Jacob Katz (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: יעקב כ"ץ) (born 15 November 1904 in Magyargencs,

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 ...

, died 20 May 1998 in Israel) was an acclaimed

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

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Katz described "traditional society" and deployed sociological methods in his study of Jewish communities, with special attention to changes in halakhah (Jewish law) and

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

. He pioneered the modern study of Orthodoxy and its formation in reaction to

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

. In his youth he pursued both religious and secular studies, receiving rabbinic ordination and a doctorate in social history.

Biography

Jacob Katz was born in Magyargencs (Moyorganch) in western Hungary. The village was not large enough for a Jewish school so he spent his early years at a Protestant school in a nearby village. At the age of 12, he left to study in Celldomolk. Afternoon hours were devoted to Jewish studies in the Talmud-Torah of the community. During this period he lived with a host family and returned home every few weeks for Sabbaths and holidays. At age 16, he moved to Gyor where he studied at a yeshiva. He then studied for about two years at the yeshiva in the Satoralya-Uihey community. In 1925, he moved to the Yeshiva of Pressburg (Bratislava) founded by Hatam Sofer and headed by his descendants. After two and a half years, he became interested in the work of

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

, Theodore Herzl and Ahad Ha'am. In 1927, Katz wrote his first article for an Orthodox newspaper in Budapest, ''Zsido Ujsag,'' to protest against a local rabbi who warned Hungarian Jews stay away from Zionist or quasi-Zionist activities. The article was reprinted in the Zionist newspaper of Hungary ''Zsido Szemle,'' which praised him for understanding of the needs of the times better than the leaders of Orthodoxy. Katz was asked to write for the paper. Katz expressed admiration for Rabbi Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan), Nahum Sokolov and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who regarded building up Israel as the primary task of the generation. In the spring of 1928, he moved to Yeshivat Adat Yeshuron in Frankfurt, which was headed by Rabbi Yosef Breuer, and applied to study at the University of Frankfurt. In the spring of 1934, he submitted his doctoral thesis on the assimilation of German Jews. He earned a living giving private lessons in Judaism/Talmud to members of Rabbi Breuer's family and others. It was then that he met his future wife Gerti-Bina nee Birnbaum, whom he married in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1936. Before immigrating to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, he spent a year in London to improve his English. In

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, he worked as a tutor and accepted a teaching position at Moriya school. In 1945-1950, he served as a teacher and director of Talpiot, a teachers training college. He was married to for 62 years, until his death at age 93. The couple had three sons, David, Chanan and Uriel. At the time of his death he had 11 grandchildren.

Academic career

In 1945 Katz presented his article "Marriage and Sexual Relations at the close of the Middle Ages" at a conference of historians. The article was published that year in the Hebrew journal ''Zion''. Katz published in the fields of education, psychology and pedagogy, but his main interest was history. Ben-Zion Dinur encouraged him to continue his research despite the absence of an academic post. in 1947, Katz was invited to the first International Congress of Jewish studies in Jerusalem. in 1949, he began to teach at the Hebrew University in a low level position. He went on to become specialist in Jewish-gentile relations, the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

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 ...

, and the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. His work provided much of the basis for scholarly analyses of anti-Semitism.

Awards and recognition

Katz was recognized as "one of this century's greatest and most influential historians of the Jews." In 1974 he became an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1980, Katz was awarded the

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 "history of the Jewish people.

Published works

* ''Tradition and Crisis: Jewish Society at the End of the Middle Ages'' * ''From Prejudice to Destruction: Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933'' * ''Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times'' * ''The Darker Side of Genius'' * ''Out of the Ghetto: The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation, 1770-1870'' * ''The "Shabbes Goy"'' * ''Divine Law in Human Hands: Case Studies in Halakhic Flexibility'' * ''A House Divided: Orthodoxy and Schism in Nineteenth-Century Central European Jewry''

References

External links