Sekl Loeb Wormser (1768–1846) was a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, talmudist, kabbalist, and Baal Shem (worker of miracles through the Name of God).

Biography

He was born in Michelstadt. He received his talmudic education in Frankfurt, in the yeshiva of Rabbi Nathan Adler, and following in the latter's footsteps, accepted an

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

way of life and turned to kabbalistic studies. He resided in Frankfurt for a duration of six years, during which he married his first wife. About 1790, he returned with his wife to Michelstadt where he maintained a yeshiva for many years (serving as ''

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

'' and instructing around seventy students in Tanakh, Talmud, and the works of the '' poskim'', as well as secular subjects including

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and

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) and served, at first unofficially, until 1822 as a recognized district rabbi. About 1810, after his wife's death, he lived for some time in Mannheim. For years, his "

hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

" behavior and extreme

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

(at age 18 he vowed to abstain from animal products; a promise he kept until his death) created tension between him and the majority of his small community, but his reputation as a Baal Shem spread rapidly and Wormser became known throughout Germany as the Michelstadter Ba'al Shem, or the "Ba'al Shem of Michelstadt." He denied any such

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

power but agreed to receive people who sought his advice and guidance, giving them

natural remedies Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

and sometimes amulets. (He often said that whatever he does is done naturally and '' b'Ezrat HaShem''). He became particularly known for his treatment of lunatics. Among the Jews of southern Germany many traditions survived regarding his miraculous cures and other feats. It was in Mannheim that he married his second wife. He studied German philosophy and was particularly attracted by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling. In 1822, he returned to Michelstadt. In 1825, his house and large library were destroyed by fire. Of his talmudic writings, preserved by his descendants, almost nothing was published. A catalogue of his second library is preserved in Ms. Heidenheim 206, in the Central Library of Zürich.
''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' bibliography: * Wormser, ''Das Leben und Wirken des zu Michelstadt verstorbenen Rabbiners Zeckel Loeb Wormser'' (1853); * Ehrmann (Judaeus),
Der Baalschem von Michelstadt: kulturgeschichtliche Erzaehlung
' (1922; contains also memories about him from a contemporary manuscript).

Biography

References

Further reading