Solomon Aaron Wertheimer
Rabbi Solomon Aaron Wertheimer, was a Hungarian rabbi, scholar, and seller of rare books.
Life
He was born in Bösing in 1866. In 1871 he went with his parents to Jerusalem, where he was educated. By 1890, he was residing in Cairo, Egypt, where he made a living as a rare bookseller and a collector and seller of Cairo Genizah documents. According to Arabist S.D. Goitein, he also published papers on them, but "in a somewhat unscientific way." For five years starting in 1893, he tried to sell the British Library Geniza documents for pennies on the dollar, but many were declined.He is best known for his midrashic scholarship, his work is one of the two standard midrash compilations from the period.
He died in Jerusalem in 1935.
Publications
- Ebel Mosheh, sermon delivered on the death of Sir Moses Montefiore
- Ḥiddushe Rabbi Nissim Pirḳe Hekalot and Ẓawwa'at Naftali Darke shel Torah, guide to the theory of the Talmud and to the fundamental principles of the Halakah and HaggadahḤatam Sofer, Talmudic studies, with notes; Batte Midrashot, a collection of short midrashim from manuscripts, with glosses, notes, and introductionGinze Yerushalayim, a collection of scientific, literary, and poetic treatises, from rare manuscripts, with notes and introductionMidrash Ḥaserot wi-Yeterot, from the Parma manuscript, collated with three Egyptian manuscriptsLeshon Ḥasidim, notes and introduction to the Sefer ḤasidimḲohelet Shelomoh, a collection of geonic responsa, with notes and introduction, and with Hebrew translations of the Arabic responsa 'Abodat Ḥaleb, a commentary on the Jewish prayers; and Leket Midrashim.
- פירוש נביאים וכתובים לרבינו ישעיהו הראשון מטראני, the first printed edition of Isaiah di Trani the Younger's commentary to Hebrew Bible#Nach.