Jacob Solomon Olschwang

Jacob Solomon Olschwang, also known by the acronym Yashbiel, was a Russian writer and Hebraist.

Biography

Jacob Solomon Levin was born to a notable Ḥasidic family in Kokhanovo, Mogilev, a descendant of David Conforte. He received a thorough Jewish education, and studied Talmud and Halakha, the Zohar and various other Kabbalistic works. He then went to Kovno, where he studied at the yeshiva of Navyazki. In 1862 he settled in Friedrichstadt, Courland, where he joined the circle of the Maskilim and in a short time was able to write Hebrew well. He changed his family name to Olschwang when he moved to Kremenchuk in 1866.
He contributed numerous articles to Ha-Melitz, Ha-Shaḥar, Ha-Boḳer Or, and other Hebrew periodicals. Among Olschwang's writings are "Avot de-Kartina" and "Haggadah shel Pesaḥ", both satirical sketches of Jewish life in Russia.
Olschwang maintained a correspondence with most of the Russian Maskilim of his time, especially with, Lillienblum, Zederbaum, Schulman, Dobsevage, and.