Dr. Adolf (Aaron) Jellinek (1820/21–1893), born in a village near Uhersky Brod, Moravia, into a family which he believed to be of Hussite origin, was a rabbi, preacher and scholar. After attending the yeshivah of R. Menahem Katz (Wannfried) in Prostejov (Prossnitz), in 1838 he moved to Prague where he was influenced by R. Solomon Judah Rapoport, Michael Jehiel Sachs, and Wolfgang Wessely. Moving to Leipzig in 1842, he studied philosophy and Semitics at the university there, assisted Julius Fuerst in editing the Orient, and in 1845 was appointed preacher in the new synagogue which was established under the guidance of Zacharias Frankel. Although he opposed the radical views of his brother, Herman Jellinek, he enthusiastically hailed the freedom resulting from the 1848 revolution. Together with Christian clergymen he then founded the Kirchlicher Verein fuer alle Religionsbekenntnisse, an association open to all religious denominations. He was also on the board of an association) formed to support Germans in the Slav countries. In 1857 he was appointed preacher at the new Leopoldstadt synagogue in Vienna, remaining there until he went to the Seitenstetten synagogue in 1865.

In 1862 Jellinek founded the Beit ha-Midrash Academy where he delivered public lectures. A scholarly periodical, also called Beit ha-Midrash, was published under its auspices. Jellinek was considered the greatest preacher of his day and some 200 of his sermons were published, some in translations into Hebrew and other languages. Their most striking characteristic was that, while related to actual problems of the day, they made brilliant and original use of aggadah and Midrash. Jellinek also produced a large number of scholarly works in numerous fields.