PERL, JOSEPH

(1773-1839)

Galician Hebrew author and maskil. He was born in Tarnopol. He was initially attracted to Hasidism, but later embraced the Haskalah. In 1813 he established the first modern Jewish school in Galicia (in Tarnopol), which he directed. He encouraged the creation of Jewish agricultural colonies, and opposed the Hasidism in his satirical writings.