Rabbi Isadore Twersky | |
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| Personal | |
| Born | Isadore Asher Twersky 10 September 1930 |
| Died | 10 December 1997 (aged 67) Boston |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Atarah (née Soloveitchik) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Position | Rabbi |
| Synagogue | Congregation Beth David |
| Residence | Brookline, Massachusetts |
Isadore Twersky (also known as Yitzhak Asher Twersky, October 9, 1930 – October 12, 1997) was an Orthodox rabbi and Hasidic Rebbe, and university professor who held the position as Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard University, a chair previously held by Harry Austryn Wolfson. Twersky was an internationally recognized authority on Rabbinic literature and Jewish philosophy. He was especially known as an international expert in the writings and influence of the 12th-century Jewish legalist and philosopher Maimonides, and Abraham ben David, the Rabad of Posquieres.
His best-known works are, An Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah), and the more popular anthology, A Maimonides Reader, as well as Rabad of Posquieres: A Twelfth-Century Talmudist, which was based on his doctorate work. He was the editor of the Harvard Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature (in three volumes), won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989, and was a fellow of both the American Academy for Jewish Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. According to Hacker (2005), Twersky can best be characterized as a "historian of ideas and a researcher of the intellectual history of the Jews," and would presumably have considered himself as such.