Moses Margolies

Moses MargoliesorMoshe ben Shimon Margalit(Hebrew:משה מרגלית;c. 1710 inKėdainiai,Lithuania– 1781 inBrody,then a private town of the Polish Crown) was aLithuanian Jewishrabbi and a commentator on theJerusalem Talmud.

Works

Margolies is best known as the author of a dual commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, which is printed in the standardVilnaandSzatmáreditions of the text. His general glosses, which he called by the name ofPnei Moshe(the face of Moses), was intended to make the often choppy text of the Jerusalem Talmud easier to read. His second commentary, which he calledMareh Panim(showing of face), is meant to take up more complex legal issues and often surveys theBabylonian Talmudand the corpus of post-Talmudic law and commentary as well. This format of two commentaries, simple and complex, was meant to mimic theRashiandTosafotcommentaries on theBabylonian Talmud.This style became popular among commentators on the Jerusalem Talmud and is used by Margolies' contemporary, RabbiDavid Fränkelas well as by RabbiJacob David Wilovsky,among others.