R. Isaac Hirsch Weiss (1815–1905), scholar and writer on the history of the Oral Law. Hirsch, who was born in Gross-Meseritsch (Velke Mezirici), Moravia, studied in the yeshivot of Trebitsch and Eisenstadt. He subsequently engaged in business, corresponded on halakhic topics with leading rabbis, and for a short time headed a yeshivah in his native town. In 1846 he began publishing Hebrew poems and studies on the Talmud. After losing his wealth, he migrated to Vienna and became a proofreader in a printing press. In 1864 he was appointed lecturer in talmudic literature in the Vienna Bet ha-Midrash founded by A. Jellinek. Weiss was opposed both to the conservative spirit prevailing in the Hungarian yeshivot and to extreme Reform. His aim was to blend fundamental talmudic condition with secular culture and the critical scientific method. His moderate position aroused against him not only the anger of the rabbis of the older generation and the Orthodox, but also the criticism of the Reformers. He was opposed to the Hibbat Zion movement and to the idea of settling Erez Israel, regarding them as dangerous since they accorded with the view of the anti-Semites that there was no place for Jews in Europe. In his opinion the nationhood of Jews consisted of their Torah and religion, and they must await in exile the redemption of Heaven. On the other hand he understood the importance of the Hebrew language and wrote his compositions in it.

Weiss' scholarly work was wholly devoted to the study of the Oral Law. He published two midreshei-halakhah with introductions and notes: the Sifra (1862) and the Mekhilta (1865), and wrote a grammar book, Mishpat Leshon ha-Mishnah (1867). He published many articles, some of which appeared in periodicals which he founded and edited (both Beit ha-Midrash (1865–66) and Beit Talmud (1881–86; founded jointly with M. Friedmann)). Weiss' largest and most important work is the five-volume Dor Dor ve-Dorshav (1871–91).

על שער-המעטפת לכל חוברת: בית תלמוד; מכתב עתי לחכמת היהודים בדרישת המקרא משנה ותלמוד בהלכות והגדות ובדברי ימי עם ישראל וחכמיהם... Beth Talmud; Monatschrift fuer rabbinische Literatur und Geschichte. Herausgegeben von J.H.Weiss und M.Friedmann... לא יצא יותר.

שנה א: תרמ"א. [1], 24 ,396 עמ'. 24 העמ' הם Beilage zum Beth Talmud: אגרת פתוחה... לכבוד... מו"ה אהרן נ"י דוקטור יעללינעק... על אודות הספר "משנת רבי אליעזר", על ספר "פרקי רבי אליעזר", מאת מחברו... חיים מאיר הורוויץ הלוי. "אגרת פתוחה" זו חסרה בטפסים רבים. שנה ב: תרמ"ב. [1], 396 עמ'. שנה ג: תרמ"ג. [2], 384 עמ'. שנה ד: תרמ"ה. [1], 384 עמ'.