David Darshan

Born in Kraków, David Darshan was a wanderer, preacher, rabbi, proofreader, and healer. He studied with the great rabbinic authorities of his days, Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria. Around 1556 he traveled to Italy. Upon his return to Kraków, he became the community’s darshan (preacher). Later he moved to Lublin, where he worked as an editor and proofreader. Shir ha-ma‘alot le-David (A Song of Ascents, of David) is a book of mixed genre: it contains sermons, responsa, sample letters, and poems, as well as biographical material. In 1574, Darshan published his Ketav hitnatslut le-darshanim (In Defense of Preachers).