Herz Cerfbeer of Medelsheim (german: Herz Cerf Beer von Medelsheim, born yi, נַפְתָּלִי(־הערץ) בֶּן דּוֹב־בּער ''Naphtali Ben Dov-Beer'', 1730 – December 7, 1793) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He was a contractor to the army, and employed his wealth and his influence with the French government in promoting the material and spiritual welfare of his coreligionists. The government permitted him to settle at Strasburg, in opposition to the wishes of the authorities of that city, who zealously enforced the law excluding Jews. Cerfbeer protected all Jews who were willing to earn a livelihood by manual labor. As soon as he had received (in 1775) from

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

the patent granting him the rights of citizenship "for services rendered by him to the government and to the land during the famine of 1770 and 1771," Cerfbeer established factories, where he employed Jews, in order to withdraw them from petty trading, and also to deprive their accusers of all excuse for prejudice. The Strasburg Germans, who made every effort to prevent the Jews from settling in that city, compelled Cerfbeer to endeavor to obtain from the government the repeal of exceptional laws. A petition to the king was drawn up by Cerfbeer and sent to

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

for revision. The latter consulted

Christian Wilhelm von Dohm Christian Wilhelm von Dohm (; 11 December 1751 – 29 May 1820) was a German historian and political writer. Biography Dohm was born in Lemgo on 11 December 1751. The son of a Lutheran pastor at , he was a radical advocate for Jewish emancipatio ...

, who offered to write an apology for the Jews. This apology, ''Über die Bürgerliche Verbesserung der Juden'', which Cerfbeer energetically spread in France, combined with his personal efforts, brought about the convocation by Malesherbes of a commission to make suggestions for the amelioration of the condition of the Jews in France. Cerfbeer was the leading member of this commission; and the first result of its efforts was the abrogation of the degrading poll-tax. At the outbreak of the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

in France, Cerfbeer was thrown into prison on suspicion of favoring the royal cause, but was set free after a year of confinement. Being acquainted with the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, Cerfbeer took a great interest in Jewish literature. He supported a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

at Bischheim and published at his own expense rare Hebrew books, among which was the ''Lechem Setarim'' of

Solomon Nissim Algazi Solomon Nissim Algazi (1610c. 1683) was rabbi in Smyrna and in Jerusalem in the 17th century. He was a prolific writer on all topics of rabbinical literature, and won distinction by his treatment of Talmudic hermeneutics and methodology. His att ...

. Wessely wrote a poem in honor of Cerfbeer (in ''Ha-Meassef'', 1786, p. 49), and Abraham Auerbach dedicated to him his poem "Dibre ha-Mekes we-Bittulo."

References

Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography

* Löwenstein, Leopold, in ''Blätter für Jüdische Geschichte und Literatur'', 1848, Nos. 1 and 2 * ''Annuaire de la Société des Etudes Juives'', ii. 154 ''et seq.'' * Glaser, Alfred, ''Geschichte der Juden in Strasburg'', pp. 38 ''et seq.'' * Grätz, Heinrich, ''Geschichte der Juden'', xi. 171 ''et seq.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerfbeer, Herz 1730 births 1793 deaths 18th-century French Jews French philanthropists Jewish philanthropists People from Bas-Rhin Alsatian Jews French people of German-Jewish descent 18th-century philanthropists