author
Isaac Samuel Reggio
1784–1855
A leading voice of the Jewish Enlightenment in Italy, this Austro-Italian rabbi and scholar worked to bring traditional learning into conversation with modern education. His writings on the Bible, language, and Jewish thought made him an important figure in 19th-century Hebrew culture.
1 Audiobook
A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish Youth
by Isaac Samuel Reggio
About the author
Born in Gorizia on August 15, 1784, Isaac Samuel Reggio was an Austro-Italian scholar and rabbi often known by the Hebrew acronym YaShaR. He studied Hebrew and rabbinics with his father, Abraham Vita Reggio, while also receiving a broad secular education that included languages and science.
Reggio became one of the notable Italian figures of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment. He argued that Jewish tradition and modern learning could strengthen one another rather than conflict, and he wrote widely on the Hebrew Bible, grammar, philosophy, and education. Among his better-known works are an Italian translation of the Pentateuch with Hebrew commentary and essays defending the religious and intellectual value of biblical study.
He was also associated with the founding of the rabbinical seminary in Padua, reflecting his commitment to a more open and scholarly model of Jewish education. Reggio died in Gorizia on August 29, 1855, but his work continued to matter for readers interested in the meeting point of faith, language, and modern Jewish thought.