Levi Lazar Hellwitz

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Levi Lazar Hellwitz (born July 4, 1786 in Beverungen ; † 1860 there ) was a German merchant and money dealer. From 1825 to 1837 he was head of the rural Jews in the Duchy of Westphalia and a representative of liberal reform Jews .

Life

His father was a merchant and councilor during the Kingdom of Westphalia . Hellwitz himself served as prime lieutenant in the Beverungen Citizens Guard and was the syndicate secretary at the Jewish consistory, responsible for the area around Warburg . He was also employed as an assistant to a rabbi.

He later moved to Werl to get married there. He worked full-time as a merchant and money dealer. He contributed to the expansion and beautification of the synagogue in Werl . There he also gave a series of lectures that met with positive feedback and therefore appeared in print. In 1816 he welcomed the union of the Duchy of Westphalia with Prussia in a speech in the synagogue. In 1819 he published the text: The Organization of the Israelites in Germany. One try. He sent the book to numerous European and German rulers in the hope that they would make use of the suggestions.

Between 1825 and 1827 he was head of the Landsjudenschaft for the Duchy of Westphalia. In 1825, in order to open the local rifle club to Jews , he applied for membership. The majority of the members rejected this against an enlightened minority around the mayor and part of the club leadership. The majority argued that the Jews did not have full civil rights and pointed to the Christian character of the shooting festival. Hellwitz's supporters were not satisfied with this and called for tolerance towards those of different faiths. When they appeared at the Schützenfest, it led to violent arguments that became known as the Hellwitz tumult. In the evening a supporter of the "Jewish Party" is said to have been slain. Finally, a state of emergency even had to be imposed. The local vigilante group and a troop of hussars restored order. Hellwitz left the city and then lived in Soest.

Like the regional rabbi Joseph Abraham Friedländer, he was a supporter of far-reaching reforms including assimilation. He belonged to the liberal-reformist association for culture and science of the Jews founded in 1819 . In 1826 he wrote a reply to the reports of the governments in Arnsberg , Minden and Münster for the Westphalian provincial parliament under the title The improvement of the moral and civil conditions of the Jews . He advocated that at least the Jews willing to acculturation should be granted the same civil rights as the rest of the population.

In the internal Jewish reform debate in Westphalia, he was the main liberal opponent to the rather conservative Abraham Sutro . As early as the 1830s, Sutro complained about Hellwitz to the government in Berlin. When Hellwitz began to reform the community in Soest in the late 1840s , the dispute intensified. Sutro accused Hellwitz of assuming skills that only a rabbi should have. He finally urged the parishioners to stop following Hellwitz.

Works

  • The organization of the Israelites in Germany: an attempt. Arnsberg, 1837 digitized

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Suibert Seibertz: Westphalian contributions to German history. Vol. 2 Darmstadt 1823 294f.
  2. ^ Günter Cronau: The mayors of cities and communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. In: Harm Klueting (ed.): The former Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia in the area of ​​today's districts of Hochsauerland, Olpe, Soest and Märkischer Kreis (19th and 20th centuries). Teilbd. Vol. 1 pp. 198f .; Mordechai Breuer / Michael Graetz: German-Jewish history of the modern age. Vol. 2 Munich, 1996 p. 282.
  3. ^ Georg Glade: The Jews in the former Duchy of Westphalia. In: Harm Klueting (ed.): The former Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia in the area of ​​today's districts of Hochsauerland, Olpe, Soest and Märkischer Kreis (19th and 20th centuries). Teilbd. 2 Münster 2012 p. 1055
  4. ↑ Susanne Freund: Alexander Haindorf. Border crossings between Jewish and Christian culture. In: Border Crossings: People and Fates Between Jewish, Christian and German Identity. Münster, 2002 p. 186.
  5. ^ The reform dispute in Westphalia
personal data
SURNAME Hellwitz, Levi Lazar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German merchant and money dealer, head of the rural Jews of the Duchy of Westphalia (1825–1837)
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Beverungen
DATE OF DEATH 1860
Place of death Beverungen