Joshua Bloch (December 9, 1890 – September 26, 1957) was a Lithuanian-born American rabbi and librarian.
[4] Bloch served as head of the Jewish Division of the New York Public Library from 1923 to 1956.
[5] In 1935, when pamphleteers Raymond J. Healey and Ernest F. Elmhurst claimed the Talmud commanded Jews to kill Christians for ritual purposes, Bloch discredited the blood libel accusation in the resulting trial by providing authoritative testimony that refuted the accusation.
He served as rabbi in Rockville Centre, New York, and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
He served on the American Jewish Historical Society's Executive Council and as its vice-president and Publications Committee Chairman.
[9] Bloch died from a heart attack at Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens Village, Queens, where he was delivering a Rosh Hashanah sermon as a chaplain of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene that operated the hospital, on September 26, 1957.