DELLA TORRE, LELIO. — Learned rabbi, born in Cuneo on 11 January 1805, died in Padua on 9 July 1871. He taught from 1823 to 1829 at the Colonna-Finzi college in Turin, and then, until his death, at the Rabbinical School in Padua.
He published a long series of brief studies on various topics, ranging from biblical exegesis to contemporary Jewish history. In particular, he addressed Talmudic questions, the ordinary subject of his teaching in Padua. He also composed small works of a religious-ascetic nature and some Hebrew poetry. These numerous writings were collected by his sons (Scritti sparsi, 2 vols., Padua 1908). As a translator, DELLA TORRE published Italian versions of the Psalms (Vienna 1845), the ritual prayers of the Ashkenazi rite (ibid. 1846; Livorno 1905), Talmudic treatises, and some biblical orations. He had also begun a commentary on the Psalms; only the first fascicle of it appeared (Padua 1854).