WUENSCHE, AUGUST KARL°

WUENSCHE, AUGUST KARL° (1839–1913), German scholar of the Bible and aggadah. Wuensche, who was born in Haimwalde, Germany, was a pupil of franz delitzsch and julius fuerst . He wrote commentaries on Joshua (1868) and Joel (1872), and also general studies such as Die Schoenheit des Alten Testaments (1906), and Die Bildersprache des Alten Testaments (1897). His main researches, however, were in rabbinic literature. His translations into German of the aggadot of the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, Der Jerusalemitische Talmud … Haggadischen Bestandteilen (1880), and Der Babylonische Talmud … (1886–89) gave Wuensche a great reputation among scholars. He also translated the Midrash Rabbah, the Pesikta de-R. Kahana, and the Midrash of the five scrolls, as well as a five-volume collection of Midrashim from the Beit ha-Midrash of A. Jellinek entitled Aus Israels Lehrhaus (1907–10). Of great importance is Wuensche's three-volume anthology of Jewish literature after the conclusion of the Bible, Die juedische Literatur seit Abschluss des Kanon, (1894–96), which he edited with jacob winter . His other works include: Neue Beitraege zur Erlaeuterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrasch (1878); Die Raetselweisheit bei den Hebraeern (1883); and Die Freude im Alten Testament (1896). (Jerucham Tolkes)