Samson ben Pesah Ostropoli

Who was Samson ben Pesah Ostropoli?

Samson ben Pesah Ostropoli, was a Polish rabbi from Ostropol who was martyred at Polonnoye, Volhynia, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. When the Cossacks laid siege to Polonnoye, Samson, with 300 of his followers, arrayed in their shrouds and praying-shawls, went to the synagogue, and stood there praying until the enemy came and butchered them all.

Ostropoli was a noted kabalist. He was the author of a commentary on the kabalistic work Ḳarnayim. According to the author of Yewen Meẓulah, he wrote also a commentary on the Zohar, titled Machane Dan, in conformity with the cabalistic system of Luria, but this work has not been preserved. Other works of his are:

Dine we-Hanhagot ha-Adam, a collection of cabalistic liturgical regulations from the works of Ostropoli and other cabalists

Sefer Liḳḳuṭim, cabalistic exegetics and elucidations of many passages in the Zohar and other works

Nifla'ot Ḥadashot, elucidations of the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot, and homiletics