David ben Naphtali Fränkel or David Hirschel Fränkel (c. 1704 – 4 April 1762), was a German rabbi.

Biography

Born in Berlin, for a time he was rabbi of Dessau. He became chief rabbi of Berlin in 1742. Fränkel exercised a great influence as teacher over Moses Mendelssohn, who followed him to the Prussian capital. It was Fränkel who introduced Mendelssohn to Maimonides' Moreh Nevuchim, and it was he, too, who befriended his poor disciple, procuring for him free lodging and a few days' board every week in the house of Hayyim Bamberger. His grandson was Jonah Frankel, the German Jewish businessman, banker and philanthropist. As a Talmudist, Frankel was almost the first to devote himself to a study of the Jerusalem Talmud, which had been largely neglected.

Writings

He gave a great impetus to the study of this work by his Korban ha-Edah ("The Communal Sacrifice"), a commentary in three parts. His additional notes on the Jerusalem Talmud and on Maimonides were published, together with the preceding work, under the title Shirei Korban (Dessau, 1743). Amid the turmoil of the Seven Years' War, he delivered a sermon with the following title: