Mordecai Plungian (Marcus Plungianski; 1814-1883) was a Lithuanian rabbi, Talmudist, and Hebrew author associated with the maskilim, or the writers of the haskalah movement (the Jewish enlightenment).
He was born in PlungÃÂ and built a reputation as a Talmudist at a young age before moving to Troki, where his new ideas offended the ultra-conservatives, so he moved to Wilna, where he gave rabbinical lectures and began secular studies, including European literature and languages. He got a job as a high school teacher before becoming an instructor of Talmud at the rabbinical seminary in 1867. The seminary closed in 1873, and he worked as a corrector in a printing office.
Plungian was a descendant of Mordecai Jaffe. He was a friend of Alexander Harkavy.
Plungian was accused by the liberals of being a conservative, but angered the Orthodox as well who accused him of heresy. His 1856 book Ben Porat was the subject of a censorship controversy, but he received assistance from Abraham Firkovich. The work was a biography of Manasseh of Ilya.
He died in Wilna in 1883.