GOITEIN, BARUCH (BENEDIT):

Hungarian rabbi; died at Hö;gyész, Hungary, Nov. 16, 1842. He occupied the rabbinate of Högyész for many years, and wrote a work on Talmudic methodology under the title of "Kesef Nibḥar" (Prague, 1827-28, and republished several times). It contains 160 principles of rabbinical law, giving the sources as found in the Talmud and their application to practical cases. The work is of great value because of its lucid presentation of an intricate subject. Goitein retired in 1841, and was succeeded in the rabbinate of Högyész by his son Hermann (Hirsch) Goitein (b. 1805; d. 1860), who was himself succeeded by his son Elijahu Menahem (b. 1837 in Högyész; d. Sept. 25, 1902). Of the latter's sons one, Hirsch (b. 1863; d. Aug. 28, 1903), was rabbi at Copenhagen; another, Eduard, is rabbi at Burgkunstadt, Bavaria. Hirsch is the author of "Optimismus und Pessimismus in der J¨dischen Religionsphilosophie." Eduard wrote "Das Vergeltungsprincip im Biblischen und Talmudischen Strafrecht" (1893).

Bibliography:
  • Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Litteratur, iii. 759;
  • Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. p. 775;
  • Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1859, pp. 506-507.
D. A. R.
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