ASHKENAZI, JOSHUA HESHEL B. MESHULLAM:

By: Louis Ginzberg

Russian Talmudist and rabbi of the nineteenth century; died Feb. 10, 1867, at Lublin. From 1852 till his death he was rabbi of Lublin, his predecessors being first his father, and afterward his cousin Baerush Ashkenazi. The community owed much to Joshua Ashkenazi, who was indefatigable in promoting its spiritual as well as its material wellbeing. His house was open to every needy person. Because of his philanthropy he was also highly esteemed by his Christian fellow-citizens and distinguished by the government with the title of an honorary citizen, a rank which carried with it certain privileges.

Ashkenazi left ten posthumous works on both haggadic and halakic subjects, which, however, were destroyed in a conflagration some years ago at Grodno. Several of his responsa are contained in Baerush Ashkenazi's "Noda' ba-She'arim."

L. G.