Albert Katz (; 17 July 1858 – 16 December 1923), also known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Ish ha-Ruaḥ (), was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

-born rabbi, writer, and journalist.

Biography

Albert Katz was born in Lodz, and studied at the ''

yeshivot A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish education, Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish p ...

'' of

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

and

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

before moving to Berlin in 1881. He served as a rabbi in

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the ...

from April 1883 to 1886, and for Congregation Ohel Yitzḥak in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from April 1886 to 1887. From 1887 he devoted himself exclusively to writing. Together with , Katz founded the periodical ''Serubabel'' (1886–88), which promoted Jewish settlement in Israel. In 1890 he was hired as editor of the ''

Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums'' (until May 1903: ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums'') was a Jewish German magazine devoted to Jewish interests, founded in 1837 by Ludwig Philippson (1811–89), published first in Leipzig and later in Berl ...

'', eventually becoming its chief editor in 1919. He was also one of the founders of the ''Vereine für jüdische Literatur und Geschichte'' of Berlin, and of the ''Verband der Literatur-Vereine'' in Hanover (1894), and served as the latter's secretary. He died on 16 December 1923 at his apartment in

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. P ...

, and was buried at the

Weißensee Cemetery Weißensee (German: ''white lake'') may refer to: Places * Weissensee (Berlin), a district of Berlin *Weißensee, Thuringia, a town in Thuringia, Germany * Weissensee, Austria, a municipality in Carinthia, Austria * Weissensee (Carinthia), a lake i ...

Works

* Published in German as ''Der Jude und das Land seiner Väter''. * * Translation of I. B. Levinson's ''Efes Damim''. * Response to August Rohling's anti-Jewish work ''Der Talmudjude'' (1871). * * * A collection of stories including ''Eine Wette'', ''Der Car und der Rabbi'', ''David und Jonathan'' (adapted from a story by

I. L. Peretz Isaac Leib Peretz ( pl, Icchok Lejbusz Perec, yi, יצחק־לייבוש פרץ) (May 18, 1852 – April 3, 1915), also sometimes written Yitskhok Leybush Peretz was a Polish Jewish writer and playwright writing in Yiddish. Payson R. Stevens, Cha ...

), and ''Der Fasttag''. * * * Biographical sketches of

Tannaitic ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

scholars. * * * Adapted from a story by Jacob Dinezon. * * * Collection of twenty-seven homiletic essays.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Albert 1858 births 1923 deaths 19th-century German Jews 19th-century German journalists 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German rabbis German editors German people of Polish-Jewish descent German Zionists People from Pankow Polish editors Polish Zionists Writers from Berlin Writers from Łódź