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Friedberg, Abraham Shalom ("har Shalom")

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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Friedberg, Bernard

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Russian Hebraist; born at Grodno Nov. 6, 1838; died in Warsaw March 21, 1902. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to a watchmaker; three years later he went to Brest-Litovsk, and afterward to southern Russia, spending two years in Kishinef. On returning to Grodno in 1858 he acquired a knowledge of German and Russian, and became a teacher in wealthy families. Later he engaged in business, but was financially ruined in 1881-82. He then devoted himself exclusively to literary work. In 1883 he became associate editor of "Ha-Meliẓ" in St. Petersburg; in 1886 he accepted a similar position on "Ha-Ẓefirah," and settled in Warsaw; in 1888 he became editor of "Ha-Eshkol," a Hebrew encyclopedia, of which only a few instalments appeared. In the same year he became government censor of Hebrew books in Warsaw, which position he retained until 1891.

Friedberg's first Hebrew work was "'Emeḳ ha-Arazim" (Warsaw, 1875; 2d ed., ib. 1893), an adaptation of Grace Aguilar's "Vale of Cedars." His "Rab le-Hoshia'" (Warsaw, 1886), which was first published in "Ha-Ẓefirah," is a translation of Sammter's "Rabbi von Liegnitz." In the year-book "Keneset Yisrael" for 1886 appeared his "'Ir u-Behalot," a translation of L. Lewanda's humorous story "Gnev i Milost Magnata"; and in the "Ha-Asif" of the same year his translations of three short stories by Daudet, Turgenef, and D. Levy respectively. His "Ḳorot ha-Yehudim bi-Sefarad" (Warsaw, 1893) is a history of the Jews in Spain, compiled after Grätz, Kayserling, and other authorities. His "Zikronot le-bet Dawid" (3 vols., ib. 1893-95) is an adaptation of Rekkendorf's "Geheimnisse der Juden." His last work was "Ha-Torah weha-Ḥayyim," a translation of Güdemann's "Geschichte des Erziehungswesen," with notes, additions, and a preface (3 vols., ib. 1896-99). He also wrote a pamphlet of memoirs, and an interesting article onhis experiences with J. L. Gordon and Zederbaum in St. Petersburg, besides numerous articles, feuilletons, and translations.