Samuel Abraham Poznański or Shemuel Avraham Poznanski ( , Lubraniec

Lubraniec

Lubraniec is a town in Włocławek County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,235 inhabitants ....

, 3 September 1864–1921) was a Polish Reform rabbi and scholar, known for his studies of Karaism and the Hebrew calendar

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...

. Arabist

Arabist

This is an article about the western scholars known as Arabists, not the political movement Pan-Arabism.An Arabist is someone normally from outside the Arab World who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, and often Arabic literature.-Origins:Arabists began in medieval...

, Hebrew bibliographer

Bibliographer

"A bibliographer is a person who describes and lists books and other publications, with particular attention to such characteristics as authorship, publication date, edition, typography, etc. The result of this endeavor is a bibliography...

, and authority on modern Karaism; rabbi and preacher at the Great Synagogue in Warsaw

Great Synagogue, Warsaw

The Great Synagogue of Warsaw was the largest synagogue of pre-war Warsaw and one of the largest in the world at the time.-History:The Great Synagogue was built by the Warsaw's Jewish community between 1875 and 1878 at Tłomackie street, in the south-eastern tip of the district in which the Jews...

He graduated from the gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 of Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 and studied at Warsaw University and the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. At that time he formed an intimate friendship with his teacher Moritz Steinschneider

Moritz Steinschneider

Moritz Steinschneider was a Bohemian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider , who was not only an expert Talmudist, but was also well versed in secular science...

, for whose eightieth birthday in 1896 he edited the Festschrift

Festschrift

In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...

.

He was appointed a member of the Warsaw council of rabbis by a committee of the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street, Warsaw just before his death where he preached. Orthodox Jews opposed his appointment and even resorted to street demonstrations. He was succeeded at the Great Synagogue by Moses Schorr

Moses Schorr

Moses Schorr, Polish: Mojżesz Schorr was a Rabbi, Polish historian, politician, Bible scholar, assyriologist and orientalist. Schorr was one of the top experts on the history of the Jews in Poland. He was the first Jewish researcher of Polish archives, historical sources, and pinkasim...

 in 1923.

He was an ardent Zionist, and a delegate to the First Zionist Congress

First Zionist Congress

The First Zionist Congress was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization held in Basel , Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897. It was convened and chaired by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement...

.

Writings

Poznanski is the author of the following works:

• "Eine Hebräische Grammatik des Dreizehnten Jahr-hunderts" (Berlin, 1894);
• "Mose b. Samuel ha-Kohen ibn Chiquitilla Nebst den Fragmenten Seiner Schriften" (Leipsic, 1895); *"Isak b. Elasar ha-Levis Einleitung zu Seinem Sephath Jether" (Breslau, 1895);
• "Aboul Faradj Haroun ben al-Faradj le Grammairien de Jürusalem et Son Mouschtamil" (Paris, 1896); * "Die Girgisani-Handschriften im British Museum" (Berlin, 1896);
• "Karaite Miscellanies" (London, 1896);
• "Mesroi al Okbari, Chef d'une Secte Juive du Neuvième Siècle" (Paris, 1896);
• "The Anti-Karaite Writings of Saadjah Gaon" (London, 1897);
• "Jacob ben Ephraim, ein Anti-Karäischer Polemiker des Zehnten Jahrhunderts" (Breslau, 1900, in "Kaufmann Gedenkbuch");
• "Perush R. Sa'adya Gaon le-Dani'el" (Berdychev, 1900);
• "Tanhoum Yeruschalmi et Son Commentaire sur le Livre de Jonas" (Paris, 1900); "Miscellen über Saadja III.: Die Beschreibung des Erlösungs-Jahres in Emunoth we-Deoth ch. 8" (Breslau, 1901);
• "Tehillah le-Dawid" (Kaufmann) in Hebrew (Warsaw, 1902);
• "Le Commentaire sur le Livre d'Osée par Eliezer (ou Eléazar) de Beaugency" (Berdychev, 1902);
• "Anan et Ses Ecrits" (Paris, 1902);
• "Der Arabische Kommentar zum Buche Josua von Abû Zakarjâ Jahjâ Ibn Bal'am" (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1903);
• "Ephrajim ben Schemarja de Fostât et l'Académie Palestinienne" (Paris, 1904);
• "Schechters Saadyana" (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1904);
• "Fragments de l'Exegèse Biblique de Menahem bar Chelbo" (Warsaw, 1904);
• "Ibn Hazm über Jüdische Sekten" (London, 1904).

He has contributed also numerous articles to the "Monatsschrift," Stade's "Zeitschrift," "Ha-Goren" (Berdychev), "Ha-Ẓefirah" (Warsaw), "Revue des Etudes Juives," and the "Jewish Quarterly Review

Jewish Quarterly Review

The Jewish Quarterly Review is an peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on Jewish studies. It is published quarterly for the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania by the University of Pennsylvania Press. The current editors are Elliott Horowitz...

".

External links

• The entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia was written by Herman Rosenthal
  Herman Rosenthal
  Herman Rosenthal was an American author, editor, and librarian.-Biography:Rosenthal was born in Friedrichstadt , Courland. He was educated at Bauske and Jakobstadt , graduating in 1859. In that year he translated into German several of Nekrasov's poems...
  
   and Alexander Kisch.
• Important Persons in Karaim History
• Solomon Schechter
  Solomon Schechter
  Solomon Schechter was a Moldavian-born Romanian and English rabbi, academic scholar, and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of the American Conservative Jewish...
  
  . Letters to Samuel Poznanski (in Hebrew, 1943).