WEISSBERG, ISAAC JACOB:
Russo-Hebrew writer and pedagogue; born at Polonki, government of Minsk, 1841; died at Kiev 1904. He received his preliminary training in various ḥadarim, and then attended the yeshibah of Slonim, where he came to be regarded as one of the best Talmudic students. Later he went to Minsk, where he became acquainted with various Hebrew scholars of the younger generation, especially with Joseph Brill, known also as Job of Minsk. While in Minsk, Weissberg devoted himself particularly to the study of Hebrew literature. In 1873 he established himself as a teacher of Hebrew in Kiev; many of his pupils have become prominent Hebrew writers.
In 1879 Weissberg began contributing articles to various Hebrew periodicals, and his literary activity was very extensive. The following is a list of his more important works: "Ga'on we-Shibro," a scholarly criticism of medieval and modern literature; "She'elat ha-Nashim 'al Pi ha-Talmud," a work written in Yiddish and treating of the status of women according to the Talmud, as well as of the prevailing opinion regarding the authority of the Talmud; "Peshuṭo shel Miḳra 'al Pi Da'at" (St. Petersburg, 1898), Talmudic explanations of Biblical passages; and "Mishle Ḳadmonim" (Nezhin, 1901), a collection of ancient proverbs. He was the author also of exegetic notes on the Pentateuch (published by Ezekiel Mandelstamm); and he collected and published letters by the poet J. L. Gordon (2 vols.), Isaac Bär Levinsohn, and Isaiah Tugendhold ("Dibre Yesha'yah"). Weissberg contributed numerous articles to "Ha-Meliẓ," "Ha-Maggid," "Ha-Ẓefirah," "Ha-Shaḥar," "Ha-Boḳer Or," "Oẓar ha-Sifrut," "Aḥiasaf," "Ha-Shiloaḥ," "Ha-Goren," "Ha-Pisgah," and "Ha-Tiḳwah."
