Samuel Baeck, also spelled Samuel Bäck ' onMouseout='HidePop("30876")' href="/topics/Moravia">Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, April 3, 1834 – died Lissa

Lissa

Lissa is:* the old Venetian name for the Adriatic island of Vis* the German name for the town of Leszno in Poland when it had a Moravian college and a gymnasium...

, May 11, 1912) was a German rabbi and father of Leo Baeck.

His father, Nathan Baeck, was rabbi in Kromau, Moravia; his grandfather, Abraham, rabbi in Holitsch, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. Samuel Baeck married Eva Placzek (1840-1926), the daughter of Abraham Placzek, chief rabbi of Moravia.

After being educated in the public schools of Kromau and at the Talmudic schools of Nikolsburg (Moravia) - now Mikulov

Mikulov

Mikulov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 7,608 . It is located directly on the border with Lower Austria. Mikulov is located at the edge of a hilly area and the three Nové Mlýny reservoirs...

 - and Pressburg, Baeck studied at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

, continuing his Talmudic studies under R. Horwitz. After receiving his diploma as rabbi from the chief rabbi Placzek of Boskovice

Boskovice

Boskovice is a town in the Czech Republic.-Location:The town is situated in the Drahanská Highlands, about 30–40 km to the north of Brno, the most important city of Moravia.-History:...

, he was appointed rabbi in Böhmisch Leipa, and was in 1864 called as rabbi to the celebrated community of Lissa

Lissa

Lissa is:* the old Venetian name for the Adriatic island of Vis* the German name for the town of Leszno in Poland when it had a Moravian college and a gymnasium...

, province of Posen

Province of Posen

The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....

. He was a member of the municipal school committee and of the "Waisenrat", instructor in the Jewish religion at the gymnasium, and a delegate to the Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeindebund. He was the first to advocate with success the introduction of the teaching of the Jewish religion in the colleges of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

.

Published works

• Inder und Hebräer (Indians and Hebrews);
• Erzählungen und Religionssätze der Heiligen Schrift, Lissa, 1875, 2d ed. 1886;
• Systematische Religionssätze der Heiligen Schrift, ib. 1875;
• Geschichte des Judischen Volkes und Seiner Literatur vom Babylonischen Exile bis auf die Gegenwart (History and Literature of the Jewish People from the Babylonian Exile to the Present Day) ib. 1878, 2d ed., 1894;
• Die Halachistische und Responsen Literatur, die Literatur der Darshanim, Sittenlehrer, und Apologeten, in Winter and Wünsche, Jüdische Literatur, vols. ii. and iii.

Sources