Michael Heilprin ( hu, Heilprin Mihály, 1823 – 1888) was a Polish-American Jewish
biblical scholar
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
, critic, and writer, born at
Piotrków,
Russian Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, to
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""Th ...
ish parents. His family was distinguished by its knowledge of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
lore as far back as the 16th century. Michael Heilprin was a scholar who was familiar with more than a dozen languages.
Early life
Michael Heilprin was born in 1823. His father,
Phineas Mendel Heilprin, left Poland for
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
in 1842. On the outbreak of the
Hungarian revolution in 1848, Michael threw himself ardently into the movement led by
Kossuth. The collapse of the revolution resulted in him leaving
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in 1856 for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Career
Heilprin was connected with the ''
American Cyclopædia
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
'' from 1858 and was one of the associate editors of the new edition of that publication (1873–1876). From the time of its establishment in 1865, he became a regular contributor to the New York ''
Nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
''. In 1879–1880, he published two volumes of ''The Historical Poetry of the Ancient Hebrews, Translated and Critically Examined'', a work of profound original research. The work was left incomplete at the author's death.
Heilprin directed the establishment of several successful agricultural colonies in the United States for Russian-Jewish immigrants.
Views on slavery
In the
civil-war era, prominent Jewish religious leaders in the United States engaged in public debates about slavery.
Generally, rabbis from
the Southern states supported slavery, and those from
the North opposed slavery.
Towards the end of the fifties when public opinion was crystallizing on the impending war issue, Philadelphia was the scene of a conflict whose bitterness can better be imagined than described. Party feeling had reached the boiling point when one evening Carpenter's Hall was appropriated for the use of the Anti-Slavery Democrats. The speaker on this occasion, all enthusiastic, was convincing his auditors of the justice of their cause when he was suddenly interrupted by the hoots and jeers of a crowd of hoodlums representing the "Copperheads,” who entirely unobserved had entered the meeting. Quick as a flash, in this moment of uproar, an unknown man rose from one of the front rows in the audience.Every eye was upon him. In breathless excitement he mounted his chair, and in the most vigorous German, reinforced by a remarkable eloquence, delivered such a bitter tirade against the methods of the opposition as to make him at once the object of the mob's resentment. He was immediately surrounded, severely assaulted, and was about to be rushed bodily out of the hall, when Dr. Edward Morwitz organized his friends upon the platform, made one grand united effort at rescue, and succeeded in tearing him away from the clutches of the angry mob. That man, that hero in the conflict for truth and justice, was Michael Heilprin.
The most notable debate
was between rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall
Morris Jacob Raphall (October 3, 1798 – June 23, 1868) was a rabbi and author born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1849 until his death he resided in the United States. He is most remembered for having declared, on the eve of the Civil War, that the ...
, who endorsed slavery, and rabbi David Einhorn who opposed it.
In 1861, Raphall published his views that slavery in a treatise called "The Bible View of Slavery". He wrote, "I am no friend to slavery in the abstract, and still less friendly to the practical working of slavery, But I stand here as a teacher in Israel; not to place before you my own feelings and opinions, but to propound to you the word of G-d, the Bible view of slavery."[The Bible View of Slavery, By: Rabbi Dr. M.J. Raphall
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New York City 1861] Heilprin, concerned that Raphall's position would be seen as the official policy of American Judaism, vigorously refuted his arguments, and argued that slavery—as practiced in the South—was immoral and not endorsed by Judaism.[
]
Personal life and death
Heilprin had two sons, Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
and Angelo Heilprin
Angelo Heilprin (March 31, 1853 – July 17, 1907) was an American geologist, paleontologist, naturalist, and explorer.
He is mostly known for the part he took into the Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892 and for his observations and ...
. He died in 1888.
See also
*Heilprin
Heilprin ( he, היילפרין) is a Jewish surname with many variants.
Origins
Some people with the name derive it from the town of Heilbronn, Germany. "Heilbronn" means "healing well".
Besides the numerous Heilbrons, Heilbronners, Heilpruns, ...
References
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilprin, Michael
1823 births
1888 deaths
People from Piotrków Trybunalski
People from Piotrków Governorate
19th-century Polish scholars
Emigrants from Congress Poland to the United States
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
19th-century American writers
19th-century Jewish biblical scholars
American biblical scholars
American lexicographers
Jewish American writers
Forty-Eighters
American abolitionists
Polish biblical scholars
19th-century lexicographers