REGGIO, ISACCO SAMUEL

REGGIO, ISACCO SAMUEL (Ia-Sha-R ; 1784–1855), Italian rabbi; one of the founders of the *Collegio Rabbinico Italiano. He published an Italian translation of the Pentateuch, with a Hebrew commentary (Vienna, 1821), and wrote Ma'amar Torah min ha-Shamayim ("The Torah as Divinely Revealed," Vienna, 1818) to prove the divine authority of the Pentateuch. Among his other biblical works are a poetic version in Italian of the Book of Isaiah (Udine, 1831); a Hebrew introduction to the Scroll of Esther (Vienna, 1841); and Italian translations of the books of Joshua, Ruth, and Lamentations, and of Pirkei Avot. In Ha-Torah ve-ha-Filosfyah (Vienna, 1827), written under the influence of Mendelssohn, Reggio tried to show that reason and philosophy were compatible with the Torah. His Iggerot Yashar (1834–36) are exegetic, historical, and philosophical notes in the form of letters to friends. He also edited some of the writings of Leone di Modena and wrote Beḥinat ha-Kabbalah (Gorizia, 1852). Reggio published other works on Kabbalah and philosophy in Bikkurei ha-Ittim ha-Ḥadashim under the pseudonym Iashar. His autobiography, Mazkeret Yashar, appeared in Vienna (1849). His Hebrew correspondence with S.D. *Luzzatto was collected by V. Castiglione (1902); it shows their mutual esteem and friendship. Reggio also wrote some halakhic and pedagogical works, one of which appeared in English: A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish Youth (London, 1855). His views on Judaism did not always conform to tradition and led to polemics with German rabbis as well as his own father, Abraham *Reggio.

bibliography:

E.S. Artom, in: Settimana Israelitica, 2 (1911), 1, 2–2; Milano, Bibl, 194; Milano, Italia, index; O. Lattes, in: rmi, 30 (1964), 107–12; I. Colombo, ibid., 32 (1966), 130; 35 (1969), 270.

[Alfredo Mordechai Rabello]