Avraham Yitzchak Sperling

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Sperling was a shochet (kosher animal slaughterer) in Lvov with a deep interest in the details, origins, and explanations of Jewish practices. He collected material from a wide variety of texts and published his research in the popular book Ta’amei HaMinhagim, a lifelong project that included several revised and expanded editions. The author’s six sons and one daughter, along with most of their children, were killed in the Holocaust. One surviving grandson, Rabbi Moshe Sperling, continued his grandfather’s legacy by publishing a reorganized Israeli edition.