Hanoch Albeck (August 7, 1890 - January 9, 1972) was a professor of Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. He was one of the foremost scholars of the Mishna in his time and he was one of the founders of the scientific approach to the study of the Mishna.

Hanoch's father Shalom Albeck, known as the Talmudic scholar, was the editor of a number of works by
Rishonim

Rishonim

"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...

 including Raavan

Eliezer ben Nathan

Eliezer ben Nathan of Mainz , Ra'aven , was a halakist and liturgical poet. As an early Rishon, he was a contemporary of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam, and one of the earliest of the Tosafists. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Eliakim b. Joseph of Mainz, a fellow student of Rashi...

, Meiri

Meiri

Meiri:* Rabbi Menachem Meiri , a famous Catalan rabbi, Talmudist, Maimondean* Elias Meiri, an Israeli pianist, husband of Timna Brauer* Yehudit Kafri , a 20th century Israeli poet, writer...

 on tractate Yevamot, and HaEshkol by Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne. Hanoch studied at the Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 rabbinical academy and he received rabbinical ordination in 1905. In 1921 he received a degree from the University of Vienna. Between 1926 and 1936 Albeck taught in the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums

The Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary, established in Berlin in 1872 destroyed by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942...

 in Berlin. In 1936 he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine where he was immediately appointed as professor and head of the Talmud department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a position he held for 25 years.

Albeck, who was a religiously observant Jew, published a number of books in Hebrew and German on rabbinical literature, including "Introduction to the Mishna", "Studies in Baraita

Baraita

Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...

 and Tosephta", "Introduction to the Talmuds", and others. In addition, he published numerous articles in the journal Tarbiz.

Professor Albeck also wrote a simple and concise commentary on the Mishna, appending longer footnotes at the ends of each volume. Pinchas Kehati

Pinchas Kehati

Pinchas Kehati was a rabbi and the author of משניות מבוארות Misnayot Mevuarot which is a commentary and elucidation on the entire Mishnah. This work was written in Modern Hebrew...

 sometimes quotes this work in his own commentary on the Mishna. While the vocalization (niqqud) received special attention in Albeck's edition, the text did not merit such attention, and therefore Albeck's Mishna is not a fully scientific version of the latter. Albeck's version was written as a continuation and expansion of the uncompleted earlier work of Hayyim Nahman Bialik

Hayyim Nahman Bialik

Hayim Nahman Bialik , also Chaim or Haim, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.-Biography:...

.

Albeck's teachers include: David Zvi Miller and Avigdor Optowitzer. His students include: the Talmudic scholar Avraham Goldberg

Avraham Goldberg

Avraham Goldberg is an Israeli talmud scholar. Goldberg was born in Pittsburgh, and was educated at yeshivot Torah V'Daat and Chafetz Chaim, as well as at the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied English literature. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1941...

 and Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...

 (one of the foremost Jewish thinkers in the 20th century).

Two of his children are Professor Michael Albeck, a lecturer in organic chemistry, and Professor Shalom Albeck, a lecturer in Jewish law (and the husband of advovate Pliah Albeck), both at Bar Ilan University. Albeck's son in law, Yoseph Aryeh Bachrach, was killed in the Israeli War of Independence in the battle for Jerusalem, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Awards

In 1957 it was announced that Albeck was to receive the Israel prize

Israel Prize

The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...

; however, as a matter of principle Albeck refused to accept the award.

In 1959 Albeck was elected as a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was set up in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between scholars from the sciences and humanities in Israel, to advise the government on research projects of national importance, and to promote excellence. It comprises...

.

In 1969 Albeck was awarded the Bialik Prize

Bialik Prize

The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...

 for Jewish thought.

Works by Albeck

• "Introduction to the Mishna", Bialik Institute, reprinted in 2005.
• "Introduction to the Talmuds",Dvir (1987)
• "Studies in Baraita
  Baraita
  Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
  
   and Tosephta", Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem (1969)
• "The Six Orders of the Mishna", Bialik Institute, last reprinted in 2008
• "Sefer Haeshkol by Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne", edited by Shalom and Hanoch Albeck, Wagshall, Jerusalem, reprinted in 1984

See also

• List of Bialik Prize recipients
  Bialik Prize
  The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...