JOSEPH BEN URI SHERAGA:
Russian liturgist of the seventeenth century; born in Kobrin, government of Grodno. He was the author of "Ma'arakah Ḥadashah" (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1699), containing three seliḥot in commemoration of the persecutions of the Jews of Kaidan and Zausmer in 1698. The first, beginning "Alluf baṭuaḥ," is unique in that not only are the verses arranged in alphabetical order, but each verse begins with the name of the corresponding letter. This seliḥah is provided with a commentary written by the author himself.
Bibliography:
- Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 181;
- Steinschneider, Jewish Literature, p. 256;
- Zunz, Literaturgesch. p. 442.
