Max Landsberg (rabbi)

Max Landsberg

Max Landsberg (born February 26, 1845 in Berlin , † December 9, 1927 in Rochester (New York) ) was a German chief rabbi at the Bereth Kodeth Temple in Rochester, NY

Life

Max Landsberg was born in Berlin as the eldest son of a long-established Jewish family, shortly before his father, Meyer Landsberg (1810–1870), took up the post of land rabbi in Hildesheim.

At first Landsberg was raised privately, but then went to the Josephinum grammar school in Hildesheim . After graduating from high school, he studied in Göttingen, Breslau and Berlin. He received his training as a rabbi from Lazarus Adler in Kassel, Samuel Ephraim Meyer in Hanover and Abraham Geiger in Breslau. On November 7, 1866 he received his doctorate from the University of Halle with his thesis Vita sultani Muradi "a Muhammed Amyn Mohibby, e codd. Mss. Bibliothecae regiae Berolinensis, addita versione latina atque adjectis adnotationibus . Since 1866 he was a canon rabbi and teacher at the seminar for Jewish teachers in Hanover, becoming a rabbi through his semicha in 1870.

Shortly before he left for the USA, Landsberg married Miriam Isengarten (* 1847 - April 16, 1912 in Baltimore) in Hanover on February 26, 1871.

In the fall of 1869, the Rochester congregation , which was founded as Orthodox in 1848, decided to hire a rabbi who could preach in both German and English and who should be a "gentleman of advanced ideas and reformed religious views". This quotation is an excerpt from an advertisement for the Rochester rabbi position in The American Israelite, the public forum for Reformed American Jewry . After no suitable person was found in the country, they turned to Abraham Geiger , a pioneer of Reform Judaism in Europe. Geiger encouraged his former student to apply for the position. Due to his application in December 1870, Landsberg was invited and settled in Rochester for Passover 1871 (around the beginning of April 1871). He stayed there as chief rabbi until 1915.

As for the liturgical reforms in the community, Landsberg relied on the Olat Tamid prayer book published by David Einhorn in 1858 . It contained the majority of the prayers in German and was printed and read accordingly: from left to right. However, 10 days after its introduction on April 27, 1873, controversy arose in the community of B'rith Kodesh. The parish council then withdrew this prayer book and replaced it with a more traditional but also reforming liturgy published by the Temple Emanu El in New York City. Despite the shortcomings, Landsberg used this prayer book for over a decade. On the other hand, it prompted him to bring forward his own ideas of a liturgical revision. The result was the Hymn Book for Jewish Worship published in 1880 together with Sol [omon] Wile (1853-1931) . Two thirds of the songs were in English, the rest were in German. Sol Wile was president of the B'rith Kodesh temple at the time and in his foreword to the hymn book, which was intended more for the congregation than for the rabbi and the choir, he wrote that he wanted these songs to be a "more fervent" worship service hoped for.

But it was not until the prayer book Ritual for Jewish Worship by Max Landsberg himself, introduced in 1884, that the congregation became the center of the radical Jewish reform movement. It was the result of Landsberg's efforts to create a new liturgy in accordance with the ideas of the parishioners, which was "conform to the sentiments of the living generation". Landsberg received not only praise, but also harsh criticism, u. a. by Isaac Mayer Wise . Landsberg also faced opposition in his own community; but this did not change anything about taking over the liturgy. In spite of all the criticism, Landsberg succeeded in creating a liturgy entirely in English and in line with the reform movement.

A prominent event for Max Landsberg was the hosting of the annual meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in 1895. He himself has been active in this movement since it was founded in 1889. At that meeting there was full agreement in the views of Isaac Mayer Wise and Landsberg that one of the greatest achievements of American Reform Judaism was to have liberated Judaism from ceremonial constraints.

Another special feature of this time was the increased commitment of women in the community and especially in community work. It was precisely the women who took part in the church services and wanted to have more influence on the fate of the congregation. Here Max Landsberg excelled by openly advocating women's rights. In his essay The Position of Women Among the Jews , he dealt with the theological effects of women's emancipation.

Landsberg's wife Miriam was directly involved in the community. She was also a good friend of Susan B. Anthony . Anthony was a member of the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, which has long had very close relationships with the Jewish community. In addition, Anthony was a pioneer of the American women's rights movement, which had its center in Rochester. Landsberg himself also worked closely with Susan B. Anthony. Miriam Landsberg was the first female delegate to the Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. With the establishment of the B'rith Kodesh Sisterhood, she set a monument for herself in the community. She was not only the initiator, but also the “moving spirit” until the end of her life. The social commitment of this organization was very diverse. In 1901 the head office was established in a building on Baden Street in Rochester. Since then, the organization still exists today as Baden Street settlement.

Since then, Max Landsberg himself has increasingly alienated himself from the community, perhaps also because he had never been given a lifelong position in office, but instead had to let the local council extend his term of office again and again. In July 1910 Horace J. Wolf was hired as an assistant for the community. His contract has also been renewed several times. They tried to limit Landsberg's influence on the community.

Landsberg was particularly hard hit by the death of his wife Miriam in 1912. If his last years were marked by bitterness, this event robbed him of all joie de vivre. When, in March 1913, a committee at Landsberg established "the lack of interest in the religious life of the congregation" and published recommendations in October, Max Landsberg offered to resign. Probably out of consideration for Landsberg's ailing position, his resignation was not announced until December 1914; However, it did not come into force until March 1, 1915.

meaning

In the United States, Max Landsberg campaigned for a reform of Jewish worship. So he conducted his services in English rather than Hebrew. Two thirds of the prayer books he edited also consisted of English chants and the rest in German. He also campaigned for the marriage of Jews and non-Jews. In the context of American Reform Judaism , Landsberg was one of the rabbis who campaigned for liberation from ceremonial constraints in the community, created corresponding liturgies and then carried out services.

family

One of Max Landsberg's brothers is Theodor Landsberg .

The eldest daughter of Max Landsberg, Clara (1873-1966), was a friend of the siblings Alice Hamilton , Edith Hamilton and Margret Hamilton . She studied with the latter for a summer semester in Munich. After graduating as a teacher, she worked in adult education at Hull House for 18 years, sharing a room with Alice. Alice saw Clara Landsberg as part of her own family: "I could not think of a life in which Clara did not have a great part, she has become part of my life almost as if she were one of us."

Other children were Emil M. Landsberg (1871-), Rose (1874–1955), married to the lawyer Benjamin Stolz (born October 13, 1867 in Syracuse; -) since December 26, 1898, and Grace Lillian, married to Harry Franklin Ladder.

Works

• The Codex of Raschi's and Raschbam's Pentateuch Commentaries in the Breslau seminar library. In: Monthly for History and Science of Judaism, vol. 14 (1865) No. 10, pp. 370–389 and No. 11, pp. 416-425.
• Analects on the history of the Jews in Hildesheim. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism, vol. 19 (1870) No. 3, pp. 123-124.
• Communications from the Michael David Foundation / from Max Landsberg. Contain in: Sheets from the Michael David Foundation in Hanover. Hanover: Brandes, 1870, pp. 63–72.
• Voices of Orthodox Judaism from the 12th and 13th centuries and the opposing manifestations of Christian orthoxia in the 19th century. Max Landsberg, rabbi. Poznan: JJ Heine, 1871.
• Max Landsberg Papers. Includes correspondence, sermon, and newspaper clippings concerning the "Hymn book for Jewish worship," compiled and published by Landsberg and Sol Wile. 1875
• Hymn Book for Jewish Worship. Compiled by Sol [omon] Wile; Max]. Landsberg. Rochester: Union and Advertiser Press, 1880.
• The Offering of Isaac. In: The American Jewish pulpit, Bloch 1881, pp. 77-84.
• Ritual for Jewish worship, C. Mann, 1897 (still published today, but under the name Landsbery)
• Excerpts from documents and books on the history of the Jews ... o. O. u. J.
• Outline of the Jewish religion, 1899
• The position of woman among the Jews, in: UAHC: Judaism at the World's Parliament of Religions, Cincinnati, 1894, pp. 241ff

swell

• Max Landsberg
• Peter Eisenstadt: Affirming the Covenant: A History of Temple B'rith Kodesh, Rochester, New York, 1848–1998 . Rochester, NY: Temple B'rith Kodesh, 1999.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bereth Kodeth Temple (Temple B'rith Kodesh) in Rochester, NY
2. ↑ Jörg Schneider, The Jewish community in Hildesheim: 1871–1942 , Hildesheim: Stadtarchiv, 2003, (= series of publications of the city archive and the Hildesheim city library / city archive and city library Hildesheim. - Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1978-; vol. 31), zugl. : Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 1999, p. 1f in chap. 5. The Hildesheim rabbis. ISBN 3-931987-11-6 .
3. ↑ The district of the Hildesheim Land Rabbinate comprised 32 Jewish communities in the Landdrostei Hildesheim . See Jörg Schneider, The Jewish community in Hildesheim: 1871–1942 , Hildesheim: Stadtarchiv, 2003, (= series of publications by the Stadtarchiv and the Hildesheim City Library / Hildesheim City Archive and City Library. - Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1978-; Vol. 31), also .: Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 1999, p. 7 in chap. 3. Land Rabbinate Constitution. ISBN 3-931987-11-6 .
4. ↑ Jörg Schneider, The Jewish community in Hildesheim: 1871–1942 , Hildesheim: Stadtarchiv, 2003, (= series of publications of the city archive and the Hildesheim city library / city archive and city library Hildesheim. - Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1978-; vol. 31), zugl. : Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 1999, p. 2 in chap. 5. The Hildesheim rabbis. ISBN 3-931987-11-6 .
5. ↑ [1]
6. ↑ For this work he latinized his first name to Maximilianus .
7. ↑ The New York Times, April 17, 1912; more biographical information is probably contained in the "Landsberg Papers" in the University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries, Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation, Manuscript and Special Collections
8. ↑ TBK history ( Memento from May 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
9. ^ Peter Eisenstadt: Affirming the Covenant. Rochester, NY: Temple B'rith Kodesh, 1999, pp. 41/42.
10. ↑ in detail in the English version: The American Israelite
11. ^ Kristen Fitzgerald: The Wile Family. Speaking Stones Fall 2008, p. 15.
12. ^ Peter Eisenstadt: Affirming the Covenant. Rochester, NY: Temple B'rith Kodesh, 1999, p. 57.
13. ↑ in the English version: CCAR
14. ↑ see also English version: Susan B. Anthony
15. ↑ see English version: First Unitarian Church of Rochester
16. ↑ see English version: Union for Reform Judaism
17. ^ Baden Street settlement
18. ↑ Rev. Dr. Ma Landsberg retires. In: The New York Times, January 25, 1914.
19. ↑ more detailed in the English version: Edith Hamilton
20. ↑ more detailed in the English version: Hull House
21. ^ Sandra L. Singer: Adventures Abroad: North American women at German-speaking universities, 1868-1915 . Westport, Conn .; London: Praeger, 2003. p. 75
22. ↑ Alice Hamilton: Exploring the Dangerous Trades: the Autobiography . Boston: Little; Brown, 1943