Abraham Benisch (; 1811 – 31 July 1878, London) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He wrote numerous works in the domain of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

, and

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

, and during a period of nearly forty years contributed weekly articles to the pages of the ''Jewish Chronicle''.

Biography

Benisch was born to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents at Drosau,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, in 1811. He studied

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

about 1836—while a commentary on Ezekiel which he had written was being published—with a view to preparing himself for a journey to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Together with his close friends and fellow students

Albert Löwy Albert Löwy (8 December 1816 – 21 May 1908) was a Moravian-born English Hebrew scholar and Reform rabbi. Biography He was born Abraham Löwy in Aussee, Moravia (now Úsov, Czech Republic), the eldest son of thirteen children of Leopold and ...

and

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, he founded in 1838 the proto-Zionist secret society "Die Einheit". For some years he studied medicine at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, but abandoned the study before proceeding to a degree. He left Austria in 1841 to settle in England, where he devoted himself to Jewish journalism and literature. His Hebrew learning and his actively displayed devotion to Judaism secured for him a high reputation among the Jews in England. In 1854 he became editor of the '' Jewish Chronicle'', which position he held till 1869, resuming the editorship again from 1875 till the year of his death. His editorial influence was exerted in favor of a moderate orthodoxy. He made quite a feature of the correspondence columns of the paper. Benisch took an active part in communal affairs, and helped to found several learned societies, including the Biblical Institute and its allies, the Syro-Egyptian and the Biblical Chronological Societies. These three were afterward fused into the

Society of Biblical Archaeology The Society of Biblical Archaeology was founded in London in 1870 by Samuel Birch to further Biblical archaeology. It published a series of ''Proceedings'' in which some important papers read before the Society were preserved. In 1919 the Societ ...

. He zealously promoted the formation of the Society of Hebrew Literature in 1870, and of the Anglo-Jewish Association in 1871. Benisch died at

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

on 31 July 1878. He left the copyright of the ''Jewish Chronicle'' to the Anglo-Jewish Association, which, shortly after his death, sold it to Israel Davis and Sydney Montagu Samuel.

Partial bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

References

* * 1811 births 1878 deaths 19th-century British male writers 19th-century British journalists 19th-century translators Austrian Empire emigrants to the United Kingdom British Hebraists British Jews British male journalists Czech Jews English newspaper editors Jewish translators of the Bible Male journalists People from Klatovy District Translators of the Bible into English {{UK-journalist-stub