Hirsch Jakob Zimmels (29 December 1900 – 9 November 1974) was a rabbi and historian of Judaism.

He obtained a PhD from the University of Vienna in 1926, and was ordained there the following year.^[1] In 1939, he fled to London after the Nazi Anschluss.^[2] He was interned by the British government in a camp in Australia between 1940 and 1942, after which he returned to London, and was appointed a lecturer in Bible, Talmud and Jewish history at Jews' College, London.^[1][2] In 1961 he became director of studies at that institution, and was appointed principal in 1964, exercising that role until 1969. He wrote widely on Ashkenazi history and culture.^[1][2]