David Ottensosser

OTTENSOSSER, DAVID (1784–1858), Hebrew scholar. Born in Germany, he was a teacher at Fuerth yeshivah. Ottensosser devoted himself mainly to the study of Maimonides, upon whose works he drew in his Bible commentaries. His editions of Maimonides' works are among the best of his volumes of ancient texts, and he published Maimonides' letters with a German translation (Iggerot ha-Moreh, 1846) and an anthology of his teachings (Imrei Da'at Rambam, 1848). His explication and translation into German of Isaiah (1807) was his first effort in this field. He published a corrected edition of Mendelssohn's Bible, in which he improved upon the Pentateuch translation. He also edited Abraham Bedersi's Olelot ha-Boḥen, Jedaiah Bedersi's Beḥinot Olam, and the travelogue of Pethahiah of Regensburg, Sibbuv ha-Olam (with a German translation, 1854), as well as a German version (with Hebrew commentary) of the liturgy (1811).

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.