BRANDEIS, MOSES (surnamed Ḥarif = "The Keen Talmudist"):
German rabbi and Talmudic teacher; born about 1685; died June 24, 1761, in Mayence. As his surname indicates, he was famous in his time as a Talmudic dialectician, but he left no writings. His father, Jacob Brandeis, was rabbi in Zorek, Russia Minor (perhaps, Zaryechye in the province of Poltava; see Walden, "Shem ha-Gedolim he-Ḥadash," i. 61). Moses studied at the yeshibah of Abraham Broda in Prague, and then directed a yeshibah in Fürth, Bavaria, which was supportedby his father-in-law, Gabriel ha-Levi, a rich philanthropist of that place. At the same time he performed the functions of a rabbi at Schnittach, a small place near Fürth. In 1717 he went to Jung-Bunzlau, Bohemia, as chief rabbi, and in 1733 became rabbi of Mayence. Moses was also a cabalist, observing strictly the rules of life laid down by Isaac Luria.
His sons were: Bezaleel Brandeis; Gabriel Brandeis, rabbi in Prague; and Jacob Brandeis, rabbi in Düsseldorf.
- Kaufmann, in Monatsschrift, xxxvii. 385 et seq.;
- Baruch Judah Brandeis, Leshon Ḥakamim, Preface.
