Hirsch Janow

Who was Hirsch Janow?

Hirsch Janow was a Polish rabbi, who, on account of his great keenness in Talmudical discussions, was commonly called "Hirsch Ḥarif". When in 1776 his father-in-law, Raphael Kohn, was elected rabbi of the 3 congregations Hamburg, Altona, and Wandsbeck, he succeeded him as rabbi of Posen. In the following year he was called to the rabbinate of Fürth. In 1779 he interdicted Moses Mendelssohn's German translation of the Pentateuch. Salomon Maimon, in his Lebensgeschichte, highly praises Hirsch Janow for his benevolence. He died at Fürth, Bavaria, on Nov. 13, 1785.