Biography of louis ginzberger

In a one-volume edition was published posthumously under the title Legends of the Bible. This material was again the subject of the first volume of the series Genizah Studies in Memory of Dr. Solomon Schechter Ginzberg's chief area of interest, however, was the Halakah Jewish religious law. His earliest book on this subject, Geonicadealt with the Halakah in the period of the Geonim heads of Talmudic academies in Babylonia in the 6th to 11th century.

He was associated with the Positive-Historical School during his time. Rabbi Ginzberg believed that the authority of Jewish law was derived not only from divine revelation on Mount Sinai but also from the fact that the Jewish people had chosen to observe the laws for thousands of years. At the seminary, he emphasized the importance of understanding the historical context and evolution of Jewish practices.

Rabbi Ginzberg encouraged his students to critically engage with traditional texts while remaining grounded in their faith. His views on the authority of Jewish law and its observance influenced multiple generations of Conservative Rabbis. Compared to Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, who believed that Judaism is a civilization that must evolve, Rabbi Ginzberg held a more traditional view of Judaism.

He considered adherence to Halakha as the most important and believed that nothing could undermine Torah. His literary works, such as the seven-volume Legend of the Jews and the three-volume Commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, remain highly regarded. Ginzberg had a long term platonic relationship with Henrietta Szoldwho was his editor at the Jewish Publication Society.

Ginzberg visited Berlin in and became engaged to Adele Katzenstein while he was there. Katzenstein was about 22 at the time. They had two children. Son Eli Ginzberg — was a professor of economics at Columbia University.

Biography of louis ginzberger: Louis Ginzberg was a

The second child was a daughter, Sophie Ginzberg Gould — Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikisource Wikidata item. Russian-born American Conservative rabbi and Talmudic scholar For the poet, see Louis Ginsberg. KaunasVilna GovernorateRussian Empire.

New York CityUnited States. Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Views [ edit ]. Responsa [ edit ]. His magnum opus, The Legends of the Jews, contains 36, references which Ginzberg kept in his head. In addition to rabbinics, Ginzberg was an expert in philosophy, Kabbalah, and mathematics and he knew at least 12 languages. Wise changed his mind because he heard that Ginzberg was an adherent of higher criticism of the Bible and, paradoxically, because he was afraid that Ginzberg was too observant.

He was hired by The Jewish Encyclopedia from towriting articles, many of which have remained classics until today. There Ginzberg made his academic and spiritual home for the next 51 years until the day he died. As professor of Talmud at jts, Ginzberg had tremendous influence on the development of Jewish studies at jts and throughout the world.

He brought young scholars such as H. He was one of the founders of the American Academy for Jewish Research in and served as its president until He helped found the Institute for Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University and taught there in — Finally, he played a major role in training and ordaining rabbis over the course of two generations.

Ginzberg devoted most of his academic scholarship to three fields: Aggadahthe Jerusalem Talmud, and Geonica. In the realm of Aggadah, The Legends of the Jews 7 vols.

Biography of louis ginzberger: Louis Ginzberg was a

It also appeared in Hebrew translation 6 vols. It retells the story of the Bible from Adam to Chronicles, weaving together thousands of aggadot culled from early and late Midrashim, Philo, Josephus, the Apocrypha, and the Church Fathers. In other words, Ginzberg systematically collected and rearranged the aggadah, as Maimonides had the halakhah in his Mishneh Torah.

In the realm of the Jerusalem Talmud, his Seridei Yerushalmi remains the only published volume of Genizah fragments of this basic rabbinic work. He also wrote commentaries on several other tractates; his commentary on Pesahim was scheduled for publication in —6, over 50 years after his death. In the realm of Geonica, the first volume of Geonica remains one of the few English language introductions to the field.

Biography of louis ginzberger: Louis Ginzberg was a Lithuanian-born American

The second volume of Geonicaas well as Ginzei Schechtervolume 2, contain over Genizah fragments of geonic responsa and commentaries and early Karaite works. Ginzberg was a leading proponent of the "Positive-Historical School," which later became the Conservative movement. One may, for instance, conceive of the origin and idea of Sabbath rest as the professor of Protestant theology at a German university would conceive it, and yet minutely observe the smallest detail of the Sabbath observances known to strict Orthodoxy.

For an adherent of this school, the sanctity of the Sabbath reposes not upon the fact that it was proclaimed on Sinai, but on the fact that the Sabbath idea found for thousands of years its expression in Jewish souls. Sinai but from the fact that Kelal Yisraelthe collective Jewish people, observed Jewish law for thousands of years. Ginzberg believed that it was not possible to understand Jewish history and culture without a thorough knowledge of Jewish law "The Significance of the Halachah for Jewish History," Furthermore, we now know from a recently published volume The Responsa of Professor Louis Ginzbergthat Ginzberg was a prolific posek decisor for the Conservative movement between and From his responsa, one can learn about his approach to Jewish law.

Biography of louis ginzberger: Rabbi Louis Ginzberg.

On the one hand, he was quite strict with regard to liturgical and synagogue-related issues: "I am not one of those who likes 'new things,' and I have a special aversion to changes in the customs of the synagogue" ibid. On the other hand, he usually judged a case on its own merits and frequently arrived at a lenient decision. He opposed introducing the organ into the synagogue because it would cut off American Jewry from Kelal Yisrael.

Ginzberg was a lifelong Zionist. His second article, published in Dutch inwas a "Plea for Zionism.