Heinrich Hirsch Graetz

Background

Heinrich Graetz was born on October 31, 1817 in the village of Xions in the Prussian province of Posen (now Ksi�

ż Wielkopolski, Poland). He was the son of a butcher.

Education

From 1831 to 1836 Graetz went to the yeshivah in Wolstein (now Wolsztyn) near Poznan, where he followed the traditional Talmudic training. At the same time he taught himself Latin and French and read Euclid, the French and Latin classics, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Mendelssohn, J. C. F. von Schiller, and Heinrich Heine. One day he read a small book entitled Nineteen Letters, by Rabbi Hirsch of Oldenburg, an eloquent and scholarly defense of orthodoxy. In 1837 he resolved to go to Oldenburg to study with the author. Here he completed his Talmudic education. In 1842 Graetz entered the University of Breslau. As no Jew could obtain a Ph. D. at Breslau, he presented his thesis to the University of Jena. He received his doctoral degree in 1845. It was no help, however, in finding a position.

Career

Graetz failed to obtain a position as rabbi and preacher because of his lack of talent as an orator. After obtaining a teaching diploma, he was appointed head teacher of the orthodox religious school of the Breslau community, and in 1850, at Hirsch's recommendation, of the Jewish school of Lundenburg, Moravia. As a result of intrigues within the local community, he left Lundenburg in 1852 for Berlin, where during the following winter he lectured on Jewish history to theological students.

Finally, in 1853 he was named to the faculty of a newly founded rabbinical seminary at Breslau. In the same year appeared the first volume of his History of the Jews. Though not the first attempt to write such a work, it was, as he said, the first "Jewish history of the Jews. " When completed in 1876, it ran to 11 volumes. The theme of the work was "how the family of a petty sheik became the nucleus of a people; how this people was humiliated to the condition of a horde; how this horde was trained to become a nation of God through the law of self-sanctification and self-control; and how these teachings became breathed into it as its soul. "

Graetz wrote without the aid of detailed monographic studies and therefore often called upon his fantasy to fill in gaps of ignorance. He did not hesitate to voice his strong and sometimes unfavorable opinions of men and ideas. The work remains a vivid narrative and a classic in its field. After completing the History, Graetz turned to biblical exegesis, publishing works on the Psalms, Jeremiah, and Proverbs. He projected a critical edition of the Bible but died before he could complete it, on September 7, 1891.

Achievements

• Graetz’s great achievement was his 11-volume Geschichte der Juden von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart (“History of the Jews from Oldest Times to the Present”). His History became the basis and the source for the further study of Jewish history, and in some fields of research its influence is felt to this day.

Works

More photos

• book

  • History of the Jews. Volume 5. From the Chmielnicki Persecution of the Jews in Poland (1648 C.E.) to the Present Time (1870 C.E.)

    (This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original ...)

  • History of the Jews. Volume 4. From the Rise of the Kabbala (1270 C.E.) to the Permanent Settlement of the Marranos in Holland (1618 C.E.)

    (This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original ...)

  • History of the Jews: Volume 2. From the Reign of Hyrcanus (135 B.C.E.) to the Completion of the Babylonian Talmud (500 C.E.)

    (This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)

  • History of the Jews: Volume 1. From the Earliest Period to the Death of Simon the Maccabee (135 B.C.E.)

    (This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)

  • History of the Jews: Volume 3. From the Revolt Against the Zendik (511 C.E.) to the Capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the Mahometans (1291 C.E.)

Religion

Opposing the Christian view that Judaism completed its historic mission with the coming of Christ, Graetz insisted on the continuing vitality of the Jewish tradition through its many declines and revivals.

References

• History and Jewish Historians (Jesish Historians Essays and Addresses)