Abraham Lichtstein

Who is Abraham Lichtstein?

Abraham Lichtstein was a Polish rabbi and Talmudist. He served as the Av Beis Din of Przasnysz, Poland and authored a commentary on the Pentateuch entitled Kanfei Nesharim.

Lichtstein was born in Białystok at the end of the eighteenth century. He was the son of Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Lichtstein and grandson of Rabbi Kalman of Białystok.

His major work, Kanfei Nesharim, was published in Warsaw in 1881. The sefer is divided into several parts, each with a separate name:

⁕Kiryat Sefer, an introduction to each book of the Pentateuch

⁕To'aliyyot ha-Ralbag, a treatment of the doctrines deduced by Gersonides from passages of the Torah

⁕Abach Soferim, miscellanea

⁕Machazeh Abraham, consisting of sermons on each section of the Torah

⁕Ner Mitzvah, a treatment of the number of the precepts according to Maimonides

⁕Shiyyure Miẓwah, a treatment of the additional precepts according to Nahmanides, Moses ben Jacob of Coucy, and Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil

⁕Milchemet Mitzvah, on the disputes among various authorities concerning the numbering of the precepts by Maimonides

⁕Torat ha-Ḳorbanot, on the Levitical laws of offerings and on the order of the High Priest's service in the Sanctuary on Yom Kippur