Simon de Vries

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Simon de Vries, 1932

Simon Philip de Vries (born October 4, 1870 in Neede , † March 24, 1944 in Bergen-Belsen ) was a Dutch rabbi and author . His most important work is Jewish rites and symbols .

Life

Simon de Vries grew up as the son of a weaver and cattle dealer Manuel de Vries in the Dutch town Neede and was initially, as there is no there own Jewish community were in the Klaus of the neighboring village of Borculo taught. On the recommendation of his teacher, who was impressed by the talent of young de Vries, he then began training as an Orthodox rabbi at the Dutch-Israelite seminary in Amsterdam .

In 1892 he received the title of Maggid and, with the permission of the Amsterdam Chief Rabbi Joseph Hirsch, was allowed to call himself Dünner Rabbi, although he was unable to finish his studies for personal reasons. He then began teaching the Jewish religion and Hebrew in Haarlem, and looked after Jewish patients in the Meerenberg psychiatric hospital.

Between 1928 and 1932 he published numerous articles in the Opregte Haarlemsche Courant , which were intended to bring and explain Jewish traditions to non-Jews. The writings were later brought out in book form under the title Joodse riten en symbolen and translated into German as Jewish rites and symbols . Today you are considered to be his most important legacy.

Simon de Vries was a staunch Zionist and a leading figure in the Dutch Misrachi movement, which he defended against criticism from anti-Zionist Jews, among other things in his book Maäneh le-Zion: Een betoog voor het zionisme van joods-traditioneel . Since 1894 he was married to Judith de Jong, with whom he had six sons and three daughters.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands , he moved to Amsterdam. From there he and his wife were first deported to the Westerbork concentration camp and finally to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he died a few months after her in 1944.

After 1945, no work by the author Simon de Vries was available in the Netherlands for more than twenty years; it was not until 1968 that Joodse riten en symbolen was published by De Arbeiderspers in Amsterdam.

Works

  • Joodse riten en symbolen , De Arbeiderspers , Amsterdam, 1968.
    • Published in German as: Jewish rites and symbols , transl. Miriam Sterenzy, Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1981, ISBN 3-921695-58-9 .
    • as Rowohlt Taschenbuch: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-499-18758-2 .
    • Published in German as: Jewish rites and symbols , reworked and illustrated by Miriam Magall, Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2005. ISBN 3-86539-017-X .

literature

  • Eli Dasberg: Rabbijn Simon Philip de Vries, Neede 1870 - Bergen Belsen 1944. De geschiedenis van zijn leven. De Tijdstroom, Lochem, 1973.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vries, Simon de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vries, Simon Philip de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch rabbi and Hebraist
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Neede
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1944
Place of death Bergen-Belsen