BERLIN, TZVI HIRSCH (HART LYON, LEVIN), (Chief Rabbi of England)

(ANGLO-JUDAICA)

Rob. Withy

London

ca. 1760

Three-quarter length portrait engraving, shown seated with left arm leaning on book, with a manuscript of responsa entitled “Shut” (Sheiloth u-Teshuvoth) underneath. Lower register reads, “The Most Learned High Priest Hart Lyon, Rabbi.”

Rubens 1771

Tzvi Hirsch Berlin (1731-1800), a most eclectic and erudite scholar was known in English circles as Hart Lyon, as his name “Tzvi Hirsch” was translated as a “hart,” a male deer. The second name, Lyon, refers to the fact that the rabbis’ father was Aryeh Leib, which was translated as “lion. He was in fact the son-in-law of the Chacham Tzvi - as stated in Hebrew in the lower register of this portrait. In 1773, Tzvi Hirsch was appointed Rabbi of Berlin, thus resulting in a new surname: Berlin. His other family name, Levin, is probably a corruption of Lyon