TEOMIM, ARYEH LEIB

TEOMIM, ARYEH LEIB (d. 1831), Galician rabbi and author. In his youth Teomim became famous as a prodigy and while still very young was chosen rabbi of Lyzhansk (Lezajsk) in Galicia. Despite his youth he vigorously opposed Ḥasidism which began to spread in Galicia, with its center at Lyzhansk, headed by *Elimelech of Lyzhansk, author of No'am Elimelekh. However, he did not remain there long. After the death of his wife, he married the daughter of Samuel Bick, at that time one of the wealthiest men of Galicia. Teomim moved to Brody, where he occupied no official rabbinic position. In 1815 he was appointed rabbi of the town and, being a man of wealth and property, conducted his rabbinate with great firmness, without fear of the wealthy lay leaders. When in 1818 the grammar school in Brody was established under orders from the emperor of Austria, Teomim was among those who welcomed it, since "the Torah has to be combined with general knowledge." The Ḥasidim were vigorously opposed to this school. In 1827 he became ill and as a result was unable to carry out his rabbinic functions. The community appointed Eliezer Landau as its rabbi, but out of fear of angering Teomim did not inform him. However, the latter died during Teomim's lifetime. According to the tradition in Brody, Teomim saw a large funeral passing by his house. He asked the maid: "Whose funeral is it?" She innocently replied, "The rabbi of the city." Sorely hurt, his condition deteriorated, and he died two months later. He was the author of commentaries on the Torah, Esther, Ruth, and the Passover Haggadah; Ayyelet Ahavim, novellae on talmudic tractates, and Ya'alat Ḥen were both published in Zolkiew in 1802.

bibliography:

Y.A. Kamelhar, Dor De'ah, 2 (1963²), 159–61; N.M. Gelber, Toledot Yehudei Brody (= Arim ve-Immahot be-Yisrael, vol. 6, 1955), index.

[Itzhak Alfassi]