Moritz Güdemann

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Moritz Güdemann 1906
Moritz Güdemann's grave in the old Israelite part of the Vienna Central Cemetery

Moritz Güdemann (born February 19, 1835 in Hildesheim ; died August 5, 1918 in Baden near Vienna ) was a Jewish scholar, author of numerous scientific papers and long-time rabbi in Vienna . He was a co-founder of the Austrian-Israelite Union and the Israelite-Theological School . His most important work is his history of education and the culture of the Western Jews during the Middle Ages and modern times .

Life

Güdemann attended the Jewish elementary school and then entered a Catholic institute, where he was taught by priests. From 1854 to 1862 he graduated from the Wroclaw Jewish Theological Seminary and at the same time attended lectures on Arabic and Persian literature at the University of Wroclaw. In 1862 he was ordained rabbi in Breslau and in the same year rabbi in Magdeburg . Four years later he was appointed preacher at the Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna, and in 1868 he and the rabbi of the Schiffschul , Salomon Spitzer, succeeded the deceased Rabbi Lazar Horowitz . In 1869 he became head of the rabbinical court in Vienna, and in 1892 he received the title of chief rabbi . After the death of Adolf Jellinek , who had worked as a preacher at the city ​​temple , Güdemann also became rabbi of the city temple of Vienna in 1894.

Working as a rabbi

Güdemann was conservative as a rabbi, so he rejected the introduction of the organ in the synagogue requested by the community council, as well as the deletion of prayers relating to Zion and the temple sacrifices of biblical times. On the occasion of the festival of tabernacles , he had a tabernacle set up in the courtyard of the Leopoldstadt Temple , which was considered a step backwards. Contrary to the customs of the time, he is said to have covered his head with a cap at meals .

Zionism

The first contact between Güdemann and Theodor Herzl , the founder of political Zionism , took place in June 1895. Güdemann initially wavered between enthusiasm and skepticism about the Zionist cause, but then became Herzl's declared opponent. Before the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, he published a pamphlet against Zionism with the title “Nationaljudenthum”, which was published by the same publisher that Herzl's book “ Der Judenstaat ” was published by. In it he stated that national Jewry no longer exists since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, that Judaism is now a world religion and that there is an irreconcilable opposition between Judaism and Jewish nationality. Zionism "transfer national chauvinism to Judaism". A Judaism “with cannons and bayonets would swap the role of David for that of Goliath and be a travesty of itself”.

Herzl's answer appeared in Joseph Samuel Bloch's Oesterreichischer Wochenschrift (April 23, 1897) under the title “Das Nationaljudenthum von Dr. Güdemann ". Another reply , written by Max Nordau ("A Temple Dispute"), was published as an editorial in the second issue of "Welt" (June 11, 1897).

anti-Semitism

Güdemann later turned his interest increasingly to Jewish apologetics against anti-Semitism . In his treatise Die Apologetik of 1906 he sharply opposed the anti-Semitism of Christian scientific theology and its inability to understand Judaism in its continuity as a living tradition.

Works (selection)

  • Moslih-ed-dini sa'dii consessuum tertius et quartus, ad fidem codicis Vratislaviensis primum editi, cum editione Calcutt. collati, adnotationibus et criticis et exegeticis instructi. sn, sl 1858 (Breslau, university, dissertation, 1858, on a subject of sophism).
  • Jesuits and Jewish children in 1693. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism. Vol. 8, Issue 10, 1859, ISSN  2193-9136 , pp. 365-374 .
  • The life of the Jewish woman. Moral history sketch from the mixed-talmudic epoch. Printed by H. Sulzbach, Breslau 1859.
  • On the history of the Jews in Magdeburg. Mostly according to documents of the Magdeburg Kgl. Provincial Archives edited. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism. Vol. 14, Issue 7, 1865, pp. 241-256; No. 8, pp. 281-296; No. 9, pp. 321-335; Issue 10, pp. 361–370 (also special edition: Verlag der Schletter'schen Buchhandlung, Breslau 1866, digitized version ).
  • Jewish in Christianity of the Reformation Age. Lecture (= Association for the Promotion of Jewish Literature in Vienna. Lectures. Vol. 1, ZDB -ID 2440713-6 ). Self-published by the Association for the Promotion of Jewish Literature, Vienna 1870.
  • Jerusalem, The Sacrifice and the Organ. Sermon, on the Sabbath, 25 Adar 5631. Herzfeld & Bauer, Vienna 1871 (speech against the use of organs in synagogues).
  • Jewish Education during the Hispanic Arab Period. Gerold, Vienna 1873.
  • Studies in the history of religion. Leiner, Leipzig 1876, online .
  • History of the educational system and the culture of the occidental Jews during the Middle Ages and modern times. 3 volumes. Hölder, Vienna 1880–1888 (authoritative work to this day, translated into Hebrew [by A. Friedberg] and Yiddish).
  • Charity. A contribution to the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew. Löwit, Vienna 1890.
  • Source writings on the history of teaching and upbringing among German Jews. From the oldest times to Mendelssohn. Hofmann, Berlin 1891, digitized .
  • Eulogies. Held for the last twenty-five years in the Vienna Israelite religious community. Hölder, Vienna 1894.
  • Position of Jewish literature in Christian theological science during and at the end of the 19th century. In: Marcus Brann , Ferdinand Rosenthal (ed.): Memorial book in memory of David Kaufmann. Schottlaender, Breslau 1900, pp. 654–666.
  • Judaism presented in its basic features and according to its historical foundations. Löwit, Vienna 1902 (also directed against Herzl's “Jewish State”).
  • Judaism in the New Testament Age in Christian representation. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism. NF Vol. 11 = Vol. 47, Issue 1, 1903, pp. 38-53 ; Volume 2, pp. 120-136 ; Book 3, pp. 231-249 .
  • Jewish apologetics. Flemming, Glogau 1906.
  • How should we read the Bible? A presentation. In: Dr. Bloch's Oesterreichische Wochenschrift. Vol. 19, No. 12, March 19, 1909, pp. 197-203 .
  • Shortening and Length in the Bible. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism. NF Vol. 19 = Vol. 55, Issue 2, 1911, pp. 129-155 .
  • Biblical History and Biblical Stories. In: Marcus Brann, Ismar Elbogen (Hrsg.): Festschrift for Israel Lewy's seventieth birthday. M. & H. Marcus, Breslau 1911, pp. 285-307.
  • The present world war and the Bible. Lecture given in the Vienna “Urania” on January 9, 1915. In: Monthly magazine for the history and science of Judaism. NF Vol. 23 = Vol. 59, Issue 1, 1915, pp. 1-12 .
  • Moritz Güdemann: My life . Manuscript, Vienna 1899–1918. Excerpt in: Albert Lichtblau (Ed.): As if we had belonged . Vienna: Böhlau, 1999, pp. 464-480
  • Moritz Güdemann (Gudemann) "From my life", 1918 [1] [2] .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Robert S. Wistrich : The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Emperor Franz Joseph (= Anton Gindely series on the history of the Danube Monarchy and Central Europe. Vol. 4). Translated from English by Marie-Therese Pitner and Susanne Grabmayr. Böhlau, Wien et al. 1999, ISBN 3-205-98342-4 , p. 104 f., Excerpts online .
  2. ^ Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien: Viennese Rabbis. history
  3. ^ Peter Landesmann: Rabbi from Vienna. Their education, their religious and national conflicts. Böhlau, Vienna et al. 1997, ISBN 3-205-98343-2 , p. 156, excerpts online .
  4. ↑ Dr. M. Güdemann: National Jewry . Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung, Leipzig and Vienna 1897. Quoted from: Robert S. Wistrich: The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Emperor Franz Joseph (= Anton Gindely series on the history of the Danube Monarchy and Central Europe. Vol. 4). Translated from English by Marie-Therese Pitner and Susanne Grabmayr. Böhlau, Wien et al. 1999, ISBN 3-205-98342-4 , p. 389, excerpts online .
  5. ↑ March 18, 1871.
personal data
SURNAME Güdemann, Moritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian rabbi, Jewish scholar
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildesheim
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1918
Place of death Baden near Vienna