Malbim

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malbim

Malbim (Hebrew: מלבי"ם; acronym for: M eir L öw or also: L eibusch b en J echiel M ichael Weiser , born 1809 in Volotschysk , Volhynia , Russian Empire ; died on September 18, 1879 in Kiev ) was an Orthodox Rabbi and important Talmudist , biblical exegete and preacher. His biblical commentaries are among the most extensive and popular examples of traditional exegesis in the 19th century. He was a controversial opponent of the reform , who met with great resistance, especially from German Jewry and whose actual or planned appointments to the Rabbis in various places sometimes led to a culture war-like situation and church divisions.

Life

Meir Löw's father died early (1816). According to Wininger, "Malbim showed excellent intellectual abilities even in his childhood and was at home in the Bible and in the Raschi Commentary by the age of five ." The mother married the local rabbi who taught the boy. Malbim, however, quickly outgrown these lectures, so that Rabbi Mose Halevi Horowitz, "one of the most important Talmudic scholars of the time", took over his training. At the age of 12, Malbim was already writing commentaries on the Bible and some Talmudic treatises and poems.

The malbim in younger years

At the age of 14, Löw was already married, but the marriage was short-lived. He went to Warsaw and was quickly considered the Illui (the enlightened one) from Volhynia . He later married again and was financially supported by his father-in-law so that he could devote himself entirely to his writing. In 1834 he traveled to various places in Europe ( Pressburg , Breslau , Amsterdam ) to receive support and recommendations from rabbis for his work arzot ha-chajim (Commentaries and interpretations on Shulchan Aruch ), which was then published in Breslau in 1837. In 1839 he received an appointment to Wreschen on the recommendation of the Wroclaw Rabbi Zalman Tiktin .

From 1845 to 1859 he officiated as a rabbi in Kempen , Posen, and was nicknamed the Kempner Maggid there . An election as Chief Rabbi of Vilna was not confirmed by the authorities. In 1860, after he himself had rejected the rabbinate of Satoraljaujhely in Hungary, he became a rabbi in Bucharest and then also chief rabbi of Romania . As a relentless opponent of the reform movement, Malbim came into conflict with Jewish and non-Jewish authorities, was covered with false accusations and imprisoned. Moses Montefiore managed to get his release from prison, but Malbim had to leave Romania.

Malbim then officiated as a rabbi during an erratic wandering in various Russian communities, but also had a difficult position there within the Jewish community, suffered from persecution and slander, and was rejected by the representatives of the Haskala as well as by the Hasidim . Due to an invitation from the Mainz congregation, he first went there, but then took on a four-year activity in Königsberg as a rabbi for the local Russian congregation, where he was installed with great honors as chief rabbi for Königsberg and Mecklenburg.

In Königsberg he received appointments to Kremenchug (Ukraine) and New York , both of which he rejected. He was then received with great honor in Vilnius and elected rabbi of this important community, but the election was not confirmed by the government. He had been denounced several times as a "revolutionary".

In 1879 Malbim traveled to Kiev to visit his relatives , where he died.

Works, positions and meaning

Malbim's works testify to an extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language . He also wrote a book on Hebrew sentence theory . His main work, however, consists of commentaries on the Bible, which are among the most extensive examples of traditional exegesis in the 19th century and which also found recognition among the Orthodox-religiously oriented Jews of his time. In these comments he took a stand against Reform Judaism.

In his view, the reform movement undermined true Judaism. He therefore tried to strengthen the position of Orthodox Judaism through knowledge of Hebrew and interpretation of the Bible and to weaken the reformers in those areas where they had made significant achievements. In his introduction to the Pentateuch commentary hatora we-ha-mitzwot , Malbim referred to the reform synod of Braunschweig, 1844, which he had a

"Assembly of rabbis, preachers and readers who slaughter their congregations"

called. To justify his resistance to the reform movement, he said, among other things:

"Therefore it was for eternity to act and to reinforce the fence around the written and oral tradition so that the molesters cannot attack and desecrate it."

From then on he wrote his comments with the aim of proving that

“Oral Tradition is the law given from heaven that all its words are necessarily and unconditionally within the fundamental meaning of the text and the depth of language. Interpretation is just the basic meaning, based on precise linguistic rules. "

Bibliography (selection)

  • Isaiah in the perishim. Krotoschin 1849 (Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah).
  • Arzot ha-hajim. 2nd edition Warsaw 1865 (novellas to the ritual code Orach chajim in two parts).
  • Arzot Hashalom. Warsaw 1864 (sermons).
  • Likute shoshanim. Wilna 1875 (Explanations on Biblical Synonyms).
  • Maschal umeliza. Paris 1867 (religious-moral drama).
  • Mikra Codesch. 2nd edition, twelve volumes, Warsaw 1874 (Commentary on the Prophets and Hagiographs).
  • Shire ha-nefesh. Warsaw 1876 (Commentary on the Song of Songs).
  • Commentary on the Book of Esther, Warsaw 1878.
  • Hatorah ve-hamizwah. Warsaw 1876–1879 (Pentateuch commentary).
  • Editions of the halachic midrashim mechilta , sifra and sifre .

Literature (selection)

  • Ozar Yisrael , Vol. VI., 214, Vienna 1924
  • Wininger 1925 ff., Vol. IV, pp. 315-316, sv Meir, Leibusch b. Jechiel Michel
  • Isaak Markon, article MALBIM. In: Jüdisches Lexikon , Berlin 1927, Vol. III, Sp. 1343–1344
  • Julius Hans Schoeps (Ed.): New Lexicon of Judaism. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1992, ISBN 3-570-09877-X , p. 301.
  • Biographical Handbook of Rabbis , ed. by Michael Brocke and Julius Carlebach , edited by Carsten Wilke , part 1: The rabbis of the emancipation period in the German, Bohemian and Greater Poland countries 1781–1871, part volume 2, KG Saur, Munich 2004, pages 640–642, sv MALBIM, Meyer Löbusch

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See, inter alia, excerpt: "... outstanding Talmudist and exegete ...". In: Jüdisches Lexikon , Berlin 1927, Vol. III, Sp. 1343.
  2. ^ Johann Maier: Judaism from A to Z - Faith, History, Culture , Volume 5169, Herder Spectrum, 2001, p. 65
  3. ↑ Martin Sicker: An introduction to Judaic thought and rabbinic literature , Praeger Publisher, 2007, p. 151
  4. ↑ Salomon Wininger : Great Jewish National Biography . Chernivtsi 1925, vol. IV, p. 315f.
  5. ^ A b Salomon Wininger: Great Jewish National Biography . Chernivtsi 1925, vol. IV, p. 316.
  6. ↑ Meir Loeb Ben Jechiel Michael (1809-1879) "Malbim" - rabbi, preacher, biblical exegete; on www.jafi.jewish-life.de
personal data
SURNAME Malbim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meir Loew; Meir Löb ben Jechiel Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Orthodox rabbi, opponent of the reform movement
DATE OF BIRTH 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Volochysk
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1879
Place of death Kiev