Gulyak Osher (1881-1940)

Gulyak Osher (also Asher Gulak) (1881–1940) — rabbi, legal scholar, professor of Jewish law.

Osher Gulyak was born on 16 March 1881 in Gostino (then in the Russian Empire) to Zalman Gulyak. In 1903, he received rabbinical ordination. In 1911, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Dorpat (Tartu).

On 24 May 1917, he was admitted to the bar as a certified lawyer. From July 1919, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Jüdische Folksstimme newspaper in Riga. From 1919 to 1922, he practised as a sworn advocate in Riga.

In 1923, Gulyak moved to Germany and lived in Berlin, where he pursued research into Talmudic jurisprudence. He returned to Riga in 1924–25, where he led training courses for Jewish teachers.

In 1925, he emigrated to Palestine. From 1926, he lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and, from 1936, held a professorship in Jewish Law. He died in Jerusalem in 1940.

Works include:

Yesode ha-Mishpat ha-Ivri (“Foundations of Jewish Law”), Vols. 1–4. Berlin, 1922.

Otzar Ka Shtard Ha Nehugim be-Israel, Jerusalem, 1928.

Toldot ha-Mishpat be-Israel be-Tkufat ha-Talmud (“History of Law in Israel during the Talmudic Era”), Jerusalem, 1929.

History of Jewish Law: Talmudic Period. Part I – Law of Obligation and its Guaranties, Jerusalem, 1939.

Ha-Sh’tarot ba-Talmud: le-or ha-papirusim ha-Yevaniyim mi-Mitzrayim u-le-or ha-mishpat ha-Yevani ve-ha-Romi, Jerusalem, 1994.