Emanuel Synagogue (Hartford, Conn.)

Hans Kohn was born in Prague on September 15, 1891. He was active in Jewish student organizations in Prague, and it was during this period that he came to know Martin Buber. He was a professor at Smith College in Northampton, at City College in New York, and the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan. The author of numerous books and publications, including one of the first Buber biographies, he wrote extensively on the topics of nationalism, pan-Slavism, German thought, and the Jewish religion. He died in 1971.

Alexander Altmann, a distinguished rabbi and scholar, was born in Hungary in 1906 and studied in Berlin. He was ordained and served as a rabbi during the 1930s in Berlin, where he was a leading figure in the Jewish resistance to Nazism. In 1938, he fled Germany with his family and moved to England, where he founded the Institute of Jewish Studies. In 1959, he took a position at Brandeis University, teaching and serving as the director of the Lown Institute of Advanced Judaic Studies. He died in 1987.

Martin Buber was born in Vienna on February 8, 1878. Buber studied in Vienna, Zurich, and Berlin, and quickly became a leading religious figure in the Zionist movement during the first half of the 20th Century. He taught Jewish philosophy and religion at the University of Frankfurt from 1924 to 1933, but escaped Nazi Germany in 1938 and took a position at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. An existentialist, Buber became widely known for his philosophy of dialogue, which views human existence in terms of relations, including the I-Thou relation. He died in 1965.

Hans Kohn was born in Prague on September 15, 1891, and grew up under the Hapsburg monarchy. He was active in Jewish student organizations in Prague, and it was during this period that he came to know Martin Buber, who often made addresses at the invitation of the student organization, Bar Kochba, to which Kohn belonged. During World War I, he was captured as a prisoner of war and held in Russia for five years, including a year in Siberia. For the next ten years, he lived in France, England and Palestine.

He was a professor at Smith College in Northampton for fifteen years, and at City College in New York for over ten years. At the time of this seminar, he held a position at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan. The author of numerous books and publications, including one of the first Buber biographies, he wrote extensively on the topics of nationalism, pan-Slavism, German thought, and the Jewish religion. He died in 1971.

Alexander Altmann was born in Hungary in 1906 and studied in Berlin, receiving a degree from the University of Berlin. He was ordained and served as a rabbi during the 1930s in Berlin, where he was a leading figure in the Jewish resistance to Nazism. In 1938, he fled Germany with his family and moved to England, where he was appointed communal rabbi of Manchester. There, he founded the Institute of Jewish Studies, which later moved to University College, London.

In 1959, he took a position at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, teaching philosophy and serving as the director of the Lown Institute of Advanced Judaic Studies. He remained at Brandeis until his retirement in 1976. Altmann was a distinguished rabbi and scholar, and was the author of numerous publications on topics such as Moses Mendelssohn, Jewish mysticism, classical rabbinic literature, medieval Judeo-Arabic philosophy, and modern Jewish thought. He died in 1987.

Martin Buber was born in Vienna on February 8, 1878. Buber studied in Vienna, Zurich, and Berlin, and quickly became a leading religious figure in the Zionist movement during the first half of the 20th Century. He taught Jewish philosophy and religion at the University of Frankfurt from 1924 to 1933, but escaped Nazi Germany in 1938 and took a position at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. An existentialist, Buber became widely known for his philosophy of dialogue, which views human existence in terms of relations, including the I-Thou relation. He died in 1965.