Adolf Jellinek

Adolf Jellinek ( Aharon Jelinek; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845–1856), he became a preacher at the Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna in 1856. Life and work He was associated with the promoters of the Wissenschaft des Judentums, and wrote on the history of the Kabbalah in the tradition of Western scholarship. Jellinek is also known for his work in German on Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia, one of the earliest students of Kabbalah who was born in Spain in 1240. Jellinek's bibliographies (each bearing the Hebrew title Qontres) were useful compilations, but his most important work lay in three other directions: midrashic, psychological and homiletic. In 1857 he was appointed preacher at the new Leopoldstadt synagogue in Vienna, remaining there until he went to the Seitenstettengasse synagogue, also in Vienna, in 1865. In 1862 Jellinek founded the Beit ha-Midrash Academy where public lectures were delivered by himself, Isaac Hirsch Weiss, and Meir Friedmann. A scholarly periodical, also called Beit ha-Midrash, was published under its auspices. Jellinek published in the six parts of his Beit ha-Midrash (the above mentioned periodical; 1853–1878) a large number of smaller Midrashim, ancient and medieval homilies and folklore records, which have been of much service in the revival of interest in Jewish apocalyptic literature. A translation of these collections of Jellinek into German was undertaken by August Wuensche, under the general title Aus Israels Lehrhallen.