Joseph Hirsch Dünner
Joseph Hirsch Dünner (Hebrew: יוסף צבי הלוי דינר; 11 January 1833 – 13 October 1911) was a Dutch Jewish leader and scholar, who served as Chief Rabbi of North Holland (including Amsterdam).
Chief Rabbi Dr. Joseph Hirsch Dünner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | 11 January 1833 |
| Died | 13 October 1911 (aged 78) |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
Biography
Dünner was born in Cracow, Poland, in 1833. He received his rabbinical education in his native city, and studied philosophy and Oriental philology at Bonn and Heidelberg. He received a PhD from the latter institution with a thesis on Abraham ibn Ezra.[1]
In 1862 he was called from Bonn to the rectorate of the Nederlands Israëlietisch Seminarium in Amsterdam. His ability soon made it famous as a school of Jewish theology, ancient languages, and religious philosophy. In 1874 he was made Chief Rabbi of the Amsterdam community and of the province of North Holland, and though was strictly Orthodox, no dissension has marred his administration. The government recognized his ability and activity by decorating him with the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands.
Dünner is known for his studies on the Halakha of the Tannaic period, and by his disquisitions on the Tosefta. Together with Meijer Roest, he founded the Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad (1865) and the Israëlietische Nieuwsbode (1875).[2] He also acquired a reputation as an orator, and contributed to the Joodsch Letterkundige Bijdragen, Monatsschrift, Weekblad voor Israeliten, and Israelitische Letterbode.
Publications
- Die Zionisten: Rede gehalten am 2. Neujahrstage 5658 bei dem Morgengottesdienst der grossen Synagoge (in German). 1868.
- Die Theorien über Wesen und Ursprung der Tosephtha, Kritisch Dargestellt (in German). Amsterdam: Seyffardt'sche Buchhandlung. 1874. hdl:2027/osu.32435031599657.
- Glossen (Haggahot) zum Babylonischen und Palästinensischen Talmud (in Hebrew). Vol. 1–4. Frankfurt. 1896–1903.
- Kritische und Erläuternde Anmerkungen zu Bedarschi's Chotham Tochnit. Amsterdam. 1865.
- Leerredenen. Vol. 1–5. Amsterdam. 1897–1901.
- Het Zionisme: leerrede gehouden op Sabbath Nachamoe 5665, ter nieuwe synagoge te Amsterdam (in Dutch). The Hague: Drukkerij Levisson. 1905.
- Hagahot al Mishne Torah, hu ha-yad ha-ḥazakah leha-Rambam (in Hebrew). Amsterdam: Hotsa'at Menaḥem Hertsberger. 1929.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; Seeligmann, Sigmund (1903). "Dünner, Joseph Hirsch". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 14.
- Gans, Evelien (2017). "Image(s) of 'The Rav' through the Lens of an Involved Historian: Jaap Meijer's Depiction of Rabbi Jozeph Hirsch Dünner". In Kaplan, Yosef; Michman, Dan (eds.). The Religious Cultures of Dutch Jewry. pp. 316–326. doi:10.1163/9789004343160_015. ISBN 978-90-04-34316-0.
- Zwiep, Irene (2006). "No Friend of Humbug: Meijer Roest Mz., First Custodian of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (1881–1889)". Omnia in Eo: Studies on Jewish Books and Libraries. Studia Rosenthaliana. Peeters Publishers. p. 39. ISBN 978-90-429-1908-2.