Henry A. Fischel

:"See also Fischel."

Henry A. Fischel (born 20 November 1913) was professor emeritus of Near Eastern languages and cultures at Indiana University. Henry died peacefully on March 18th, 2008.

Fischel was an influential figure in founding the Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University. Under his direction, the Lilly Endowment gave the university a grant in 1972-73 to develop a Jewish Studies Program. Professor Fischel lived in Bloomington, Indiana until his death.

" Obituary"

yizkor " nishmat Heinz Fischel labrachah

Born in Bonn, Germany in 1913, Henry A. Fischel was the son of Anna (nee Suessengut) and Adolf Fischel.

After completing secondary school in Bonn, he studied philosophy at the University of Berlin, and Judaica at the Hochschule fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums, a liberal rabbinical seminary in Berlin. He was ordained as rabbi in 1939, after having been detained for several months at a Nazi concentration camp. He continued his studies at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, and was awarded a PhD in 1945.

In 1941, he came to Canada, where he initially lived in a holding camp, and served as rabbi for other refugees from Germany. For the next half century, he held distinguished rabbinical and academic positions in Canada and in the United States, including professorships at Brandeis University and at Indiana University. He joined the faculty of Indiana University in 1961.

He published numerous books and articles exploring the relationship between Jewish literature and the Hellenistic world, and was a pioneer in this area of research. Among extensive academic honors and offices, he served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature in Canada, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

He was a cherished husband and father, and a beloved teacher, colleague, and friend.

An accomplished musician, he delighted his many friends and neighbors at Meadowood Retirement Community with piano recital-talks. Among his other hobbies, he was an avid chess player, a near-expert philatelist, and an eager tennis player. As a student, he played soccer, and twice competed in international boxing bouts, as a youth fly-weight.

He is survived by daughter, Antoinette Jourard of St. Augustine, Florida; daughter Miriam Herman and son-in-law Marvin Sharp of Victoria, BC Canada; nephew Robert Newhouser of New York, New York; five grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Sylvia (nee Morris) Fischel, and his sister Lotte Newhouser. His mother, nine uncles and aunts, and three cousins perished in the Holocaust.

"Literary works"

* "Rabbinic Literature and Greco-Roman Philosophy: A Study of Epicurea and Rhetorica in Early Midrash" (Leiden, 1973).
* -- "Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature," ed. by Henry A. Fischel, (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1977)
* -- Story and History: Observations on Greco-Roman Rhetoric and Pharisaism. Denis Sinor, editor. American Oriental Society, Middle West Branch, Semi-Centennial Volume. Bloomington, IL; 1969; pp. 59-78.
* ---. Story and History: Observations on Greco-Roman Rhetoric and Pharisaism. in: Henry Fischel, editor. Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature. New York: Ktaw; 1977; pp. 443-472
* --"Studies in Cynicism and the Ancient Near East: the Transformation of a Chria. in Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of Erwin Ransdall Goodenough_:372-411
* ---. The Uses of Sorites (Climax, Gradatio). Hebrew University College Annual. 1973; 44:119-151

*--- The First book of Maccabees , Fischel, Henry A. (Henry Schocken Books, 1948. BS1823 .F57 1948

External links