Morris Jastrow

Marcus Jastrow (June 5, 1829 – October 13, 1903) was a Prussian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, lexicographer, and renowned Talmudic scholar. Jastrow was born in Rogasen in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. After receiving his semikhah (rabbinical ordination), Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt.), he became the rabbi of the then-Orthodox Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1866 at the age of thirty-seven. In 1886, he began publishing his magnum opus, the popular and comprehensive Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushlami, and Midrashic Literature, in pamphlet form (1886–1903). It was finally completed and published in two-volume form in 1903, and has since become a popular resource for students of the Talmud. In the preface to this masterpiece, Jastrow sharply criticized those linguists and etymological scholars who claimed that obscure terms in Talmudic literature are primarily derived from Koine Greek. Jastrow held that Greek influence on Jewish Babylonian Aramaic was minimal, and that most obscure terms could be much more simply traced to Hebrew origins. Jastrow was also responsible for most Talmud-related articles in The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).