David ben Naphtali Fränkel or David Hirschel Fränkel, (c. 1704 – April 4, 1762), was a Jewish German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 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 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...

, for a time he was rabbi of Dessau

Dessau

Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...

. He became chief rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of Berlin in 1742. Fränkel exercised a great influence as teacher over Moses Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...

, who followed him to the Prussian capital. It was Fränkel who introduced Mendelssohn to 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...

' Moreh Nevuchim, and it was he, too, who befriended his poor disciple, procuring for him free lodging and a few days' board every week in the house of Hayyim Bamberger.

As a Talmudist Fränkel was almost the first to devote himself to a study of the Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...

, which had been largely neglected. He gave a great impetus to the study of this work by his Korban ha-Edah, a commentary in three parts (part 1, on the order Mo'ed, Dessau, 1743; part 2, on Nashim

Nashim

Nashim is the third order of the Mishnah , containing the laws related to women and family life...

, Berlin, 1757; part 3, on Nezikin

Nezikin

For Jewish law on damages, see Damages Nezikin or Seder Nezikin is the fourth Order of the Mishna...

, ib. 1760). His additional notes on the Jerusalem Talmud and on Maimonides were published, together with the preceding work, under the title Shiyyure Korban, (Dessau, 1743).
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Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: Azulai

Chaim Joseph David Azulai

Chaim Joseph David Azulai ben Isaac Zerachia , commonly known as the Chida , was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings.- Biography :Azulai was born in Jerusalem, where he received his education...

, Shem ha-Gedolim, ii. 94; Eliakim Carmoly

Eliakim Carmoly

Eliakim Carmoly was a French-Jewish scholar. He was born at Soultz-Haut-Rhin, then in the French department of Haut-Rhin. His real name was Goschel David Behr ; the name Carmoly, borne by his family in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, was adopted by him when quite young...

, Notices Biographiques, in Revue Orientale, iii. 315; Moritz Steinschneider

Moritz Steinschneider

Moritz Steinschneider was a Bohemian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider , who was not only an expert Talmudist, but was also well versed in secular science...

, Cat. Bodl. col. 882; G. Karpeles, Gesch. der Jüdischen Litteratur, pp. 1060, 1071, 1100; J. H. Dessauer, Gesch. der Israeliten, p. 498; Heinrich Graetz

Heinrich Graetz

Heinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....

, Hist. v. 293-294; Leser Landshuth

Leser Landshuth

Leser Landshuth was a German Jewish liturgiologist.He went to Berlin as a youth to study Jewish theology, and there he became acquainted with Leopold Zunz and Abraham Geiger, the latter of whom was then staying in that city in order to become naturalized in Prussia...

, Toledot Anshe ha-Shem, pp. 35 et seq., Berlin, 1884; Meyer Kayserling

Meyer Kayserling

Meyer Kayserling was a German rabbi and historian.-Life:He was educated at Halberstadt, Nikolsburg , Prague, Würzburg, and Berlin. He devoted himself to history and philosophy...

, Moses Mendelssohn, pp. 9 et seq., Leipzig, 1862.