scholarly work, Fuenn owned some property in Vilna, including a bathhouse on Zarechye Street.[18] He took an active part in the administration of the city and in its charitable institutions, and was for many years an alderman.[1] In acknowledgment of his services the government awarded him two medals.[5] He also presided over the third Ḥovevei Zion conference in Vilna, at which he, Samuel Mohilever, and Asher Ginzberg were chosen to direct the affairs of the delegate societies.[19]
Fuenn died in Vilna on 11 January 1891. He bequeathed his entire estate to his son, Dr. Benjamin Fuenn, his daughter having converted to Catholicism some years earlier.[18] After Benjamin's death, Fuenn's extensive library was added to the collection of the Strashun Library [he].[20]
Personal life
Fuenn was married off by his parents at a young age. His first wife died in 1845 while their daughter was still a baby, and his second wife died in the 1848 cholera pandemic, shortly after giving birth to their son Benjamin. He married a third wife in 1851.[7]
"Le-toledot R. Sa'adyah Gaon" [Materials for the Biography of Saadia Gaon]. Ha-Karmel. 2. 1871.
"Ḥakhme Yisrael bi-Krim ve-gedole Yisrael be-Turkiya" [Jewish Scholars in Crimea and Turkey]. Ha-Karmel. 1861. Biographies of notable Jews of Crimea and Turkey in the 14th–15th centuries.[6]
Fuenn left in manuscript form a treatise on Jewish law entitled Darkhei Hashem ('The Paths of God'), written as a response to Alexander McCaulanti-Jewish work The Old Paths.[27] Other unpublished works included Ha-moreh ba-emek ('The Teacher in the Valley'), a commentary on Maimonides' Moreh nevukhim; Mishna berurah ('Clarified Teaching') and Ḥokhmat ḥakhamim ('Wisdom of the Sages'), commentaries on the Mishnah; Ha-Torah veha-zeman ('The Torah and Time'), on the evolution of laws and regulations; Sum sekhel, glosses on the Bible; Pirḥe Levanon ('Flowers of Lebanon'), a collection of verses; and Bein ha-perakim ('Between the Chapters'), a commentary on Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer.[20]
^While some sources list his date of birth as September or October 1819,[1][2], Fuenn in his autobiography writes that he was born in Vilna on 15 Tishri 5578 (25 September 1817) or 5579 (15 October 1818).[3]Sokolow and Zeitlin agree he was born on 15 Tishri 5579.[4][5][6]
^Reisen, Zalman (1929). "Fin, Shmuel Yosef". Leksikon fun der yidisher literatur, prese, un filologye (in Yiddish). Vol. 3. Vilna: B. Kletskin. pp. 74–75.
^Fuenn, Samuel Joseph (1879). Fuenn, S. J. (ed.). "Dor ve-dorshav". Ha-Karmel (in Hebrew). 4. Vilna: Avraham Tzvi Katzenellenbogen: 9–15, 73–80, 193–201, 259–266, 331–338, 461–471.
^ abWaxman, Meyer (1960). A History of Jewish Literature. History of Jewish literature from the close of the Bible to our own days. Vol. III. New York: Thomas Yoseloff. pp. 337–338.
^Alkoshi, Gedalia (1959). "Shmuel Yosef Fin". In Goren, Natan; et al. (eds.). Yahadut Lita [Lithuanian Jewry] (in Hebrew). Vol. 1. Tel Aviv: Hotsaʼat Am ha-sefer. pp. 438–341.
^ abEisenstein, Judah David, ed. (1912). Otsar Yisraʼel [Treasury of Israel]. Oẓar Yisrael :an Encyclopedia of all matters concerning Jews and Judaism (in Yiddish). Vol. 8. New York: J. D. Eisenstein. pp. 246–247.