Stefan C. Reif M. H. Segal (1875–1968) and his Abiding Interest in Ben Sira Abstract: From his early career in Oxford (1901–1909) until he was a senior fig- ure at the Hebrew University (appointed in 1926 and retiring in 1949), Moshe H. Segal demonstrated a close interest in the language, textual history, and content of Ben Sira. This article attempts to assess that interest and the publications it generated and pays special attention to the edition and introduction that he published in 1953 (Sefer Ben Sira Ha-Shalem) and revised some five years later. It suggests that publication of the volume in contemporary Hebrew may have discouraged many European and American researchers from making adequate use of its rich content. Keywords: Segal, career, study of Ben Sira, modern Hebrew, critical evaluation 1 Purpose The purpose of this essay is to introduce, or re-introduce, specialists in the Jew- ish literature of the Second Temple period in general, and in the book of Ben Sira in particular, to a Jewish scholar, Moshe Hirsch (Zvi) Segal (1875–1968), whose contribution to those topics perhaps merits a closer and more apprecia- tive assessment than it has attracted in some academic circles. 1 2 Family Moshe Hirsch Segal was born in September 1875, in what is now Lithuania but was then part of the Russian empire. Life for Jewish families in Tsarist Russia at the end of the nineteenth century was not only economically harsh but their political and social situation was aggravated by growing restrictions, manifesta- 1 It is a great pleasure to dedicate this article to our friend and colleague, Núria, with best wishes for many more years of meticulous and prolific scholarship, especially on the book of Ben Sira. It should be noted that Núria often refers to Segal in her studies, as, for example, in her monograph, En el Crisol de la Prueba. I am grateful to my friend and colleague, Jeremy Corley, for a number of helpful suggestions. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110762181-023