Alexander Altmann
Encyclopedia
Alexander Altmann was an Orthodox Jewish
scholar and rabbi
born in Kassa
, Austria-Hungary
, today Košice
, Slovakia
. He emigrated to England
in 1938 and later settled in the United States
, working productively for a decade and a half as a professor within the Philosophy Department at Brandeis University
. He is best known for his studies of the thought of Moses Mendelssohn
, and was indeed the leading Mendelssohn scholar since the time of Mendelssohn himself. He also made important contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism, and for a large part of his career he was the only scholar in the United States working on this subject in a purely academic setting. Among the many Brandeis students whose work he supervised in this area were Elliot Wolfson, Arthur Green
, Heidi Ravven
, Lawrence Fine, and Daniel Matt.
, one of the oldest Jewish communities in Germany. Altmann received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Berlin in 1931, writing his dissertation on the philosophy of Max Scheler
, and was ordained rabbi by the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
of Berlin in the same year. From 1931 to 1938 he served as rabbi in Berlin
and professor of Jewish philosophy
at the Seminary. After fleeing Nazi Germany
in 1938, Altmann served as communal rabbi in Manchester
, England
from 1938 to 1959. There, in addition to his responsibilities as a community leader, he continued to independently pursue his scholarly studies, publishing in 1946 a translation and commentary of Saadia
's Beliefs and Opinions.
His scholarly activities ultimately led him to found and direct the Institute of Jewish Studies
from 1953 to 1958, which at the time was an independent institution. He there edited the Journal of Jewish Studies and Scripta Judaica and authored his work on Isaac Israeli
. After securing the future of the Institute of Jewish Studies by bringing it under the auspices of the University College London
, in 1959 he left England to join the faculty of Brandeis University
in Waltham, Massachusetts
. Aged 53 at this time and the author of almost 100 publications, the Brandeis appointment was for Altmann his first university position. He served at Brandeis as the Philip W. Lown Professor of Jewish Philosophy and History of Ideas beginning in 1959 and until his promotion to Professor Emeritus and subsequent retirement in 1976. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1967. According to Alfred Ivry, Altmann was also a major force in acquiring for Brandeis the complete Vatican
Hebraica collection on microfilm.
From 1976 to 1978 he was a visiting professor at Harvard and at Hebrew University, and from 1978 until his death he was an Associate at the Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies. During his entire residence in the Boston
area (Newton Centre, to be precise), he always made his home a meeting place for Jewish scholars and students, often hosting them for Sabbath
meals. Altmann's thirst for new knowledge never abated, even in his later years. Lawrence Fine tells of attending a class on Coptic language
given at Brandeis University
in the early seventies, only to find there—as a fellow student—the 65-year-old Alexander Altmann, eager to acquire a new skill.
, English
, and Hebrew, some of which are listed below. For a brief period of time in his early career he involved himself with the construction of a Jewish theology, but this work was left unfinished, and his primary interests turned to medieval Jewish philosophy
and mysticism
, and particularly the work of the iconoclastic Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn
. Among his goals in undertaking his work on Mendelssohn were the restoration to this important Jewish figure his rightful recognition as an original philosopher and profound reasoner, not just a popularizer of Enlightenment thought. His work on Isaac Israeli
, the first medieval Jewish philosopher, likewise rescued this thinker from undeserved obscurity.
In his Maimonides on the Intellect and the Scope of Metaphysics (1986) he differed with Shlomo Pines
' 1979 interpretation of Maimonides
as a philosophical skeptic, arguing that Maimonides saw genuine value in the philosophical enterprise, and believed it could yield genuine truths .
A complete bibliography of his nearly 250 published works is presented in Bibliography of the published writings of Alexander Altmann. Some of the most popular are listed below:
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
scholar and rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
born in Kassa
Kassa
Kassa can either mean:* Košice a town in Slovakia*Kassa, Mali* Kassa A Dutch consumer protection TV program* Kassa an African ruler* Iles de Los*Kassa, Italian Artist and Designer, http://www.kassa.it...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, today Košice
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. He emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1938 and later settled in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, working productively for a decade and a half as a professor within the Philosophy Department at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. He is best known for his studies of the thought of Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
, and was indeed the leading Mendelssohn scholar since the time of Mendelssohn himself. He also made important contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism, and for a large part of his career he was the only scholar in the United States working on this subject in a purely academic setting. Among the many Brandeis students whose work he supervised in this area were Elliot Wolfson, Arthur Green
Arthur Green
Arthur Green is a scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidism. He is a professor in the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston. He was a dean of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1987–1993.-Biography:...
, Heidi Ravven
Heidi Ravven
Heidi Ravven is Professor of Religious Studies at Hamilton College. She specializes in ethics and philosophy and the intersection between neuroscience and emotions.-Biography:...
, Lawrence Fine, and Daniel Matt.
Biography
Alexander Altmann was the son of the Chief Rabbi of TrierTrier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, one of the oldest Jewish communities in Germany. Altmann received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Berlin in 1931, writing his dissertation on the philosophy of Max Scheler
Max Scheler
Max Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology...
, and was ordained rabbi by the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Azriel Hildesheimer for the training of rabbis in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.-History:...
of Berlin in the same year. From 1931 to 1938 he served as rabbi in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and professor of Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
at the Seminary. After fleeing Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1938, Altmann served as communal rabbi in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1938 to 1959. There, in addition to his responsibilities as a community leader, he continued to independently pursue his scholarly studies, publishing in 1946 a translation and commentary of Saadia
Saadia
Saadia is a Jewish name and Arabic name. it can refer to several people:*Saadia Gaon - Ninth century rabbi, philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.*Saadia Afzaal - Pakistani journalist and television news anchor....
's Beliefs and Opinions.
His scholarly activities ultimately led him to found and direct the Institute of Jewish Studies
Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London
The Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London is an institute located in London, United Kingdom dedicated to the academic study of all branches of Jewish history and civilization...
from 1953 to 1958, which at the time was an independent institution. He there edited the Journal of Jewish Studies and Scripta Judaica and authored his work on Isaac Israeli
Isaac Israeli
Isaac Israeli may refer to:* Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, ninth-century Jewish physician and scientist* Isaac Israeli ben Joseph, fourteenth-century Jewish astronomer...
. After securing the future of the Institute of Jewish Studies by bringing it under the auspices of the University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, in 1959 he left England to join the faculty of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
in Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
. Aged 53 at this time and the author of almost 100 publications, the Brandeis appointment was for Altmann his first university position. He served at Brandeis as the Philip W. Lown Professor of Jewish Philosophy and History of Ideas beginning in 1959 and until his promotion to Professor Emeritus and subsequent retirement in 1976. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1967. According to Alfred Ivry, Altmann was also a major force in acquiring for Brandeis the complete Vatican
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
Hebraica collection on microfilm.
From 1976 to 1978 he was a visiting professor at Harvard and at Hebrew University, and from 1978 until his death he was an Associate at the Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies. During his entire residence in the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area (Newton Centre, to be precise), he always made his home a meeting place for Jewish scholars and students, often hosting them for Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
meals. Altmann's thirst for new knowledge never abated, even in his later years. Lawrence Fine tells of attending a class on Coptic language
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
given at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
in the early seventies, only to find there—as a fellow student—the 65-year-old Alexander Altmann, eager to acquire a new skill.
Works
In his long academic career, Altmann produced a number of important works in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and Hebrew, some of which are listed below. For a brief period of time in his early career he involved himself with the construction of a Jewish theology, but this work was left unfinished, and his primary interests turned to medieval Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
and mysticism
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, and particularly the work of the iconoclastic Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
. Among his goals in undertaking his work on Mendelssohn were the restoration to this important Jewish figure his rightful recognition as an original philosopher and profound reasoner, not just a popularizer of Enlightenment thought. His work on Isaac Israeli
Isaac Israeli
Isaac Israeli may refer to:* Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, ninth-century Jewish physician and scientist* Isaac Israeli ben Joseph, fourteenth-century Jewish astronomer...
, the first medieval Jewish philosopher, likewise rescued this thinker from undeserved obscurity.
In his Maimonides on the Intellect and the Scope of Metaphysics (1986) he differed with Shlomo Pines
Shlomo Pines
Shlomo Pines was a scholar of Jewish and Islamic philosophy, best known for his English translation of Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed.-Biography:...
' 1979 interpretation of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
as a philosophical skeptic, arguing that Maimonides saw genuine value in the philosophical enterprise, and believed it could yield genuine truths .
A complete bibliography of his nearly 250 published works is presented in Bibliography of the published writings of Alexander Altmann. Some of the most popular are listed below:
- Saadya Gaon: Book of Doctrines and Beliefs (abridged edition translated from the Arabic with an introduction and notes), in Three Jewish Philosophers, Atheneum, New York, 1969
- Isaac IsraeliIsaac IsraeliIsaac Israeli may refer to:* Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, ninth-century Jewish physician and scientist* Isaac Israeli ben Joseph, fourteenth-century Jewish astronomer...
: A Neoplatonic Philosopher of the Early Tenth Century. His Works Translated with Comments and an Outline of His Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 1958, reprinted, Greenwood Press, 1979. - Biblical Motifs: Origins and Transformations, Harvard University Press, 1966.
- Moses Mendelssohn's Fruehschriften zur Metaphysik, Mohr (Tuebingen, Germany), 1969.
- Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism, Cornell University Press, 1969.
- Moses MendelssohnMoses MendelssohnMoses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
: A Biographical Study, University of Alabama Press, 1973. - Essays in Jewish Intellectual History, University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press, 1981.
- Essays in Judaism (in Hebrew), Tel-Aviv, 1982.