Person

Ezechiel Feiwel ben Seeb Wolf

1755–1833

Lithuanian preacher, known as the "maggid of Deretschin." Ezekiel was born in Palanga, Lithuania. In his youth he was appointed preacher in his native town and, subsequently, in Deretschin. At the age of 19 he was an itinerant preacher in the Jewish communities of Galicia, Hungary, and Germany (where he remained for some time in Breslau). In Vilna he made the acquaintance of Elijah b. Solomon (the Gaon of Vilna) and through him, of Solomon Zalman of Volozhin, brother of Hayyim b. Isaac of Volozhin. Solomon made a deep impression upon Ezekiel, who wrote his biography (Toledot Adam, in 2 parts (Dyhernfurth, 1801–09); frequently reprinted)...