Judah Hurwitz ( he, יהודא בן מרדכי הלוי הורוויץ, translit=Yehuda ben Mordekhai ha-Levi Hurvitz; 1734–1797) was a

Jew 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""T ...

ish physician and author living in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the 18th century. Born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, Lithuania, he was the son of Mordechai Hurwitz. In 1766, his then popular work ''Ammudei Beit Yehuda'' (translated as Pillars of the House of Judah) was published by Yehuda Leib Sussmans in Amsterdam. Although Hurwitz's stated intention in the book is to defend the theology and practice of traditional

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, he is often considered an early member of the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

. His writings evinced interest in science.

References

External links

Original Hebrew text of Ammudei Beit YehudaThe early Jewish Enlightenment in the Netherlands, and Hurwitz's place in therein

1734 births 1797 deaths Lithuanian Orthodox Jews Dutch Orthodox Jews Physicians from Vilnius Lithuanian emigrants to the Netherlands People of the Haskalah {{Judaism-bio-stub