Background
Leopold Zunz was born at Detmold, the son of Talmud scholar Immanuel Menachem Zunz (1759-1802) and Hendel Behrens (1773-1809), the daughter of Dov Beer, an assistant cantor of the Detmold community.
(In 1818, with a single essay of vast scope and stunning d...)
In 1818, with a single essay of vast scope and stunning detail, Leopold Zunz launched the turn to history in modern Judaism. Despite unending setbacks, he persevered for more than five decades to produce a body of enduring scholarship that would inspire young Jews streaming into German universities and alter forever the understanding of Judaism. By the time of his death in 1886, his vision and labor had given rise to a historical discourse and intellectual movement that devolved into vibrant sub-fields as it expanded to other geographic centers of Jewish life. Yet Zunz was a part-time scholar, at best, in search of employment that would leave him time to study. In addition to his pioneering scholarship, he was as deeply engaged in ending the political tutelage of German Christians as the civil disabilities of German Jews. And to his credit, these commitments did not come at the expense of his loyalty to the Jewish community, which he was ever ready to serve. Zunz once quipped that "those who have read my books are far from knowing me." To complement his books, Zunz left behind a treasure trove of notes, letters and papers, documents that the distinguished scholar of German Jewish culture, Ismar Schorsch, has zealously utilized to write this, the first full-fledged biography of a remarkable man.
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(Ti nralista. ILXTENTH 1F rom Dr. ZUNZ SZ ur Gescliiclite ...)
Ti nralista. ILXTENTH 1F rom Dr. ZUNZ SZ ur Gescliiclite und Literatur. ilONG rJ cwB, investigators of texts and men learned I in tlie law have also been the accredited expounders II of moral obligations ;it is important that tins should be borne in mind, for tlie remark applies to a persecnted race and a much calumniated religion. How powerful, how pure moral conviction was among this people, their religious poetry and practical legal learning show with equal force :what in the first was sentiment, in great measure ideal, in the second becomes actual, tangible fact; I he feeling passionately expressed in the poetic works of Samuel the Pious and other Hymnologues is carried into actual execution, into actual life, in the juridical deliverances of Jehudaha-C ohen, Solomon b.I saac, and Jacob b.M eir; in the decisions of Isaac b. A braham, EU azar ha-L evi, Isaac b. Moses, Heir b. Baruch, and their successors; in the codices of Elia of Metz and Moses of Coucy. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org
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(Liberty and Letters: The Thoughts of Leopold Zunz (Public...)
Liberty and Letters: The Thoughts of Leopold Zunz (Publications of the Leo Baeck Institute of Jews from Germany) [Luitpold Wallach] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
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(Excerpt from Leopold Zunz: His Life and Times After his f...)
Excerpt from Leopold Zunz: His Life and Times After his father's death Yom Tob was sent to the Free School at Wolfenbuttel which had been founded by the philanthropic family Samson (hence its name "Samson'sche Freischule"). It was a home with a Beth Ha-Midrash attached, and Zunz attended the latter which differed little from a heder, since no other subject was taught but Bible and Talmud. Before long, however, conditions at this school changed for the better. In the year 1807 its whole system of education was reorganized under the direction of Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg, one of the enlightened Measefim (writers in the periodical Measef). He introduced secular studies into the curriculum and improved methods of teaching so that, when Zunz left the school in the year 1809, he had a firm grounding in Bible, Talmud and the Hebrew language. His Further Training From the year 1809 until 1815, Zunz attended the Gymnasium at Wolfenbuttel, and prepared himself for the University. At the same time he taught at the Samson Free School in which he had previously been a pupil. In the year 1815 he left Wolfenbuttel for Berlin to take up his studies at the University. History, philology and mathematics were his main subjects, and he earned his livelihood by giving private instruction. It was at the University that Zunz became inspired with the idea which was to lead to the opening of a new era of Jewish scholarship and to establish his fame for ever - this was the "Science of Judaism" (Wissenschaft des Judentums). Founder of the "Science of Judaism" What is the "Science of Judaism"? What is its method? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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Leopold Zunz was born at Detmold, the son of Talmud scholar Immanuel Menachem Zunz (1759-1802) and Hendel Behrens (1773-1809), the daughter of Dov Beer, an assistant cantor of the Detmold community.
The year following his birth his family moved to Hamburg, where, as a young boy, he began learning Hebrew grammar, the Pentateuch, and the Talmud. His father, who was his first teacher, died in July 1802, when Zunz was not quite eight years old. He subsequently gained admission to the Jewish "free school" (Freischule) founded by Philipp Samson, in Wolfenbüttel. Departing from home in July 1803, he saw his mother for the last time (she died in 1809 during his years in Wolfenbüttel). A turning point in Zunz's development came in 1807, when Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg (de), a reform-minded educator, took over the directorship of the Samson School. Ehrenberg reorganized the curriculum, introducing, alongside traditional learning, new subjects such as religion, history, geography, French, and German; he became Zunz's mentor, and they remained friends until Ehrenberg's death in 1853.
He settled in Berlin in 1815, studying at the University of Berlin and obtaining a doctorate from the University of Halle.
He was ordained by the Hungarian rabbi Aaron Chorin, an early supporter of religious reform, and served for two years teaching and giving sermons in the Beer reformed synagogue in Berlin. He found the career uncongenial, and in 1840 he was appointed director of a Lehrerseminar, a post which relieved him from pecuniary troubles. Zunz was always interested in politics, and in 1848 addressed many public meetings. In 1850 he resigned his headship of the Teachers' Seminary, and was awarded a pension. Throughout his early and married life he was the champion of Jewish rights, and he did not withdraw from public affairs until 1874, the year of the death of his wife Adelheid Beermann, whom he had married in 1822.
Together with other young men, among them the poet Heinrich Heine, Zunz founded the Verein für Kultur und Wissenschaft der Juden (The Society for the Culture and Science of the Jews) alongside Joel Abraham List, Isaac Marcus Jost, and Eduard Gans in Berlin in 1819. In 1823, Zunz became the editor of the Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums (Journal for the Science of Judaism). The ideals of this Verein were not destined to bear religious fruit, but the "Science of Judaism" survived. Zunz "took no large share in Jewish reform", but never lost faith in the regenerating power of "science" as applied to the traditions and literary legacies of the ages. He influenced Judaism from the study rather than from the pulpit.
Although affiliated with the Reform movement, Zunz appeared to show little sympathy for it, though this has been attributed to his disdain for ecclesiastical ambition and fears that rabbinical autocracy would result from the Reform crusade. Further, Isidore Singer and Emil Hirsch have stated that "the point of (Geiger's) protest against Reform was directed against Samuel Holdheim and the position maintained by this leader as an autonomous rabbi." Later in life Zunz went so far as to refer to rabbis as soothsayers and quacks.
The violent outcry raised against the Talmud by some of the principal spirits of the Reform party was repugnant to Zunz's historic sense. Zunz himself was temperamentally inclined to assign a determinative potency to sentiment, this explaining his tender reverence for ceremonial usages. Although Zunz kept to the Jewish ritual practises, he understood them as symbols (see among others his meditation on tefillin, reprinted in "Gesammelte Schriften," ii. 172-176). This contrasts with the traditional view of the validity of divine ordinances according to which the faithful are bound to observe without inquiry into their meaning. His position accordingly approached that of the symbolists among the reformers who insisted that symbols had their function, provided their suggestive significance was spontaneously comprehensible. He emphasized most strongly the need of a moral regeneration of the Jews.
In 1840 he became director of the Berlin Jewish Teachers' Seminary.
He was friendly with the traditional Enlightenment figure Nachman Krochmal whose Moreh Nebuke ha-Zeman (Lemberg, 1851), was edited, according to the author's last will, by his friend Leopold Zunz.
Zunz died in Berlin in 1886.
(Excerpt from Leopold Zunz: His Life and Times After his f...)
(Liberty and Letters: The Thoughts of Leopold Zunz (Public...)
(In 1818, with a single essay of vast scope and stunning d...)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
(Ti nralista. ILXTENTH 1F rom Dr. ZUNZ SZ ur Gescliiclite ...)