Abraham Baer Dobsewitch
Abraham Baer ben Joseph Ezra Dobsewitch was a Russian Hebraist and exegete.
Life
At the age of thirteen Dobsewitch had written a commentary to the Song of Songs. In 1861 he went to Yekaterinoslav, where he settled as a teacher of Hebrew and contributed to various Hebrew periodicals. In 1874 he removed to Kiev, where he became a private tutor to the sons of Brodski and of other wealthy families. He went to the United States in 1891, and lived in New York City, leaving it only for a short time in 1895.Dobsewitch's chief published work is Ha-Meẓaref, a collection of rationalistic interpretations of various passages of the Aggadah. Dobsewitch's two later works, Be-Ḥada Maḥeta, a collection of articles, and Lo Dubbim we-lo Ya'ar, as well as numerous articles in Hebrew periodicals, are devoted to criticisms directed against Shatzkes, Weissberg, and others. He continued his literary activity in the United States, and contributed to Ha-'Ibri, Ner ha-Ma'arabi, and various Yiddish publications. Some of his correspondence was published in Ha-Modi'a le-Ḥadashim, i., New York, 1900.
Dobsewitch left several works in manuscript, including one on the Masorah, one on the Samaritan text of the Pentateuch, and one on the wit and humor of ancient Jewish literature. Short extracts from the last-named work were published in the United States.