Science of Judaism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First edition of the club magazine, 1822

The science of Judaism was one of the most influential intellectual currents in German-speaking Judaism . Developed in the context of emancipation, it established the modern academic study of Judaism and was an essential factor in the internal Jewish reform movements in the 19th century. With the introduction of historical criticism , she translated traditional Jewish scholarship into the categories of thought and perception of modern (human) sciences. Its representatives included Wilhelm Bacher , Leo Baeck , Abraham Berliner , Ismar Elbogen , Zacharias Frankel , Aron Freimann , Eduard Gans , Abraham Geiger , Heinrich Graetz , Heinrich Heine , David Hoffmann , Manuel Joel , Isaak Markus Jost , David Kaufmann , Moritz Steinschneider and Leopold Zunz . The historian Selma Stern was one of the few scientists .

history

The beginning of this was made in 1818 by the young Leopold Zunz with his article Something about rabbinical literature . He called for a comprehensive program for the historical investigation of the entire Jewish culture on the basis of literary evidence. In 1819, the Association for Culture and Science of the Jews was founded in Berlin . In his journal for the science of Judaism , Immanuel Wolf published the declaration of principle “On the concept of a science of Judaism” in 1822. His theses are:

  • Judaism is an important and influential moment in the development of the human spirit; those who do not recognize this either have prejudices or do not understand that world history is a large aggregate of individual events.
  • Judaism is in and of itself capable and in need of scientific treatment. So far, however, there has never been a comprehensive scientific presentation of Judaism, Jewish scholars have limited themselves to investigations of theological content and almost completely neglected history. The science of Judaism must treat "its object in and for itself, for its own sake, not for a special purpose, but for a specific purpose".

Wolf justified the need for a scientific investigation on the one hand by declaring that every object that somehow belongs in the field of scientific research must be examined in more detail, since this would also enable knowledge to be gained for other scientific objects, on the other hand, Judaism is also a still living, integrated part of the present. Heinrich Graetz , whose work would later form a high point in the science of Judaism, summed up that the articles in the association magazine "mostly contain indigestible Hegelian gibberish or scholarly stuff" and are therefore only usable for an extremely small group. "And if the cultural association, which began so ambitiously and ended so miserably, had even achieved this one thing to awaken the love for the science of Judaism, its dreams and activities were not in vain."

Since a larger readership could not be won for the magazine, it was discontinued after three issues. However, it paved the way for the science of Judaism and its science press, the most important and long-term publication of which was the monthly for the history and science of Judaism .

The Jewish-Theological Seminary in Breslau , which was opened in 1854 under the direction of Zacharias Frankel , was one of its institutions, founded exclusively outside the German universities . Numerous important rabbis and scholars studied here. Heinrich Graetz and Isaac Bernays were among the first lecturers, along with Frankel. The monthly for the history and science of Judaism was always close to the seminar and, except for its last volume (1939), was edited by the seminar's lecturers. The University for the Science of Judaism was opened in Berlin in 1872; a call for founding in 1870 identified it as an independent educational institution for the purpose of maintaining, further training and disseminating the science of Judaism. In 1873 Esriel Hildesheimer opened the Orthodox Rabbinical Seminar in Berlin, where Abraham Berliner and David Hoffmann also taught. Just as important was the State Rabbinical School in Budapest, also the Rabbinical Seminary (Budapest) , which began teaching in 1877 and was taught by Wilhelm Bacher and David Kaufmann . In addition, some smaller Jewish scholars' associations were founded that did not directly serve rabbinical training and were active at the local level. The Institute for the Promotion of Israelite Literature (1855–1873), which among other things published Heinrich Graetz's History of the Jews , was of supraregional importance . The institute was founded by Ludwig Philippson , editor of the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums . His son, the historian Martin Philippson, was instrumental in the establishment of the Society for the Promotion of the Science of Judaism (1903-1938), which was based on the institute, supported the printing of scientific works and from 1903 was the carrier of the monthly. She was also responsible for the outline of an overall study of Judaism , in the framework of which, among other things, religion of reason appeared from the sources of Judaism by Hermann Cohen . Another institute to be mentioned is the Academy for the Science of Judaism, founded in 1919 .

literature

  • Michael Brenner , Stefan Rohrbacher (Ed.): Science of Judaism. Approaches after the Holocaust. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-20807-3 .
  • Johannes Heil : Science of Judaism 1819-1933 - Science, self-image and illusions. In: Markus Hilgert , Michael Wink (Eds.): People-Pictures. Representations of the human in science (= Heidelberger Jahrbücher. Volume 54). Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-16360-9 , pp. 351-371 ( digitized version ).
  • Ismar Schorsch : From Text to Context. The Turn to History in Modern Judaism (= The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry Series. Volume 19). Brandeis University Press et al., Hanover et al. 1994, ISBN 0-87451-664-1 .
  • Henry C. Soussan: The Society for the Promotion of the Science of Judaism in Its Historical Context (= series of scientific treatises of the Leo Baeck Institute . Volume 75). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-16-150511-9 .
  • Christian Wiese : Science of Judaism and Protestant Theology in Wilhelmine Germany. A scream into the void? (= Series of scientific treatises of the Leo-Baeck-Institut. Volume 61). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 3-16-147201-2 .
  • Kurt Wilhelm (Hrsg.): Science of Judaism in the German language area. A cross-section (= series of scientific treatises of the Leo-Baeck-Institut. Volume 16, 1–2, ISSN  0459-097X ). 2 volumes. Mohr, Tübingen 1967, see in particular the introduction, vol. 1, pp. 1-67.

Web links