GERSHON
PYESTUN (b. January 27, 1856)
He was born in Shklov (Szkłów),
Byelorussia. Orphaned at age seven, he
was raised in an orphanage. He was a
brilliant Talmudist and preacher in Lithuania.
For a time he was a rabbi in Shavlan (Siaulenai) and Mohilev
(Mogilev), later settling in Vilna. He
was a friend of Ben Tsion Alfes and worked with him on a number of Yiddish and
Hebrew-Aramaic texts. He was the author
of: Avodat hagershoni (The work of
Gershon) (Vilna, 1885); Hamatif, der
redner, sheyne raykhzinike droshes fir fersheydene tsaytn in yor mit
tsugegebene onmerkungen in a brief fun ben tsien alfes (The preacher,
lovely, rich sermons for various times of the year with additional remarks in a
letter from Ben Tsion Alfes) (Vilna, 1903), 72 pp., which appeared in a great
many editions in Vilna and Warsaw, “sermons which bring the reader great
pleasure, educating his character and implanting in him good morals”; Peyre hagefen oder gedankenfrukht (Fruit
of the vine or fruit for thought), sermons on the first five orders [of the
Mishnah] (Warsaw, 1892), 80 pp.; Mayse
alfes ufri hagefen oder tsuker-gebeks un vayn (Alfes’s tale and the fruit
of the vine or pastry and wine), part 1 (Vilna, 1906), 110 pp., part 2 (Vilna, 1907),
80 pp. Pyestun was also the author of a
number of pamphlets which he signed “Hagefen” (The vine) and “Gefen” (Vine).
Sources:
Ben-Tsien Ayzenshtadt, Dor rabanav vesofrav (A generations of rabbis and authors), vol. 3 (Vilna, 1902),
p. 27; Leksikon fun der nayer yidisher
literatur (Biographical dictionary of modern Yiddish literature), vol.
1, col. 119, under the biography Ben Tsion Alfes (see: http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2014/07/ben-tsion-benzion-alfes.html).
Khayim Leyb Fuks
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