Topic summary
David Zvi Hoffmann
David Zvi Hoffmann (November 24, 1843, Verbó, Austrian Empire – November 20, 1921, Berlin) (Hebrew: דוד צבי הופמן), was an OrthodoxRabbi and Torah scholar. He headed the Yeshiva in Berlin, wrote on and the Mishnah, and produced commentaries on the Pentateuch that responded to contemporary biblical criticism. He is referred to as רד"צ הופמן - Radatz Hoffmann - in later Rabbinic writing.
He was an expert in Midrash halakha and the foremost halakhic authority in Germany in his generation.
He is well known for his strident literary opposition to the Graf-Wellhausen theories of Biblical origin, while he quotes prominent Wissenschaft figures in his researches on Mishnah and Talmud.
His commentary on the Pentateuch is still often referred to.