Emil Fackenheim (June 22, 1916 – September 18, 2003) was a noted Jewish philosopher and rabbi.

Born in Halle, Germany, he was arrested by the Nazis on the night of November 9, 1938, known as Kristallnacht. Briefly interned at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (1938–1939), he managed to get away for Great Britain, where his parents later joined him. Emil's older brother 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 revceived Ph.D. at University of Toronto (1945) and became Professor of Philosophy (1948–1984).

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 ([1]).

Bibliography

• God's Presence in History (1972)
• To Mend the World (1982).

External links

• Obituary by Anne Bayefsky