Maier Zipser, Hungarian

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 of ...

; born at

Balassagyarmat Balassagyarmat (Hungarian: ; formerly ''Balassa-Gyarmath''; german: Jahrmarkt; sk, Balážske Ďarmoty or ) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus. Balassagyarmat is the capital city of Palóc country as the promi ...

, 14 August 1815; died at

Rechnitz Rechnitz ( hr, Rohunac, hu, Rohonc, Rohoncz, Romani: ''Rochonca'') is a municipality in Burgenland in the Oberwart district in Austria. Geography The municipality is located in southern Burgenland, on the border with Hungary, near Bozsok and ...

, 10 December 1869. He studied in various ''

yeshibot 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 st ...

'', among his teachers being

Wolf Boskowitz The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and Maier Eisenstadt; and he acquired a secular education partly through the assistance of Löw Schwab and partly through his own endeavors. In 1844 he was chosen rabbi at Stuhlweissenburg, where, however, he became involved in a controversy with the Orthodox members of the community on account of a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

which he had granted without a precedent. In his defense he wrote a pamphlet titled ''Me ha-Shiloaḥ: Rabbinisches Gutachten über Jüdische Ehescheidung'' (Budapest, 1853). About 1850 he went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he published a pamphlet titled ''The Sermon on the Mount,'' defending

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 the ...

against the parliamentary speeches of Inglis (London, 1852). In 1858 Zipser was elected rabbi of Rechnitz, and he held this position until his death. In addition to the two pamphlets already mentioned, he published various sermons and made numerous contributions to the

Jewish press ''The Jewish Press'' is an American weekly newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York, and geared toward the Modern Orthodox Jewish community. It describes itself as "America's Largest Independent Jewish Weekly". ''The Jewish Press'' has an online v ...

, especially to the ''Orient,'' the ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums,'' and the ''Neuzeit,'' winning the reputation of being one of the most scholarly Hungarian rabbis of his day.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zipser, Maier 1815 births 1869 deaths People from Balassagyarmat Hungarian rabbis