David Heymann Joël (; 12 January 1815 – 7 September 1882) was a German rabbi and scholar of

Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until the modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconc ...

and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

Biography

David Joël was born in 1815 to Liebchen () and Rabbi Heimann Joël in Inowrazław,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

(then part of the Kingdom of Prussia). Joël received a

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 ...

ic education from his father, who became chief rabbi of Schwerin an der Warthe in 1832, and from Rabbi

Akiva Eger Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , ), or Akiva Güns (8 November 1761 – 12 October 1837) was a Talmudic scholar, halakhic decisor and leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. Eiger is considered one of the greatest Talmudic ...

in Posen. In 1836, he moved to Berlin to continue his education. There, he studied Talmud under Rabbis Oettinger and Landsberg, while simultaneously attending lectures in secular subjects at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. Among his university instructors were the historian Friedrich von Raumer, the natural philosopher

Henrik Steffens Henrik Steffens (2 May 1773 – 13 February 1845), was a Norwegian philosopher, scientist, and poet. Early life, education, and lectures He was born at Stavanger. At the age of fourteen he went with his parents to Copenhagen, where he studied ...

, and the historian

August Neander Johann August Wilhelm Neander (17 January 1789 14 July 1850) was a German theologian and church historian. Biography Neander was born in Göttingen as David Mendel. His father, Emmanuel Mendel, was said to have been a Jewish peddler. While very ...

. Joël was ordained as a rabbi in 1842 and, in 1843, accepted a rabbinical position in Schwersenz. During his tenure there, he authored ''Midrash ha-Zohar'', or ''Die Religionsphilosophie des Sohar und ihr Verhältniss zur Allgemeinen Theologie'' ('The Religious Philosophy of the Zohar and Its Relation to General Theology'), a pioneering scholarly analysis of

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

published in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in 1849. The work is an examination of the philosophy of the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

and a criticism of the work of Adolphe Franck. Joël received a Ph.D. a year after the book's publication. From 1859 to 1879, Joël served as rabbi in Krotoschin. In 1879, he was appointed to the faculty of the

Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau (official name: ) was an institution in Breslau for the training of rabbis, founded under the will of Jonah Frankel (businessman), Jonah Fränckel, and opened in 1854. It was the first modern rabbinical ...

, where he began teaching Talmud and rabbinic literature in early 1880. While at the seminary in Breslau, Joël authored ''Der Aberglaube und die Stellung des Judenthums zu demselben'' ('Superstition and the Attitude of Judaism Toward It'). Only two parts of the work were published: the first part was included in the Seminary's 1881 annual report, and the second part appeared posthumously in the 1883 report, edited and published by his brother Manuel Joël. He died in Breslau in 1882.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joel, David 1815 births 1882 deaths 19th-century German rabbis German rabbis Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Jewish philosophers Kabbalistic scholars People from Inowrocław People from Krotoszyn