Avraham Grossman (; 10 March 1936 – 27 March 2024) was an Israeli historian and professor in the

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

department at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, recipient of the 2003

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for his contributions to Jewish history.

Biography

Avraham Grossman was born on 10 March 1936, in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, and grew up in Mishmar HaYarden. In 1948 his family moved to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. He served in the

Education and Youth Corps The Education and Youth Corps (, ''Heil HaHinuh VeHaNo'ar'') is a corps of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) Personnel Directorate responsible for the education of IDF personnel. Its mission purpose it to instruct and develop "national values" amo ...

of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. After his military service, he started his studies in the

and

Talmud 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 Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

for his bachelor's and master's degrees, respectively. His master's thesis was about

Gershom ben Judah Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960–1040) best known as Rabbeinu Gershom (, "Our teacher Gershom") and also commonly known to scholars of Rabbinic Judaism by the title ''Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah'' ("Our teacher Gershom the light of the exile"), was ...

and was supervised by

Ephraim Urbach Ephraim Elimelech Urbach (; born 1912 – 3 July 1991) was a distinguished scholar of Judaism. He is best known for his landmark works on rabbinic thought, ''The Sages'', and for research on the Tosafot. He was a candidate to presidency in Israe ...

. His doctoral work, ''The Rabbinical literature of Ashkenaz and Northern France in the eleventh century'', was also supervised by Urbach. Grossman got his doctorate in 1974Avraham Grossman

website and moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for a

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

SOAS, University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, ...

, and manuscript research in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

. Grossman was appointed lecturer in the

in 1976 and full professor in 1986. From 1991 to 1992 he was the head of the Jewish history department. In 2007 he became professor emeritus. Grossman was a visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in the years 1985, 1986 and 1988 respectively. Grossman was married to Rachel from 1961 until his death, and had four children. One of them is a professor in the Bible department of

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

. Grossman was a member of the

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on res ...

. Grossman won the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

in 1996 for his book ''The Early Sages of France''. Avraham Grossman died on 27 March 2024, at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Avraham 1936 births 2024 deaths Historians of Ashkenazi Jewry Historians of Jews and Judaism Israeli orientalists Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel Prize in history of the Jewish people recipients Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Israeli medievalists People from Tiberias