Samuel Mayer

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Samuel Mayer (* 3. January 1807 in Hechingen , † 1. August 1875 ibid) was the last rabbi of the Hohenzollern official district Hechingen. During the time of religious reforms, he represented moderate Reform Judaism there. He earned a reputation as a writer and theologian and was considered one of the best pulpit speakers. Since 1849 he also worked as a lawyer.

Life

Samuel Mayer was born in Hechingen in 1807 as the son of Rabbi Wolf Mayer and his wife Delzel. born Simon born. On February 3, 1836, he married Sara Jette Adler, the daughter of the Rabbi von Mühringen , and their second marriage on October 15, 1844, was Nanette Lindmann. After her death in 1866 he entered into a third marriage with her sister.

He first attended the Talmud school in his hometown of Hechingen, then from 1823 the Beth-Ha-Midrash and the Lyceum in Mannheim and from 1926 the University of Würzburg , where he studied the Talmud with regional rabbi Abraham Bing . In 1829 he finished his studies in Tübingen with a doctorate. Against the objection of the Talmud teacher David (ben Joel) Dispeck, he received an appointment to the Rabbinate Hechingen in 1834, initially provisionally, and finally in 1838, which he held until his death. From 1846–1851 Samuel Mayer was director of the Hechingen Museum Society, and in 1848 its secretary and librarian. He was admitted to the bar in 1849. During his tenure in office he campaigned for civic equality and the emancipation of Jews under canon law and issued school regulations for the Jewish school and community center built in 1830.

He made great contributions to the improvement of the school system, the worship service and the social and religious conditions in the community of Hechingen. With his death, the Hechingen rabbinate became extinct. He justified his unusual dual position as rabbi and lawyer with the low income from his office as rabbi, from which he supported two women and their children.

Mayer was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Hechingen (grave no. 72). His grave inscription reads: Here in God rests Dr. Samuel Mayer Rabbi of the local community, u. Kl. Lawyer, b. d. Jan. 3, 1807, d. August 1, 1875. A loyal husband, a good father, a noble person, a dutiful official, a great scholar. Those who have given enough to the best of their time have lived for all time.

Fonts (selection)

  • as editor: Israelitischer Merkur. A Saturday paper, 1837.
  • History of the Israelites in Hechingen. In: Oriental Reports, Studies, and Reviews of Jewish History and Literature, 1844.
  • Funeral address for the death of the ruling Princess Eugenie Hortensie Napoleone von Hohenzollern-Hechingen , given on September 5, 1847 (print, see sources StAS Ho 235 T 3 No. 57)
  • The rights of the Israelites, Athenians and Romans with regard to the new legislation for jurists, statesmen, theologians, philologists, philosophers and historians, placed in parallels. A contribution to a system and a history of universal law. Vol. 1 (= Public Law), 1862, B. 2 (= Private Law), 1866, Vol. 3 (= Criminal Law), Trier 1876.
  • A series of excellent sermons, Verlag Springer, Berlin 1872.

swell

  • StaS Ho 235 T 3 Prussian government for the Hohenzoll. Country: Presidential Department No. 57 Acquisition of the Principalities of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen by Prussia and the resulting changes in official and civil servant relationships 1850 (1865–1866)
    therein: Assignment patent of Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen from April 6, 1850 ; Printed speech “The Stone and the Image or Prussia's Future” to celebrate the handover of the Principality of Hohenzollern to the Crown of Prussia, delivered on April 8, 1850 in the synagogue in Hechingen by Rabbi Dr. Samuel Mayer, Hechingen 1850; Newspaper “Die Neue Zeit” No. 51 from April 27, 1850 Permalink

literature

  • Manuel Werner: The Jews as a Religious Community (Part 2) . In: Hohenzollerischer Geschichtsverein (Hrsg.): Journal for Hohenzollerische Geschichte . Vol. 21, Sigmaringen 1985, p. 49f. (PDF file, 7.2 MB)
  • Otto Werner: Rabbi Samuel Mayer and the Hohenzollern . Ibid. Vol. 34, Sigmaringen 1988, pp. 133f. (PDF file, 7 MB)

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