Yitzhak Salkinsohn

Who was Yitzhak Salkinsohn?

Isaac Edward Salkinsohn, was a Jew who converted to Christianity, and lived during the Jewish Enlightenment. He was famous as a translator into Hebrew. He was noted for his loyalty to the original text, while preserving the spirit of the Hebrew language, which he characterized as a biblical and liturgical language.

Salkinsohn was born as a Jew in the town of Shkloŭ, in Belarus, in 1820. His father was a scholar, well known throughout the area, even though he was not a rabbi. When Salkinsohn was still a small child, his mother died and his father remarried. Salkinsohn, who was the youngest of his mother’s children, suffered greatly under his new stepmother, but was very close with his father. At the age of 17, he left his father and decided to run away to Mahilyow. After news of an impending army conscription he moved to a nearby village, in the house of the barkeeper. In the village he became friendly with the hazzan and helped him deal with religious issues. While there, an interest in secular studies and general enlightenment was kindled in Salkinsohn. Meanwhile, the barkeeper planned to marry his granddaughter to Salkinsohn. When Salkinsohn learned of this, he revealed it to the hazzan, who helped him sneak away and get to Vilnius, then called Vilna.