Joseph Klausner

Joseph Gedaliah Klausner
Joseph Klausner
Born	(1874-08-20)20 August 1874 Olkeniki, Lithuania
Died	Jerusalem
Nationality	Israeli
Occupation	historian and professor of Hebrew Literature
Known for	redactor of the Encyclopedia Hebraica
Title	professor of Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Academic work
Institutions	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Notable works	Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times & Teaching

Joseph Gedaliah Klausner (Hebrew: יוסף גדליה קלוזנר‎; 20 August 1874 – 27 October 1958), was a Jewish historian and professor of Hebrew Literature. He was the chief redactor of the Encyclopedia Hebraica. He was a candidate for president in the first Israeli presidential election in 1949, losing to Chaim Weizmann. Klausner was the great uncle of Israeli author Amos Oz.

Biography

Joseph Klausner was born in Olkeniki, Vilna Governorate in 1874. At the turn of the 20th century, the Klausners left Lithuania and settled in Odessa. Klausner was active in the city's scientific, literary and Zionist circles. He was a committed Zionist, and knew Theodore Herzl personally.

In 1912, Klausner visited Palestine for the first time, and settled there in 1919. In 1925, he became a professor of Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialized in the history of the Second Temple period. Although not an Orthodox Jew, he observed Sabbath and the dietary laws. He had a wide grasp of the Talmud and Midrashic literature.

A young Joseph Klausner

Joseph Klausner was a member of the circle of Russian Zionist political activists from Odessa, which included Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Ussishkin. Although not a 'party man,' he was supported Revisionist Zionism. In July 1929, Klausner established the Pro-Wailing Wall Committee to defend Jewish rights, and resolve problems over access and arrangements for worship at the Western Wall. His house in Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was destroyed in the 1929 Palestine riots.

Despite his Zionist ideology, Klausner had numerous disagreements with Chaim Weizmann. The two were candidates in the presidential election of 1949; Weizmann was declared the first President of Israel.

Academic career

Klausner earned his Ph.D. in Germany. One of his most influential books was about Jesus. The book Jesus of Nazareth, and its sequel, From Jesus to Paul, gained him fame. In it, Klausner described how Jesus was best understood as a Jew and Israelite who was trying to reform the religion, and died as a devout Jew. Herbert Danby, an Anglican priest, translated the work from Hebrew into English so that English scholars might avail themselves of the information. A number of clergymen, incensed at Danby for translating the book, demanded his recall from Jerusalem. Later in his career, he was given a chair in Jewish history.

Amos Oz wrote about Klausner in his semi-autobiographical work A Tale of Love and Darkness.

Awards and honours

• In both 1941 and 1949, Klausner was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.
• In 1958, he was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish studies.
• In 1982, in recognition of his scholarly achievements, the State of Israel issued a stamp with his picture on it.

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients
• List of Bialik Prize recipients

External links

• "Into the fray: Joseph Klausner's approach to Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman world". Dissertation.
• (Univ. of) Heidelberg's Hope, address by Fania Oz-Salzberger, great-great-niece of Klausner
• Works by or about Joseph Klausner in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Herbert Danby: "The Jew and Christianity, Jewish attitude towards Christianity", ch.5 (I propose to bring this series of lectures to an end by describing...Dr. Joseph Klausner's Jesus of Nazareth : his Times, his Life and his Teaching ; and by indicating the kind of reception which this book has met within various Jewish circles...) read all online on archive.org
• The film that saved the wall