Solomon Pappenheim

Solomon Pappenheim (Hebrew: שלמה בן זליגמן פפנהיים, German: Salomon Pappenheim; 2 February 1740 – 4 or 5 March 1814), also known by the acronym Rashap (Hebrew: רש״פ), was a German Maskil, linguist, and poet. He is best known for his three-part study of Hebrew synonyms entitled Yeri'ot Shelomoh.^[3][4]

Solomon Pappenheim was born into a rabbinic family in Zülz, Silesia, the son of dayan Seligmann Pappenheim.^[5] He received a traditional education, and served as rabbi of the Jewish community in Lublinitz before himself becoming dayan at Breslau.^[6]

He died in Breslau at the age of 74. On his gravestone was inscribed in Hebrew Ein zeh kever ach aron kodesh ('This is not a grave but a Holy Ark').^[7]

Pappenheim composed a satire against Jonathan Eybeschutz entitled Elonei memre ve-kiryat arba (1761) amid the dispute between the latter and Jacob Emden.^[5] During the controversy on the subject of early burial^[8] he wrote several works in German favoring the practise among Jews: Die frühe Beerdigung bei den Juden (1795), Die Nothwendigkeit der frühen Beerdigung (1797), and Deduction Seiner Apologie für die frühe Beerdigung (1798).^[9] Against David Friedländer's views he wrote Freymüthige Erklärung über die erst jüngst rege gewordene Kritik des Gottesdienstes der Juden und deren Erziehung der Jugend (1813),^[10] in which he holds up to his nation various abuses within and without the Synagogue, declaring the need for "a convention of sensible rabbis for the purpose of remedying these abuses."^[11]

Pappenheim is especially known for his book on Hebrew synonyms and the philosophy of space and time, which appeared in three parts under the title Yeri'ot Shelomoh.^[12] The first and third were published in Dyhernfurth in 1784 and 1811, respectively, while the second was published posthumously in Rödelheim in 1831.^[11] A fourth part remained unprinted.^[13]

After losing his wife and three children in a short time, he wrote his Aggadat arba kosot, an imitation of Edward Young's Night-Thoughts in poetic prose (Berlin, 1790; Zolkiev, 1805; Vienna, 1809; with additions by M. Lemans, Amsterdam, 1817).^[14][15] The melancholic reflection on death and immortality survived many editions, and was translated into German by I. Wilheimer.^[10] It would go on to influence the poetry of Avraham Dov Ber and Micah Joseph Lebensohn.^[16]

Pappenheim's philosophical treatises include Beiträge zur Berichtigung der Beweise vom Dasein Gottes aus der Reinen Vernunft (1794) and Abermaliger Versuch über den Ontologischen Beweis vom Dasein Gottes (1800).^[12] Of his Hebrew lexicon Ḥeshek Shelomoh only one number, on the particles, appeared (1802).^[17] Ge'ullat Mitzrayim; Über die Erlösung aus Aegypten als Grundstein des Gesetzes was printed after his death by Hirsch Sachs (1815).^[9]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; Kayserling, Meyer (1905). "Pappenheim, Solomon". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 512.