Paul R. Mendes-Flohr (; 17 April 1941 – 24 October 2024) was an American-Israeli scholar of modern Jewish thought. As an intellectual historian, Mendes-Flohr specialized in 19th and 20th-century Jewish thinkers, including

Martin Buber Martin Buber (; , ; ; 8 February 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I and Thou, I–Thou relationship and the I� ...

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (; ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...

, and

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was an American scholar of political philosophy. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students an ...

.Martina Urban; Christian Wiese. ''German-Jewish Thought Between Religion and Politics. Festschrift in Honor of Paul Mendes-Flohr on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday.'' In: ''Studia Judaica.'' 60, 2012.

Biography

Mendes-Flohr was born as Paul Flohr. He took his wife Rita’s maiden name of Mendes as the first part of his hyphenated last name. He held a doctorate from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, which was supervised by

Alexander Altmann Alexander Altmann (April 16, 1906 – June 6, 1987) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar and rabbi born in Kassa, Austria-Hungary (present-day Košice, Slovakia). He emigrated to England in 1938 and later settled in the United States, working productiv ...

, Nahum Glatzer, and Ben Halpern. Mendes-Flohr taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he was Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor Emeritus of Modern Jewish History and Thought. He was also Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought 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. ...

. He was co-author and co-editor, with

Jehuda Reinharz Jehuda Reinharz (; born August 1, 1944) served as President of Brandeis University from 1994–2010. He was the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis. He i ...

, of a book of modern

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 ...

, ''The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History,'' and with

Arthur A. Cohen Arthur Allen Cohen (June 25, 1928 – September 30, 1986) was an American scholar, art critic, theology, theologian, publisher, and author. Scholar David Stern (academic), David M. Stern has written of Cohen: "Though he was best known as a novel ...

'','' of a book on contemporary Jewish religious thought''.'' In 2019, Mendes-Flohr published a highly regarded Martin Buber biography entitled, ''Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent.'' The German translation appeared in 2022 and in Hebrew in 2023. His most recent work, ''Cultural Disjunctions: Post-Traditional Jewish Identities'', was published in 2021. In 2021, Mendes-Flohr began work o
The Global Lehrhaus
an international platform for education and reflection on issues of common concern. The Global Lehrhaus was inspired by the Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus (Free House of Jewish Learning), a center for continuing education established by

, and later directed by

. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Mendes-Flohr lived in Israel from 1970 with his wife, artis
Rita Mendes-Flohr
He had two children, both also artists, and four grandchildren. Mendes-Flohr died on 24 October 2024, at the age of 83.

Selected works

* ''Identität. Die zwei Seelen der deutschen Juden'' (in German). * * '' From Mysticism to Dialogue: Martin Buber's Transformation of German Social Thought'' Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989. * Divided passions: Jewish intellectuals and the experience of modernity (1991). * * ''German Jews: a dual identity'' (1999). * * ''A land of two peoples: Martin Buber on Jews and Arabs'' Edited with commentary and a new preface by Paul R. Mendes-Flohr. * Martin Buber: a contemporary perspective (2002). * * Martin Buber: a life of faith and dissent (2019). * ''Franz Rosenzweig and the Possibility of a Jewish Theology'' (forthcoming).

References

External links

Rita Mendes Flohr website

The Global Lehrhaus

Obituary from the University of Chicago
1941 births 2024 deaths Jewish historians Israeli historians Philosophers of Judaism University of Chicago faculty Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences {{judaism-philo-bio-stub