Isaac Baer Levinsohn

Isaac Baer Levinsohn (Hebrew: יצחק בר לוינזון), born Kremenetz, October 13, 1788; died there, February 12, 1860, was a notable Russian-Hebrew scholar, satirist, writer and Haskalah leader. He was called "the Russian Mendelssohn". In his Bet Yehudah (1837), he formulated a philosophy and described Jewish contributions to civilization in an effort to promote Judeo-Christian understanding.

His father, Judah Levin, was a grandson of Jekuthiel Solomon, who settled in Kremenetz and acquired considerable wealth, and a son of Isaac, who had married the daughter of Zalman Cohen, famed for his wealth and scholarship. Levinsohn's father was a wealthy merchant and was popular among Jews and Gentiles alike. He was a master of Polish, wrote fluently in classical Hebrew (at that time a rare accomplishment), and was a thorough Talmudic scholar. At the age of three Levinsohn was sent to the ḥeder, where he soon manifested unusual aptitude for learning; and at nine he composed a cabalistic work that elicited the praise of scholars and rabbis ("Bet Yehudah," ii. 126, note 2). At ten he was versed in Talmudic lore, and knew the Old Testament by heart. He also studied and mastered the Russian language, an unusual achievement for a Russian Jew of that time. Thanks to his great mental power and industry, he rapidly familiarized himself with the rabbinical literature. At eighteen he married and settled in Radzivilov, supporting himself by teaching and translating; his married life, however, was unhappy, and he divorced his wife.