ABSTRACT
In 1872 the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums first opened its doors to students in Berlin. In 1874 Ismar Elbogen was born in Schildberg in the Prussian province of Posen. For most of his mature life he served the Hochschule, the embodiment of WdJ, as professor, organiser, administrator, warm-hearted and wise counsellor of generations of students, and as a dynamic scholar of outstanding qualities of character and intellect. With indomitable courage and determination he strove to further the knowledge and understanding of Judaism, its basic teachings, history and fate. An exile in the United States, his new home from 1938, he died in 1943 in the fulness of a life crowded with ceaseless work, and of selfless devotion to the scientific study, explanation and presentation of Judaism. His legacy is of permanent value: it is a monument to German Jewry in its most creative last period, a solid contribution to WdJ through important publications spanning 46 years of original research, and a popular presentation of the ebb and flow of Jewish life and thought which reflects the integrity of mature, well-informed scholarship and the warm heart of a devout, practising Jew.
