Yeḥiel Heilperin

Yeḥiel ben Solomon Heilperin was a Lithuanian rabbi, kabbalist, and chronicler. He was a descendant of Solomon Luria (known as the Maharshal, 1510–1573). From 1711, Heilperin served as a rabbi and head of yeshiva in Minsk, where he was involved in a dispute with rabbi Aryeh Leib Ginzburg (ca. 1695–1785), the founder of the local yeshiva. Seder ha-dorot (Order of the Generations), Heilperin’s best-known work, is a historical narrative based on previous compositions. It consists of three independent volumes or parts. The first is called Yemot ‘olam (Days of Yore), which provides a history of the Jews to his day (the last event recorded took place in 1697). The second part is Seder ha-tana’im ve-ha-amora’im (The Order of the Tannaim and the Amoraim), chronicling the Mishnaic and talmudic rabbis. The third is a kind of catalogue of authors and their books and was published for the first time by Heilperin’s grandson, Judah Leib Heilperin, in 1769.