WEINGARTEN, JOAB JOSHUA

WEINGARTEN, JOAB JOSHUA (1847–1922), Polish rabbi. Regarded by Abraham Bornstein of Suchaczew as his most brilliant pupil, he and his teacher exchanged numerous responsa. Weingarten had strong leanings toward Ḥasidism; from 1880 he was rabbi in several Polish cities and finally in Konskie, being thereafter known as "the Rabbi of Konskie." He was considered one of the greatest halakhic authorities in Poland, and many Polish rabbis addressed halakhic questions to him, but in his replies, contrary to the usual practice, he does not mention the name of his correspondents. His replies were always brief and to the point; he justified this brevity by stating that his decisions might not be regarded as the final halakhah. He was the author of Ḥelkat Yo'av on the four parts of the Shulḥan Arukh (2 pts., 1903–05). A second, revised, edition, with a supplement containing his glosses to the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, was published in Jerusalem in 1950. In this work he disagreed, at times in disparaging terms, with the views of several accepted halakhic authorities, charging them in the introduction with being ignorant of the stylistic features of Hebrew. His work became a classic among Polish scholars, among whom his novellae circulated. In the appendix to the work, entitled Kabba de-Kashyata, he lists 103 insoluble problems (the numerical value of kabba (קבא) being 103). His son Meir, who succeeded him as rabbi of Konskie, was killed by the Nazis.

bibliography:

J.J. Weingarten, Ḥelkat Yo'av (1950²), introd.

[Itzhak Alfassi]