Ephraim Urbach
Israeli scholar of Judaism
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Ephraim Elimelech Urbach (Hebrew: אפרים אלימלך אורבך; born 1912 – 3 July 1991) was a distinguished scholar of Judaism. He is best known for his landmark works on rabbinic thought, The Sages, and for research on the Tosafot. He was a candidate to presidency in Israel in 1973 but wasn't elected.[1]
- Scholar of Judaism
- Professor of Talmud
- The Sages
- Research on the Tosafot
Ephraim Urbach | |
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אפרים אורבך | |
| Born | 1912 |
| Died | July 3, 1991 (aged 78–79) |
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| Discipline | Jewish studies |
Sub-discipline | Rabbinic thought |
| Institutions | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Notable works | The Sages |
A professor of Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Urbach was a member and president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.[2]
Biography
Ephraim Elimelech Urbach was born in Włocławek, Poland,[3] to a hasidic family. He studied in Rome and Breslau, where he received rabbinic ordination in 1934.[3] He immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1938.[2] During World War II he served for four years as a chaplain in the British army.[3][2] Subsequently he served as director of Ma'aleh secondary school in Jerusalem,[3] before joining the Hebrew University faculty in 1953.[4]
Urbach died on 3 July 1991 at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after a long illness.[2] He is buried at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, near Menachem Begin.[citation needed]
Published works
- The Sages
- דרשות חז"ל על נביאי אומות העולם ועל פרשת בלעם "Rabbinic Exegesis About Gentile Prophets And The Balaam Passage" (Hebrew), Tarbitz (25:1956), Urbach explored the interpretation of the rabbis about Gittin 57a where Onkelos raises up Balaam from hell, and concluded that Balaam was not a reference to Jesus in the Talmud.[5]
Awards and recognition
- In 1955, Urbach was awarded the Israel Prize, for Jewish studies.[6]
- In 1983, he was a co-recipient (jointly with Nechama Leibowitz) of the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.[7]