Rosenzweig, Franz (fränts rō`zəntsvīkh'), 1886–1929, German-Jewish philosopher, b. Kassel. As a youth he was thoroughly trained in German philosophy and, after a near conversion to Christianity, dedicated himself to Jewish scholarship. His chief work, The Star of Redemption (1921; tr. of 2d ed. 1971), begun while he was a soldier in World War I, proved him to be one of the most original of modern Jewish thinkers. He drew from Orthodox, Reform, and Zionist views and created a philosophy that greatly attracted Jewish youth. Later, with his friend Martin Buber, he translated the Hebrew Scriptures into German. Other works in English include On Jewish Learning, ed. by N. N. Glatzer (1955).

Bibliography

See Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought, presented by N. N. Glatzer (2d ed. 1961); B. Martin, comp., Great Twentieth-Century Jewish Philosophers: Shestov, Rosenzweig, Buber (1969).

Rosenzweig, Franz

(born Dec. 25, 1886, Kassel, Ger.—died Dec. 10, 1929, Frankfurt am Main) German existentialist and religious philosopher. As a student at Berlin and Freiburg, he rejected the idealism of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. He briefly thought of converting to Christianity from Judaism but turned instead to an intensive reading of the Hebrew classics. While serving in World War I, he began to formulate the existentialist understanding of faith and belief that would eventuate in his major work, The Star of Redemption (1921). He collaborated with Martin Buber on a translation of the Hebrew scriptures in which he tried to restore what he thought was the existentialist tone of the original.