Abraham Sutro

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Abraham Sutro

Abraham Sutro ( July 5, 1784 in Erlangen-Bruck - October 10, 1869 in Münster ) was a prominent representative of Jewish Orthodoxy and the first regional rabbi in the Prussian province of Westphalia .

Life

Abraham Sutro attended the Talmud schools in Fürth and Prague . He then worked as a private tutor in Prague, Aschaffenburg and Kassel before he was given a permanent position as a Jewish religion teacher. When Westphalia fell to Prussia in 1815 , Ludwig von Vincke , who later became the first chief president of the province of Westphalia , provisionally appointed him chief rabbi of Münster , the county of Mark and the county of Limburg ( Paderborn was added later). He had previously recommended himself to Vincke through Prussian patriotic sermons.

During his long tenure, Sutro made a name for himself as an outstanding representative of the Orthodox movement. But by 1830 he had been quite open to innovations: for example, he had preached in German and allowed organs and confirmation celebrations based on the Protestant model in synagogues . As a regional rabbi - although his position was never fully recognized legally - he pursued a different policy: He insisted on the cultural independence of the Jewish minority, which should not mix with the Christian majority society. At the same time he fought for equal legal treatment, which in Prussia could only be fully achieved in the year of his death. As a regional rabbi, Sutro campaigned for the preservation of the old Jewish rite and opposed Reform Judaism and its Westphalian spokesman, Alexander Haindorf . A lifelong rivalry developed between Sutro and Haindorf, but despite opposing religious positions, Sutro maintained close contact with Haindorf.

Between 1836 and 1864 his most important work " Milchamot Haschem " (" Fights of the Eternal ") appeared in four volumes. Towards the end of his life, the more the reform movement took hold in Münster, the more Sutro became more and more isolated. On the occasion of his 50th anniversary in office, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV awarded him the fourth class Red Eagle Order . Sutro died on October 10, 1869 in Münster and was buried in the Jewish cemetery . His grave has been preserved and bears the German inscription:

“Here the Chief Rabbi Abraham Sutro, Knight of the Red Eagle Order, born. zu Bruck in Baiern, died October 10th, 1869 in 1784. He was a loyal teacher and fighter for Israel in Westphalia for 54 years. "

During the scientific documentation of the Jewish cemetery in Münster, the fragmentary plate of the Hebrew inscription was also found. With a grant from the “Association of Low German Minster”, the stone was restored in 2016 and the rediscovered slab was attached. The preserved inscription reads in translation:

“... 544 according to a small count in Bruck, and he taught for four years in Beverungen, one (year) in Warendorf, one (year) in Kamen, and finally here 52 years, and he died on March 5th, 630, and he sought good for his people (cf. Est 10: 3). His soul is tied into the bundle of life. "

literature

  • Diethard Aschoff : Sources and regesta on the history of the Jews in the city of Münster: 1530 - 1650/1662 (Westfalia Judaica vol. 3.1). Münster 2000. ISBN 3-8258-3440-9 .
  • Bernhard Brilling: Judaism in the province of Westphalia 1815-1945. In: Publications of the Historical Commission for Westphalia 38 , Münster 1918, pp. 105-143.
  • Bernhard Brilling: Abraham Sutro (1784–1869): a contribution to the life and work of the last Münster land rabbi . In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 123, 1973.
  • A. Herzig: Judaism and emancipation in Westphalia. Munster 1978.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Diethard Aschoff : Abraham Sutro 1784–1869 , author database Jewish writers in Westphalia from BBKL vol. XI, 1996, col. 283–287
  2. ^ A b Susanne Freund: Alexander Haindorf. Border crossings between Jewish and Christian culture. In: Folker Siegert (Ed.): Grenzzüge. People and fates between Jewish, Christian and German identity. Festschrift for Diethard Aschoff. Münsteraner Judaistische Studien 11, LIT, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-8258-5856-1 , pp. 174–194
  3. ^ Sutro, Abraham , in: Jewish Encyclopedia
  4. ↑ Bernhard Brilling: A chapter from the struggle of the Prussian Jews for their equality. The fall of the surveyor and site manager Baruch Sutro in Münster (1853) . In: Wolfgang Dietrich: Theokratia - 1970-1972: Festgabe for Karl Heinrich Rengstorf on his 70th birthday , Brill, Leiden 1973, ISBN 90-04-03814-0 , pp. 273-306
  5. ^ A b Documentation of the Jewish cemetery in Münster: Sutro, Abraham. In: www.juedischer-friedhof-muenster.de. Retrieved September 7, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Documentation of the Jewish cemetery in Münster , accessed on July 11, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Sutro, Abraham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Theologian and rabbi
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1784
PLACE OF BIRTH Erlangen-Bruck
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1869
Place of death Muenster