Hermann Strack

Hermann Leberecht Strack (1848-1922) was a German Protestant theologian and Orientalist; born at Berlin May 6, 1848. Since 1877 he was assistant professor of Old Testament exegesis and Semitic languages at the University of Berlin. He was the foremost Christian authority in Germany on Talmudic and rabbinic literature, and studied rabbinics under Steinschneider. Since the reappearance of anti-Semitism in Germany, Strack had been the champion of the Jews 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 Berlin; and in 1883 he founded the "Institutum Judaicum", which aims at the conversion of Jews to Christianity. In the beginning of his career the Prussian 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 material found by Solomon Schechter.

elected 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" (Carlsruhe, 1883; 3d ed. Munich, 1902);
*"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;
*"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;
*"Die Juden. Dürfen Sie 'Verbrecher von Religionswegen' Genannt Werden?" (Berlin, 1893);
*"Abriss des Biblischen Aramäisch" (Leipzig, 1897).
*"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 Billerbeck; (4 volumes).

Since 1886 Strack was associated with Zoeckler in 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".

References

*JewishEncyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1116&letter=S |article=Hermann Strack