Joseph Rabinowitz (23 September 1837 – 17 May 1899) was a Russian missionary to the Jews, who founded the Hebrew Christian movement Novy Israel in 1882.

Biography

Rabinowitz was born on 23 September 1837 in

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, Bessarabia. He was brought up as a Ḥasid, but later acquired some secular knowledge and mastered the Russian language. For a time he practised law in the lower courts of his native town, settling subsequently in Kishinev. In 1882 he founded the movement Novy Israel, and began to preach Christianity to the Jews of Kishinev. Following immediately upon the founding of the Bibleitzy brotherhood by

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at Elizabethgrad, the new movement attracted much attention, and was freely discussed in Russian newspapers. Rabinowitz succeeded for a time in interesting Christian

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

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in his movement and in allaying the suspicions of the Russian government, which strictly prohibited the formation of new religious movement and was called sect.Sistematicheski Ukazatel, St. Petersburg, 1892 But his open conversion to

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had the natural result of estranging many of his followers. He was baptized in Berlin on 24 March 1885. He died in Kishinev on 17 May 1899..

Publications

* * ''Ketuvim le-yeshurun''. Published in French as * * * *

References

* * English translation:

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz, Joseph 1837 births 1899 deaths Converts to Christianity from Judaism Expatriates in Ottoman Palestine Moldavian Jews Bessarabian Jews Jews in Ottoman Palestine Messianic Jews People from Rezina District Hebrew Christian movement Russian Christians Russian Christian missionaries Russian Jews