Saul Isaac Kaempf (born at Lissa, Posen, May 6, 1818; died at

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 ...

October 16, 1892) was an Austrian-Bohemian rabbi and Orientalist.

Life

He received his first lessons from his father, Aaron Jacob Kaempf, a Talmudic scholar, and then entered the gymnasium at Berlin and continued the study of the ''

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 ...

'' under E. Rosenstein. In 1836 he returned to Posen and studied under

Akiba Eger Rabbi Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , yi, עקיבא אייגער), or Akiva Güns (17611837) was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, influential halakhic decisor and foremost leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. He was also ...

. Four years later he entered the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, took up philosophy and philology, and became one of the favorite pupils of

Gesenius Gesenius is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Justus Gesenius (1601–1673), German theologian *Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (3 February 178623 October 1842) was a German orientalist ...

. He received the degree of Ph. D. and his rabbinical diploma, and accepted a call to

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard), ...

as teacher and preacher, in the same year (1844). Two years later he was called to Prague as preacher of the Temple Congregation, succeeding

Michael Sachs Michael Yechiel Sachs (; 3 September 1808 – 31 January 1864) was a Prussian rabbi from Groß-Glogau, Silesia. Life He was one of the first Jewish graduates from the modern universities, earning a Ph.D. degree in 1836. He was appointed Rabbi i ...

; he remained there until his retirement in 1890. In 1850 Kaempf became ''

privat-docent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

'' in Semitic languages at the University of Prague, his dissertation being ''Ueber die Bedeutung des Studiums der Semitischen Sprachen'' (Prague, 1850); eight years later he was appointed assistant professor of Oriental languages at the same university.

Works

Kaempf was a prolific writer. His works include: * "Biographie des Hochberühmten Hochseligen Herrn Akiba Eger, Oberrabbiner zu Posen, Nebst einem Hebräischen Trauergedicht" (with other Hebrew and German poems, Lissa, 1838) * "Die Ersten Makamen aus dem Tachkemoni, oder Divan des Charisi" (Berlin, 1845) * "Simrath Jah: Gottesdienstliches Gesangbuch, Eingeführt im Israelitischen Tempel zu Prag" (Prague, 1849) * "Nichtandalusische Poesie Andalusischer Dichter aus dem Elften, Zwölften und Dreizehnten Jahrhundert" (vol. ii. printed under the title "Zehn Makamen aus dem Tachkemoni, oder Divan des Charisi," ib. 1858) * "Suleiman: Dramatisches Gedicht" (ib. 1859) * "Mamtik Sod: Beleuchtung des Frankelschen Werkes 'Hodegetik zur Mischna' in Dogmatischer Beziehung," a defense of Frankel in his controversy with S. R. Hirsch (ib. 1861) * "Die Inschrift auf dem Denkmal Mesa's, König von Moab" (ib. 1870) * "Phönizische Epigraphik: Die Grabschrift Eschmunazars, Königs der Sidonier" (ib. 1874) * "Das Hohelied ins Deutsche Uebertragen" (ib. 1877). His collection of prayers for Jewish holidays and festivals, according to the ritual of the Temple Congregation of Prague (ib. 1854; also translated), has been frequently republished. In cooperation with

Ludwig Philippson Ludwig Philippson (28 December 1811 – 29 December 1889) was a German rabbi and author. Early life and education Ludwig Philippson was born in Dessau, the son of , a printer, writer, teacher, translator, publisher and a member of the Haskalah. H ...

and W. Landau he edited the Bible for the Jewish Bible Society. In addition to many single sermons delivered at celebrations and on various special occasions, several treatises of larger scope were contributed by him to various periodicals: "Ueber die Vorstellung der Alten Hebräer von der Unsterblichkeit der Seele" (in "Orient, Lit." 1842, Nos. 7-27); "Ueber Spinoza's Theologisch Politischen Traktat" (ib. 1842, Nos. 34-47); "Hillel der Aeltere" (ib. 1849).

External links

''Jewish Encyclopedia''
“Kaempf, Saul Isaac”
by Isidore Singer & Meyer Kayserling (1906). Now in public domain. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaempf, Saul Isaac 1818 births 1892 deaths Rabbis from Austria-Hungary Austrian orientalists

Life

Works

Further reading

External links