Samuel Baeck, also spelled Samuel Bäck (, born
Boskowitz,
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
, April 3, 1834 – died
Lissa, May 11, 1912) was a German rabbi and father of
Leo Baeck
Leo Baeck (; 23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi ...
.
His father, Nathan Baeck, was rabbi in
Kromau, Moravia; his grandfather, Abraham, rabbi in
Holitsch,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. Samuel Baeck married Eva Placzek (1840–1926), the daughter of
Abraham Placzek, chief rabbi of Moravia.
After being educated in the public schools of Kromau and at the
Talmudic
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
schools of Nikolsburg (Moravia) – now
Mikulov
Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...
– and
Pressburg
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
, Baeck studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
, continuing his Talmudic studies under R. Horwitz. After receiving his diploma as rabbi from the chief rabbi Placzek of
Boskovice
Boskovice (; ) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preserved and is protec ...
, he was appointed rabbi in
Böhmisch Leipa, and was in 1864 called as rabbi to the celebrated community of
Lissa, province of
Posen. He was a member of the municipal school committee and of the "Waisenrat", instructor in the Jewish religion at the gymnasium, and a delegate to the
Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeindebund. He was the first to advocate with success the introduction of the teaching of the Jewish religion in the colleges of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
.
Published works
* ''Inder und Hebräer'' (Indians and Hebrews);
* ''Erzählungen und Religionssätze der Heiligen Schrift'', Lissa, 1875, 2d ed. 1886;
* ''Systematische Religionssätze der Heiligen Schrift'', ib. 1875;
* ''Geschichte des Judischen Volkes und Seiner Literatur vom Babylonischen Exile bis auf die Gegenwart'' (History and Literature of the Jewish People from the Babylonian Exile to the Present Day) ib. 1878, 2d ed., 1894;
* ''Die Halachistische und Responsen Literatur, die Literatur der Darshanim, Sittenlehrer, und Apologeten'', in Winter and Wünsche, ''Jüdische Literatur'', vols. ii. and iii.
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baeck, Samuel
Czech Orthodox rabbis
19th-century German rabbis
Czech people of Hungarian descent
1834 births
1912 deaths