Rabbenu Gershom or, more properly, Rabbi GERSHOM BEN-JEHUDA, the reputed founder of the Franco-German Rabbinical school, in which the studies of that of Babylonia were earnestly revived, was born about 960, and died in 1028. He was called "The Ancient," "The Light of the Exile," and was the founder of monogamy and other "institutions" among the Jews, which were for a long time disputed and rejected, and himself wvas placed under ban for attempting to abrogate the Mosaic precept respecting the marriage of a man with the childless wife of his deceased brother. Gershom also wrote a commentary on the Talmud, and some hymns and penitential prayers, which are extant in the Machzor. For reasons unknnown he went to Mayence, where he founded a college, which soon attracted the youth of Germany and Italy. See Furst, Bibl. Jud. i, 328: De Rossi, Dizionario Storico (Germ. transl.), p. 114; Griitz, Gesch. der Juden (Leips. 1871), v, 364 sq.; Braunschweiger, Gesch. der Juden in den romanischen Staaten, p. 32 sq.; Jost, Gesch. d. Judenth, at. s. Sekten, ii, 388; Dessauer, Gesch. d. Israeliten, p. 310; Etheridge, Introd. to Heb. Literature, p. 283 sq.; Steinschneider, Jewish Literature, p. 69; Zunz, Literaturgesch. d. synagogalen Poesie, p. 238; id. Synagogale Poesie, p. 171-174; Delitzsch, Zur Gesch. derjiid. Poesie, p. 51, 156; Adams, Hist. of the Jews, i, 226; Frankel. Monactsschrift, 1854, p. 230 sq. (B. P.)
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More