Mordecai ben David Strelisker (Hebrew: מרדכי בן־דוד סטרעליסקער; 8 November 1806 – 15 October 1875),[1] also known by the acronym Marvad Sat (מרב״ד ס״ט), was a Romanian Maskilic writer, poet, and ḥazzan. He served as cantor in the synagogue of Mihăileni.

Mordecai Strelisker
Born(1806-11-08)8 November 1806
Brody, Galicia, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Died15 October 1875(1875-10-15) (aged 68)
Mihăileni, Romania
Resting placeMihăileni Jewish Cemetery[1]
Pen nameMarvad Sat
LanguageHebrew
Literary movementHaskalah

Biography

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Strelisker was born in Brody, Galicia, in 1806, the son of David and Feyge Strelisker. His paternal grandfather was from the Galician town of Strelisk.[1] He spent his youth in his native town, where he acquired a knowledge of Hebrew literature under the instruction of Isaac Erter and Nachman Krochmal.[2][3]

Strelisker's most important literary contributions are twelve essays in volumes 8–11 of Bikkure ha-Ittim. He also carried on a literary correspondence with Judah Jeitteles in Kerem Ḥemed [he] (ii. 183).[4] His other published works include Zakat shever, a lamentation on the death of Zalman Margulies; Ta'aniyat yeshurun, an elegy on the death of Emperor Francis I of Austria, sung during a mourning ceremony held in the old Brody synagogue; Zekher 'olam, a biography and an elegy of his father; and Shirah la-kohen (reprinted from Ha-Maggid, 1860), on the occasion of the seventieth birthday of J. S. Rappaport.[5]

He was also an activist of the Alliance Israélite Universelle,[6] and advocated for rationalism in Judaism, modern Jewish education, and the emancipation of Romanian Jewry.[7]

He died in Mihăileni during Sukkot in October 1875.[8][9]

Publications

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  • Zakat shever [A Cry of Destruction]. Vienna. 1829.
  • Ta'aniyat yeshurun [Cries of Jeshurun]. Zolkiev. 1835.
  • Kos ha-tar'elah [A Cup of Poison]. Zolkiev: Saul Meyerhoffer. 1835.
  • Ha-serefah [The Fire]. Zolkiev: Saul Meyerhoffer. 1835.
  • Zekher 'olam [Eternal Memory]. Lemberg: Joseph Schnayder. 1849.
  • Shirah la-kohen [Poem to a Cohen]. 1860.
  • Todah u-berakhah [Thanks and Blessing]. Czernowitz: Rudolf Eckhardt. 1868.
  • Shnei ha-me'orot ha-gedolim [The Two Great Lights]. Lemberg: Mikhl Volf. 1870.

References

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  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainJacobs, Joseph; Ochser, Schulim (1905). "Strelisker, Mordecai ben David". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 568.

  1. ^ a b c Herșcovici, Lucian-Zeev (1993). "Mordekhay Strelisker: Sofer Ivri mi-Mikhaylen". In David, Shlomo (ed.). Dorot shel yahadut ve-tsiyonut: Dorohoy, Saven, Mikhaylen, Daraban, Hertza, Radautz-Prut [Generations of Judaism and Zionism in Dorohoi, Săveni, Mihăileni, Darabani, Herța, Rădăuți-Prut] (in Hebrew). Vol. 2. Kiryat Bialik: Irgun yotz'e Dorohoi veha-sviva be-Yisra'el. pp. 157–160.
  2. ^   Jacobs, Joseph; Ochser, Schulim (1905). "Strelisker, Mordecai ben David". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 568.
  3. ^ Kressel, Getzel (2007). "Strelisker, Marcus". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
  4. ^ Steinschneider, Moritz (1852–1860). "Strelisker (Mardochai b. David)". Catalogus Librorum Hebræorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana (in Latin). Berlin: A. Friedlaender. p. 2662.
  5. ^ Fürst, Julius (1863). Bibliotheca Judaica: Bibliographisches Handbuch der gesammten jüdischen Literatur (in German). Vol. 3. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann. p. 393.
  6. ^ Herșcovici, Lucian-Zeev (2018). "The Maskilim of Romania and the Question of Identity: 'The Romanian Israelites'". Annals of the University of Bucharest. Political science series. 1: 5–26.
  7. ^ Herșcovici, Lucian-Zeev (2015). "Mordekhay ben David Strelisker ('Marvad Sat', 1808–1875): moderate maskil, fighter for the modernization of the Romanian Jews, and for their Emancipation". Studia et Acta Historiae Iudaeorum Romaniae. 12: 101–137.
  8. ^ Toybish, Aizik (9 November 1875). "Evel yaḥid". Ha-Tsfira (in Hebrew). 2 (43). Warsaw: 343.
  9. ^ Werber, Baruch, ed. (29 October 1875). "איטצקאני". Ivri Anokhi (in Hebrew). 12 (3): 15.