Abraham Lewinsky (1866–1941) was a late nineteenth to early twentieth century

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. He was born on 1 March 1866 in Loslau, Upper Silesia,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. He studied at the University of Breslau from 1884 to 1887, obtaining a (

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

), while pursuing his rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. In 1890 he became rabbi to Weilburg, and two years later assumed leadership as land rabbi of the ''Land Rabbinate of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

'' in the Province of Hanover, retiring in 1935. He died on 18 December 1941 in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, People's State of Hesse. Lewinsky is best known for his studies of the 1st century

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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

. He has also published works on a predecessor in the Hildesheim rabbinate, the seventeenth-century rabbi Samuel Hameln, brother-in-law of

Glückel of Hameln Glückel of Hameln (; also spelled Glückel, Glüeckel, or Glikl of Hamelin; also known as Glikl bas Judah Leib) ( – September 19, 1724) was a German Jewish businesswoman and diarist. Written in her native tongue of Western Yiddish over the cou ...

, and on the general history of Judaism in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

from the 16th to the eighteenth century.Herlitz, Georg, Bruno Kirschner, and Ismar Elbogen. Jüdisches Lexikon: ein enzyklopädisches Handbuch des jüdischen Wissens. Berlin: Jüdischer Verlag, 1927.

Published works

* Lewinsky, A. ''Beiträge zur Kenntnis der religionsphilosophischen Anschauungen des Flavius Josephus''. Breslau: Preuss & Jünger, 1887. * Lewinsky, A. ''Festpredigt zur Feier des 50jährigen Bestehens der Synagoge in Hildesheim am 12. November 1899''. Hildesheim: Gebr. Gerstenberg, 1899 * Lewinsky, A. ''Der Hildesheimer Rabbiner Samuel Hameln''. Hildesheim: A. Lax, 1900. * Lewinsky, A. ''Die Kinder des Hildesheimer Rabbiners Samuel Hameln''. Hidesheim: A. Lax, 1901. * Lewinsky, A. ''Zur Geschichte der Juden in Polen und Russlands während des 18. Jahrhundert.'' St. Petersburg, 1907.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewinsky, Abraham 1866 births 1941 deaths 19th-century German rabbis University of Breslau alumni Silesian Jews Clergy from the Province of Silesia People from Wodzisław Śląski Chief rabbis