BLOCH, JOSEPH SAMUEL

(1850-1923)

   Austrian rabbi. He was born in Galicia. He served as a lecturer in the Vienna bet midrash. In 1882 he accused August Rohling of perjury for his allegation that Jews practised ritual murder. Rohling sued Bloch, but later withdrew his suit. Bloch was a member of the Austrian parliament. In 1885 he established the Union of Austrian Jews to Combat Anti-Semitism. His Israel and the Nations (1922) is a defence of Judaism.