Gotthard Deutsch

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Gotthard Deutsch (Hebrew: אליעזר דויטש; 31 January 1859 – 14 October 1921) was a scholar of Jewish history.

Education

Deutsch was born in

In 1881 Deutsch accepted a probational position as sabbath schoolteacher for a Jewish congregation in Brno, Moravia. The following year he was appointed to teach religion at the city's German high school. After teaching for six years (1881–1887) at Brno, he entered the rabbinate. His first and only charge came in 1887, in the town of Most, Bohemia. Deutsch was far from content at his new vocation. Soon, he yearned for an academic milieu and the opportunity of satisfying his craving for knowledge. At Most, he married in May 1888 Hermine Bacher; the couple had three sons and two daughters.

In 1891, at the invitation of

Shortly thereafter, at a friend's naturalization hearing, Deutsch refused to answer the question "Who do you want to win in this war?" Those activities and subsequent newspaper headlines led many colleagues and the public to demand his immediate removal from the college's faculty. Only the staunch support of his students, friends, and leading Reform rabbis enabled Deutsch to continue teaching.

Death

Deutsch died at his home in Cincinnati at age 62. He was mourned by Jew and non-Jew, progressive and conservative; thousands filled the Cincinnati Crematory to pay their last respects.

Work and legacy

Although a biblical scholar, Deutsch is also known for his two novels and works on history and language. One of the world's greatest Jewish scholars, Deutsch possessed a knack for memorizing facts, biblical scriptures, secular literature, and world history. He also wrote in several languages, including

A prolific writer, Deutsch produced hundreds of newspaper and journal articles with commentary; these appeared mainly in the

• Paradigmen-Tafeln zur hebräischen Grammatik (1886)
• Die Symbolik in Cultus und Dichtung bei den Hebräern (1886)
• Philosophy of Jewish History (1897)
• Andere Zeiten, eine Erzählung aus dem jüdischen Leben der jüngsten Vergangenheit (1898)
• Unlösbare Fesseln, eine Erzählung aus dem jüdischen Leben der Gegenwart (1903)
• Memorable Dates of Jewish History (1904)
• Four Epochs of Jewish History (1905)
• Israel Bruna, an Historical Tragedy in Five Acts (1908)
• The History of the Jews (1910)
• Der Glaube an Hobelspäne (1914)
• Scrolls (2 vols., 1917; 3rd vol., 1919), and other pamphlets and reprints. His works are considered by many to be the authoritative word on questions relating to the Jewish faith.

Sources

• The Bernhard Felsenthal Papers, in the Hebrew Jewish Archives, contain an extensive record of correspondences between Deutsch and Bernhard Felsenthal.
• Adolph S. Oko, Selected List of the Writings of Gotthard Deutsch (1916), presents an extensive bibliography of Deutsch's major publications.
• Biographical sketches of Deutsch are in Max Raisin, Great Jews I Have Known (1952), pp. 143–52, and an excellent unpublished sketch by Raisin in the Hebrew Jewish Archives.
• Celebrating Deutsch's semi-jubilee, the Hebrew Union College Monthly (2, no. 8 [May 1916]) published a series of tributes and editorials by E. L. Heinsheimer, Henry Englander, Abraham Jehiel Feldman, S. Felix Mendelsohn, H. B. Cantor, and Jacob I. Meyer, among others. These papers treat Deutsch's religious concerns, contribution to literature, and his role in Jewish history.
• A useful history of Hebrew Union College is Samuel E. Karff, ed., Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at One Hundred Years (1976).
• A comprehensive memorial by Henry Englander is in "Memorial Addresses and Resolutions: Gotthard Deutsch", Central Conference of American Rabbis 32 (1922): 145–49. Obituaries are in The New York Times, 15 Oct. 1921; American Hebrew, 21 Oct. 1921; B'nai B'rith News, Oct. 1921; Hebrew Union College Monthly 8, no. 5 (Mar. 1922); and Jewish Advocate, 20 Oct. 1921.
• Carl Edwin Lindgren, "Gottard Deutsch" American National Biography Online Feb. 2000 (Oxford University Press)