Yisroel ben Shmuel Ashkenazi of Shklov (ca. 1770–May 22, 1839) was a Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ist, one of a group of Talmudical scholars of Shklov who were attracted to Vilna by Elijah Gaon  (1720-97). He was one of "the last arrivals," and attended upon the Gaon as a disciple for less than a year.

He gained Elijah's confidence, and was chosen to arrange for publication the Gaon's commentary to the first two parts of the Shulchan Aruch

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...

. That on the Orach Chaim was published in Shklov in 1803. Ashkenazi also published his master's notes to the tractate Shekalim of the Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...

, with a commentary of his own, under the title Taklin Chadtin (Minsk, 1812). Later he emigrated to Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 and became the head of the German and Polish congregations of Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

 and then of Jerusalem. He was there surnamed "Ashkenazi

Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...

" (the "German"), a name applied to all Jews of German extraction, in contradistinction to the Sephardim

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

, who came originally from Spain

History of the Jews in Spain

Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, before the majority, together with resident Muslims, were forced to convert to Catholicism, be expelled or be killed when Spain became united under the Catholic Monarchs...

 or Portugal

History of the Jews in Portugal

The history of the Jews in Portugal reaches back over two thousand years and is directly related to Sephardi history, a Jewish ethnic division that represents communities who have originated in the Iberian Peninsula .-Before Portugal:...

.

After a residence of several years in the Holy Land, Ashkenazi went to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as a ShaDaR (emissary of the rabbis), to collect alms for the poor Palestinian Jew

Palestinian Jew

A Palestinian Jew is a Jewish inhabitant of Palestine at various points in the region's history . Jews in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel are more commonly referred to as "Yishuv"...

s residing at the Yishuv haYashan, and in that capacity he traveled through Lithuania

History of the Jews in Lithuania

The history of the Jews in Lithuania spans the period from the eighth century to the present day. There is still a small community in that country, as well as an extensive Lithuanian Jewish diaspora in Israel, the United States and other countries. For more detail, see Lithuanian Jews.-Early...

 and other parts of Russia

History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union

The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest populations of Jews in the diaspora. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of...

.

On his return to Palestine he wrote his chief work, Pe'at ha-Shulchan, which is intended as a sort of supplement to the Shulchan Aruch, supplying all the agricultural laws obligatory only in the Holy Land, omitted by rabbi Joseph Caro in his code. He also incorporated in this book the notes of Elijah of Vilna (the Gaon) to the tractate Zera'im, the first order of the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

, and gave in addition a voluminous commentary of his own which he called Beit Yisrael. The work was published in Safed in 1836 by the printing-house of Yisrael ben Avraham Back.

Ashkenazi is also the author of Nachalah u-Menuchah, a collection of responsa

History of Responsa

History of responsa in Judaism spans a period of 1,700 years. Responsa constitute a special class of rabbinic literature, differing in form, but not necessarily in content, from Rabbinic commentaries devoted to the exegesis of the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and halakha...

 mentioned in the work above. An account of his rabbinate of Jerusalem is given in Mendel ben Aaron's Kore ha-'Ittim (Vilna, 1840). Ashkenazi died at Tiberias on May 22, 1839.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

• Heschel Lewin, 'Aliyyat Eliyahu, p. 74, Wilna, 1854, and Stettin, 1862;
• Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, s.v. Israel ben Samuel;
• Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 63;
• Eliezer of Botushan, Ḳin'at Soferim, 1892, s.v. Elijah Wilna.