HIRSCH JANOW:
Polish rabbi; born about 1750; died at Fürth, Bavaria, Nov. 13, 1785. On account of his great keenness in Talmudical discussions he was commonly called "Hirsch Ḥarif" (the acute). When in 1776 his father-in-law, Raphael Kohn, was elected rabbi of the three congregations Ḥamburg, Altona, and Wandsbeck, he succeeded him as rabbi of Posen. In the following year he was called to the rabbinate of Fürth. In 1779 he interdicted Moses Mendelssohn's German translation of the Pentateuch. Salomon Maimon, in his "Lebensgeschichte" (pp 280 et seq.), highly praises Hirsch Janow for his benevolence.
Bibliography:
- Grätz, Gesch. xi. 44, 586-587.
