1795

Joseph Lerner (Triesch, Moravia, 1761 – Pest, 1836) served for forty years as the rabbi of Lichtenstadt and its surrounding communities in Bohemia. Towards the end of his life, he moved to Pest, where he lived with his son, Ignác, a grain merchant. In the tradition of rabbinic literature, he published his father-in-law Rabbi Benjamin Wolf Reicheles’ commentary on the Torah, along with his own commentary. The resulting book, written in Hebrew and printed in Prague in 1795, stands as a legacy to Lerner’s intellectual heritage. Part one, by his father-in-law, is titled Divreh ha taanugim (The Words of Delight). Part two, by Lerner, is Oneg nefesh (Pleasure of the Soul). The volume was donated to Lerner’s great-great-grandson Bernát Munkácsi in 1904 by Vilmos Krausz, Rabbi of Debrecen.