Between haskalah and orthodoxy: The writings of R. Jacob Zvi Meklenburg

The relationship between the eighteenth-century German Haskalah and the rise of German Orthodoxy in the nineteenth century has been little appreciated. This study examines the writings of R.Jacob Zvi Meklenburg (1785—1865), the chief rabbi of Königsberg, in order to shed some light on this historica...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Breuer, Edward 1960- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: College 1995
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 1995, Volume: 66, Pages: 259-287
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Judaism / Modern age
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
TJ Modern history
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:The relationship between the eighteenth-century German Haskalah and the rise of German Orthodoxy in the nineteenth century has been little appreciated. This study examines the writings of R.Jacob Zvi Meklenburg (1785—1865), the chief rabbi of Königsberg, in order to shed some light on this historical connection. R. Meklenburg's primary scholarly work was a Bible commentary titled Ha-Ketav ve-ha-Kabbalah, first published in 1839 but then revised and expanded in 1852. A careful consideration of this commentary and its introductions underscores the degree to which R. Meklenburg's interest in the study of Scripture drew substantially upon Maskilic writings and, to a lesser degree, the scholarship of R. Elijah b. Solomon, the Gaon of Vilna. The Maskilic sources were utilized in R. Meklenburg's defense of rabbinic Judaism, especially in his attempt to articulate the relationship between the biblical text and its rabbinic interpretations. As such, it becomes necessary to consider the impact of Maskilic exegetical sensibilities on the historical shift from pre-modern traditionalism to the advent of nineteenth-century German Jewish Orthodoxy.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion