Reuvein Margolies

Reuben Margolies (Hebrew: ראובן מרגליות; November 30, 1889 – August 28, 1971) was an Israeli author, Talmudic scholar and head of the Rambam library.

Early life Margolies was born in 1889 in Lemberg (now Lviv), then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and now in Ukraine and from 1918 to 1940 in Poland. After the passing of his wife, he emigrated to Israel in 1934, settling in Tel Aviv.

Writings Margolies authored over 55 books on Jewish topics. He possessed a photographic memory, and was well versed in all aspects of both the written Bible, Oral Torah (Talmud and its commentaries) and Kabbalah (Zohar etc.). He established the Rambam library.

He wrote on a wide range of subjects, including on the Kabbalah.

He was also involved in a controversy with Gershon Scholem over the Jacob Emden/ Jonathan Eybeshuetz controversy.

He wrote a number of scholarly biographies of major Jewish personalities such as Maharsha, Ohr Ha-Chaim Hakodosh, Moses ben Nachman (Ramban), and Yechiel of Paris.

Awards In 1957, Margolies was awarded the Israel Prize for his work on Rabbinical literature.