BÖHM, MOSES:

By: Isidore Singer, Peter Wiernik

German physician; flourished in the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1740 he was engaged by the Jewish community of Halberstadt to attend to the medical needs of its poor members; and his salary, 175 thalers per annum, was paid to him regularly, according to the communal records, until 1747. He soon became very popular with Gentiles as well as with Jews, and was consulted professionally by the nobility and high dignitaries. It is supposed that Böhm remained in the service of the community after 1747, but his increased prosperity enabled him to dispense with his salary, which was a heavy charge on the community. Various anecdotes of his skill as a physician and his generosity are preserved among the Jews of Halberstadt, from which it is evident that he must have occupied an important position in that city. There are extant Hebrew letters written by him against the use of amulets, and against the early and hurried burials of the dead, which were common among the Jews of his time. In these epistles he proves himself a good Hebraist, an excellent reasoner, and well versed in rabbinical literature.

S.P. Wi.