JOLLES, ZECHARIAH ISAIAH B. MORDECAI:

Rabbinical scholar and author; born at Lemberg about 1814; died at Minsk, Russia, May 14, 1852. In 1834, after having married the daughter of Jacob Dokshitzer, one of the wealthiest Jews of Minsk, he settled in that city. Jolles sympathized with the Haskalah or progressive movement, and is said to have sided with Lilienthal when the latter visited Minsk in 1844 for the purpose of inducing the Jews to establish schools in accordance with the governmental program.

Jolles' published works are: "Dober Mesharim" (Lemberg, 1831), on the emendations of the Talmudical text by Mordecai Jaffe, surnamed "Lebush"; "'Et le-Dabber" (ib. 1834), an epistle to candidates for the rabbinate, in which various phases of contemporary Jewish life are discussed in the spirit then prevailing among the progressists; "Zeker Yeshayahu" (Wilna, 1882), novellæ on the code of Maimonides, and responsa, published posthumously by his son Süssman Jolles. He is said to have written more than twenty-five other works on rabbinical and scientific subjects. It is understood that R. Akiba Eger's responsum No. 176 is addressed to Jolles.

Bibliography:
  • Eisenstadt, Rabbane Minsk wa-Ḥakameha, pp. 29-30, 46, Wilna, 1898;
  • Zeitlin, Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 161.
K. P. Wi.
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