Mojsije Margel ( hr, Moše Margel; born 13 November 1875 in Mościsko, died 30 April 1939 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

) was

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 ...

of Zagreb, lexicographer, and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

scholar.

Early life

Margel attended a

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

school. At the age of 15 Margel sent a poem in Hebrew to the Jewish magazine ''Ha-Maggid''. Upon successful completion of Talmud school, Margel began his Jewish theological seminary studies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

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 ...

. Margel finished successfully the

Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile ...

subject in Berlin and

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. In

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Margel published Hebrew magazine ''Ocar Hasifrut'' around which he gathered the best associates, and the most prominent Hebrew writers and philologists of the time.

Religious life

As a rabbi Margel was first active in the Slovak town of

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; german: Rosenberg; hu, Rózsahegy; pl, Rużomberk) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 27,000 inhabitants (45,000 with nearby villages). Etymology The name of the initia ...

. In 1903 he took over the service as a rabbi and Jewish religious teacher in the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n town of Požega. In 1908 he became a member of the Jewish Rabbis committee. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Margel took over the pastoral care of Military Rabbinate in

and Italy. In 1919 Margel was appointed as a director of the Zagreb Jewish elementary school. From 1927 until 1937, in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Margel was rabbi of the Jewish community in Zagreb. Due to s health problems Margel retired in 1937 as a community rabbi. His brother Juda Margel, was the rabbi of the

Nova Gradiška Nova Gradiška is a town located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,229 (2011). It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first word in the name means ''New'', and there' ...

Jewish Community.

Scientific and publisher activities

Margel's scientific activities were primarily connected with the Hebrew language, especially the Hebrew literature and lexicography. He was valued for his expertise in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In Požega, in 1906, he wrote and published the German-Hebrew dictionary. Margel wrote many articles and studies that were published in the Jewish press and has written articles for capital edition of

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was the editor of the Jewish almanac from 1925 until 1930, which was published under Rabbinate of the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( sh, Država Slovenaca, Hrvata i Srba / ; sl, Država Slovencev, Hrvatov in Srbov) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( ...

. Margel was considered as a late member of the

Haskala The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

movement in Europe.

Death

Margel died on 30 April 1939 in Zagreb and was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

. Gradska groblja Zagreb: Mojsije Margel, Mirogoj Ž-12-I-36 The Margel Institute in Zagreb was named after him.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Margel, Mojsije 1875 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Croatian rabbis Croatian people of Polish-Jewish descent Rabbis from Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery German Orthodox rabbis Modern Orthodox rabbis Croatian Orthodox rabbis