Neher, André
NEHER, ANDRÉ
NEHER, ANDRÉ (1914–1988), scholar and philosopher; born in Obernai (Alsace). After having taught German in a high school before and some years after World War ii, Neher spent the war years together with his father Albert Neher, his elder brother, Judge Richard Neher, and the rest of his family, dedicating his time to intensive Jewish studies. After the liberation of France, Neher emerged as a highly original and captivating thinker, and quickly became one of the spiritual leaders of the young intellectuals of the French-speaking world, preaching ideals of reasoned belief and of respect for tradition. After being appointed to the chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Strasbourg, he contributed to the development among the local Jewish community of deep feelings of responsibility toward the Jewish people in the world and toward the State of Israel in particular. Algerian Jews who came to Strasbourg found a warm welcome there, as a result of Neher's interest in them. Respected in all quarters, Neher was able to convince the local Catholic and Protestant leaders of the legitimacy of Jewish aspirations, including Zionism, and this had its repercussions at various national and international conventions.
Neher took part in various initiatives on behalf of Israel in the Diaspora. He established himself in Jerusalem, dividing his time between the University of Strasbourg and academic activity in Israel (mostly at Tel Aviv University). He was a consulting editor to the Encyclopaedia Judaica. The moving force of his philosophy is the "alliance" of God with Man, and in particular with the People of Israel. Neher found in the teachings of Judah Loew b. Bezalel (Maharal) a guide and inspiration.
His principal works include: Transcendance et immanence (1946; with Richard Neher); Amos, contribution à l'étude du prophétisme (1950); Notes sur Qohélét (1951); L'Essence du prophétisme (1955); Moïse et la vocation juive (1956); Jerémie (1960); Histoire biblique du peuple d'Israël (2 vols., 1962; with Renée Neher-Bernheim); L'Existence juive (1962), a collection of articles; Le Puits de l'exil–la théologie dialectique du Maharal de Prague (1966): De l'hébreu au français (1969); Etincelles, textes rabbiniques traduits et commentés (1970; with Abraham Epstein and Emile Sebban); L'Exil de la Parole, du silence biblique au silence d'Auschwitz (1970, English trans., 1980); Dans tes Portes Jerusalem (1972); David Gans, disciple du Maharal de Prague, assistant de Tycho Brahe et de Jean Kepler (1974); Clefs pour le Judaisme (1977); Oubekhol zot ("Nevertheless," in Hebrew, 1977); Le dur bonheur d' être Juif (1978); Ils ont refait Leur Ame (1979); Jérusalem, vécu juif et message (1984); Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century (1986); Faust et le Maharal de Prague, le mythe et le réel (1986); and Korot Am Israel be-Or ha-Mikra (an adaptation in Hebrew of his Histoire Biblique du Peuple d'Israël, in collaboration with his wife Renée Neher-Bernheim; 1986). In 1980 there appeared the second edition of his Jeremiah (1960). On the occasion of his 60th birthday Neher was presented with Melanges André Neher, containing a bibliography of his articles, listing 336 items. In addition, in 1983 appeared the third edition in French and the Italian and Japanese translations of his L'Exile de la Parole, the Japanese translation of his Moïse et la vocation juive, while in 1984 there appeared a selection of his writings in Russian, The Philosophy of André Neher. He received the 1977 Remembrance Award for Holocaust Literature established by the World Federation of the Bergen-Belsen Associations.
His wife, renÉe neher-bernheim (1922–), a historian, was born in Paris. In 1972 she was appointed lecturer in Jewish History at the School for Overseas Students of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She wrote Le Judaïsme dans le monde romain (1959), La Déclaration Balfour (1969), and in 1974 completed the publication of her Histoire Juive–faits et documents–de la Renaissance à nos jours (1963–65, 1974). In 1977 she published Documents inédits sur l'entrée des Juifs dans la société française (1750–1850), 2 volumes and in 1983, Feu Vert à Israël, l'époque décisive de la Déclaration Balfour. She later wrote Jérusalem, trois millénaires de histoire (1997), La vie juive en terre sainte sous les Turcs ottomans (1517–1918) (2001), and Histoire juive de la Révolution à l'Etat d'Israël (2002).
[Moshe Catane]
bibliography:
M. Blanchot, L'entretien infini (1968), 180–192; A. Lacocque and B. Keller, Foi et Vie (1968), 1–2, 19–23; J. Nedava, in: Moshe (1974), 6–15; A. Hazan, Mélanges Andre Neher (1975), Postface, 443–446.