Hermann Leberecht Strack (6 May 1848 – 5 October 1922) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and orientalist; born in

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Biography

From 1877, Strack was assistant professor of

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

and

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

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 ...

. He was the foremost

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

authority in Germany on

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 and

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

, and studied rabbinics under Steinschneider. Since the reappearance of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Germany, Strack had been the champion of the

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s against the attacks of such men as Hofprediger Adolf Stoecker, Professor August Rohling, and others. In 1885 Strack became the editor of ''Nathanael. Zeitschrift für die Arbeit der Evangelischen Kirche an Israel'', published at

; and in 1883 he founded the '' Institutum Judaicum'', which aimed at the conversion of Jews to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. In the beginning of his career the

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, ...

n government sent Strack to St. Petersburg to examine the Bible manuscripts there; on this occasion he examined also the antiquities of the Firkovich collection, which he declared to be forgeries. This claim was found to be untrue: the Firkovich collection is closely related to

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...

material found by

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter (‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the ...

Selected works

*''Prolegomena Critica in Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum'' (Leipzig, 1873); *''Katalog der Hebräschen Bibelhandschriften der Kaiserlichen Oeffentlichen Bibliothek in St. Petersburg'' (St. Petersburg and Leipzig, 1875), in collaboration with A. Harkavy; *''Prophetarum Posteriorum Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus'' (ib. 1876); *''A. Firkowitch und Seine Entdeckungen'' (ib. 1876); *editions of the ''Mishnah'' tractates ''Abot'' (Carlsruhe, 1882; 2d ed. Berlin, 1888), ''Yoma'' (ib. 1888), '' 'Abodah Zarah'' (ib. 1888), and ''Shabbat'' (ib. 1890);
''Hebräische Grammatik''
(Karlsruhe, 1883; 3d ed. Munchen, 1902)
''Hebrew Grammar''
(Berlin-London-New York, 1889; 2nd English ed.) *''Lehrbuch der Neuhebräischen Sprache und Litteratur'' (ib. 1884), in collaboration with Karl Siegfried; *''Herr Adolf Stöcker'' (ib. 1885; 2d ed. 1886); *''Einleitung in den Talmud'' (Leipzig, 1887; 2d ed. 1894), a revised reprint of his article on the subject in Herzog-Hauck's ''Real-Encyklopädie,'' to which he made a whole series of contributions on rabbinic subjects;
''Paradigmen zur Hebräischen Grammatik''
(Leipzig, 1887) *''Einleitung in das Alte Testament'' (Nördlingen, 1888; 5th ed. Munich, 1898); *''Der Blutaberglaube in der Menschheit, Blutmorde und Blutritus'' (ib. 1891; 5th ed. 1900), an investigation into the

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

; *''Die Juden - Dürfen Sie 'Verbrecher von Religionswegen' genannt werden?'' (Berlin, 1893); *''Abriss des Biblischen Aramäisch'' (Leipzig, 1897). *''Jüdische Geheimgesetze? Mit 3 Anh.: Rohling, Ecker und kein Ende?. Artur Dinter u. Kunst, Wissenschaft, Vaterland. "Die Weisen von Zion" und ihre Gläubigen'' (Berlin 1920; ib. 3rd and 4th ed. 1921). *''Introduction to the Talmud & Midrash'' (1931), Jewish Publication Society of America, based on the 5th Edition of Einleitung in den Talmud & Midrasch. *''Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch'', with Paul Billerbeck; (1922–1928; 4 volumes). From 1886 on, Strack worked together with Zoeckler at editing the ''Kurzgefasster Kommentar zu den Schriften des Alten und Neuen Testaments'' (Nördlingen and Munich). Strack was also a member of the Foreign Board of Consulting Editors of the ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

''.

Translations

*
The Passover Meal
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
Luke 18 and Fasting: Commentary on Luke 18:11b,12a
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
John 10 and Hanukkah: Commentary on John 10:22-30
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
Commentary on Luke 7:36-50
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
Commentary on Matthew 5:13-14
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2014).

References

External links

* *
Digitized works by Hermann Strack
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strack, Hermann 1848 births 1922 deaths Writers from Berlin Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin 19th-century German Protestant theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians German orientalists Christian Hebraists German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers