Markus Nissa Weiss was a Hungarian advocate and author of the

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

movement that started in the late 18th century, with the advent of

Jewish emancipation 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 ...

and

acculturation Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...

in Central Europe. The easing of traditional patterns and norms from the population around them, led to debates in the European Jewish community regarding how the community itself might embrace the possibilities for change under these new circumstances. In 1792, Weiss had a small business at

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

, and in 1794 he leased an estate near Munkács, where his oppressions gave rise to complaints among the

Galician Jews Galician Jews or Galitzianers () are members of the subgroup of Ashkenazi Jews originating in the levant having developed in the diaspora of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, from contemporary western Ukraine (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Ter ...

. In 1802 he published a pamphlet entitled "Der Jude wie Er Ist," in which he pleaded with the Jews to accept the ideas of Reform. This work caused him to be highly criticized by the Hungarian Jews; and in order to defend his person and ideas he issued (Vienna, 1803) another pamphlet, which was entitled "Der Bedrängte Markus Nissa Weiss an die Menschen." Finding, however, that he could not overcome the antagonistic attitude of his coreligionists, he embraced

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. After his conversion, Weiss published his "In Neuerfundenen Tabellen Gegründete Praktische Vortheile der Rechnungskunst,"

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

, 1805; "Der Missverstandene Text und dessen Wahrer Sinn," ib. 1806. He has further published "Unparteiische Betrachtungen über das Grosse Jüdische Sanhedrin zu Paris" (ib. 1807).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Markus Nissa Hungarian Jews Converts to Christianity from Judaism Year of birth missing Year of death missing