Rabbi Mendel Hess (March 17, 1807, Lengsfeld (now

Stadtlengsfeld Stadtlengsfeld is a town and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Dermbach. It is situated in the Rhön Mountains, 8 km southwest of Bad Salzungen. Hi ...

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...

- September 21, 1871, Eisenach) was a German

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 ...

Biography

He was one of the first

Jewish theologian Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile ...

s to combine a university education with Talmudical training. From 1828 until his death he was

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of the grand duchy of Weimar, residing first at Lengsfeld and later at Eisenach. Although the measure had aroused great dissatisfaction among the Jews, he strictly enforced the decree of the government (June 20, 1823) ordaining that Jewish services should be conducted exclusively in the German language and that the reading in Hebrew of sections of the Bible should be followed by their translation into the vernacular. The position of rabbi as government official became very unpleasant, as he was required to inform against those who failed to attend the services, a requirement which even the progressive Jews, who approved of the ordinance, condemned. Intermarriages between Jews and Christians being allowed in the grand duchy, Hess officially consecrated such nuptials, notwithstanding the proviso that the offspring should be brought up in the Christian faith. In the consecration of Jewish marriages he likewise ignored time-honored traditional rabbinical regulations, and it is said that in his disregard of Jewish sentiment he went so far as to attend a theater on the eve of the

Day of Atonement Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

(''Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'', 1845, p. 62). Hess was a member of the three rabbinical conferences which (1844–46) convened at Brunswick, Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Breslau, and as such was an advocate of uncompromising radicalism. After 1848 he felt the illiberality of enforced reforms, and petitioned the government to repeal the law which made attendance at the Reform services compulsory (''Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'' 1853, p. 474). He edited ''Der Israelit des Neunzehnten Jahrhunderts'' from 1839 to 1847, and, with Samuel Holdheim as co-editor, in 1847 and 1848. Hess also published two collections of sermons and addresses (Eisenach, 1839, 1843).

References

* **''

Allg. Zeit. des Jud. ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums'' (until May 1903: ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums'') was a Jewish German magazine devoted to Jewish interests, founded in 1837 by Ludwig Philippson (1811–89), published first in Leipzig and later in Berlin ...

'', 1837, pp. 25–27; 1838, p. 146; 1871. p. 863; ** Julius Fürst, '' Bibl. Jud.'' i. 390; **Rabbi

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar, considered the founding father of Reform Judaism. Emphasizing Judaism's constant development along history and universalist traits, Geige ...

's '' Jüd. Zeit.'' x. 204–207. 1807 births 1871 deaths People from Wartburgkreis 19th-century German rabbis Chief rabbis People from Saxe-Weimar {{Germany-rabbi-stub