Isaiah ben Judah Loeb Berlin

Isaiah ben Judah Loeb Berlin (born October 1725, Eisenstadt, Hungary [now in Austria]—died May 13, 1799, Breslau, Silesia, Prussia [now Wrocław, Pol.]) was a Jewish scholar noted for his textual commentaries on the Talmud and other writings.

The son of a well-known Talmudic scholar, he moved to Berlin as a youth and was educated by his father and at the yeshiva of another eminent rabbi. Berlin became a member of the rabbinate late in life (1787), and in 1793 he was elected rabbi of Breslau, in which post he tried to conciliate the various opposing factions in the local Jewish community.

Berlin’s writings are distinguished for their critical and historical insight. Among his works are commentaries, notes, and glosses on many early works of Jewish scholarship. His commentary on the Talmud entitled Masoret ha-Shas (“Talmud Tradition”) supplements an earlier work by a Frankfort rabbi and is the best known of Berlin’s numerous collated texts (noting variant readings and parallel passages).