Jacob Katz (Hebrew: יעקב כ"ץ) (born 15 November 1904 in Magyargencs, Hungary, died 20 May 1998 in Israel) was an acclaimed Jewish historian and educator.
In his youth he pursued both religious and secular studies, receiving rabbinic ordination[1][2] and a doctorate in social history.
[3] After two and a half years, he became interested in the work of Friedrich Schiller, Theodore Herzl and Ahad Ha'am.
[3] In 1927, Katz wrote his first article for an Orthodox newspaper in Budapest, Zsido Ujsag, to protest against a local rabbi who warned Hungarian Jews stay away from Zionist or quasi-Zionist activities.
The article was reprinted in the Zionist newspaper of Hungary Zsido Szemle, which praised him for understanding of the needs of the times better than the leaders of Orthodoxy.
Katz expressed admiration for Rabbi Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan), Nahum Sokolov and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who regarded building up Israel as the primary task of the generation.
[1] In 1945 Katz presented his article "Marriage and Sexual Relations at the close of the Middle Ages" at a conference of historians.