Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg

Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (יעקב צבי מקלנבורג) was an Ashkenazi rabbi and scholar of the 19th century, best known as author of the Torah commentary Hakketav Vehakkabbalah (Haksav Vehakaboleh).

He was born in 1785 (5545 in the Hebrew calendar) in Lissa (Leszno), in the province of Posen, Germany, in the family of Rabbi Gamliel.

In 1831, at the age of 46, following commercial difficulties, he decided to quit business and was offered the rabbinical position in the city of Königsberg, East Prussia.

At that time, Königsberg Jews were under the increasing influence of the Haskalah, a reform movement, which Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg strongly opposed.

[1] The commentary draws on that of the Vilna Gaon and Shadal[3] and occasionally includes contemporary non-traditional sources such as Julius Fürst and the Biurists.