Emil Ludwig Fackenheim (22 June 1916 – 19 September 2003) was a Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi.[1][2]
Born in Halle, Germany, he was arrested by Nazis on the night of 9 November 1938, known as Kristallnacht. Briefly interned at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (1938–1939), he escaped with his younger brother Wolfgang[3] to Great Britain, where his parents later joined him. Emil's older brother Ernst-Alexander,[3] who refused to leave Germany, was killed in the Holocaust.
Held by the British as an enemy alien after the outbreak of World War II, Fackenheim was sent to Canada in 1940, where he was interned at a remote internment camp near Sherbrooke, Quebec.[4] He was freed afterward and served as the Interim Rabbi at Temple Anshe Shalom in Hamilton, Ontario, from 1943 to 1948.[4] After this he enrolled in the graduate philosophy department of the University of Toronto and received a PhD from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on medieval Arabic philosophy (1945) and became Professor of Philosophy (1948–1984). He was among the original editorial advisors of the scholarly journal Dionysius. In 1971, he received an honorary doctorate from Sir George Williams University, which later became Concordia University.[5]
Fackenheim researched the relationship of the Jews with God, believing that the Holocaust must be understood as an imperative requiring Jews to carry on Jewish existence and the survival of the State of Israel. He emigrated to Israel in 1984.
"He was always saying that continuing Jewish life and denying Hitler a posthumous victory was the 614th law," referring to the 613 mitzvot given to the Jews in the Torah.[6]
^Joffe, Lawrence (10 October 2003). "Obituary, Guardian Unlimited, 10 October 2003". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
^Wolfgang Saxon (13 October 2003). "Emil Fackenheim, 87, Scholar Of Judaism and the Holocaust". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^ ab"Unser Gedenkbuch für die Toten des Holocaust in Halle". Halle (in German). Gedenkbuch.halle.de. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
^ abChicago Jewish Star, 9 May 2008.
^French, S.G. (June 1971). "Honorary Degree Citation - Emil Fackenheim". Concordia University Archives. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
^"Jewish philosopher rabbi Emil Fackenheim dies at 87 - San Francisco Chronicle, 21 September 2003". SFGate. Archived from the original on 9 December 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
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Name Born Died Genre Notable works EmilFackenheim 1916 2003 historian, philosopher Jean Mohsen Fahmy 1942 novelist, short stories, literary criticism...
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