David Friedrichsfeld (c. 1755 – 19 February 1810) was a

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

writer in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Friedrichsfeld was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he absorbed the scholarship and ideas of the Meassefim. In 1781 he went to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where he was one of the leaders in the fight for the

emancipation of the Jews Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It incl ...

, writing in the promotion of this cause his ''Beleuchtung ... das Bürgerrecht der Juden Betreffend'', Amsterdam, 1795, and ''Appell an die Stände Hollands,'' etc., ib., 1797. He died in

in 1810. Besides contributing to the "Ha-Meassef," he wrote "Ma'aneh Rak," on the pronunciation of Hebrew among the

Sephardim Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

(being also a defence of Moses Lemans' "Imrah Ẓerufah," Amsterdam, 1808); and "Zeker Ẓaddiḳ," a biography of Hartwig Wessely, ib. 1809. Some of his works are still in manuscript (comp.

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, "Verzeichnis der Hebr. Handschriften der Königl. Bibliothek zu Berlin," ii., No. 255, pp. 110 et seq.).

References

Heinrich Grätz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkopo ...

, Gesch. 1st ed., xi. 134, 229; *

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, Cat. Bodl. col. 987; *

William Zeitlin William Zeitlin (; – 1921) was a Russian scholar and bibliographer. Biography William Zeitlin was born in Homel, Mogilev Governorate, into a prominent Jewish family from Shklov. His major work was ''Kiryat Sefer'', or ''Bibliotheca Hebraica P ...

, Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 99 * 18th-century German Jews 1750s births 1810 deaths German male writers Hebrew-language writers Writers from Berlin {{Judaism-bio-stub