''Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums'' ("Monthly magazine for the history and science of Judaism", abbreviated to ''MGWJ'') was a monthly journal devoted to the

Science of Judaism Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. It was founded by

Zecharias Frankel Zecharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the founder and the most eminent member o ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in 1851, following the suppression of '' Zeitschrift für die Religiösen Interessen des Judenthums'' in 1846. It was published in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for 83 years between 1851 and 1939 (except in 1887–1892) In time, it became the leading journal in the Jewish academic world. It was founded to serve as the organ of what Frankel called the "positive-historical school" in Jewish life and scholarship, which took up a middle position between Reform as represented by

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar who is considered the founding father of Reform Judaism and the academic field of Quranic studies. Emphasizing Judaism's constant developm ...

, and Orthodoxy as interpreted by

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the '' Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', hi ...

and

Azriel Hildesheimer Azriel Hildesheimer (also Esriel and Israel, ; 11 May 1820 – 12 June 1899) was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany and as a founder of Modern Orthodox Judaism ...

. This type of Judaism, conservative in its approach to Jewish observance and ritual but undogmatic in matters of scholarship and research, was taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary at Breslau, founded in 1854 with Frankel as head; the ''Monatsschrift'' was intimately though not formally connected with this Seminary and drew its editors and contributors mainly from the ranks of its lecturers and alumni. Frankel remained the editor of the ''Monatsschrift'' until 1868; the first seventeen volumes of the publication were edited by Frankel. Starting in 1869 he was succeeded in the task by the historian

Heinrich Graetz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (no ...

. The latter edited vols. xviii. to xxxvi. inclusive, being assisted by Pinkus Frankl of the Berlin

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary established in Berlin in 1872 and closed down by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942. Upon the order of the government, the nam ...

in vols. xxxiii. to xxxv. Publication was stopped in 1887, when Graetz reached the age of 70 years old. It was resumed in 1892, with Marcus Brann and

David Kaufmann David Kaufmann (7 June 1852 – 6 July 1899) (Hebrew: דוד קויפמן) was a Jewish-Austrian scholar born at Kojetín, Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). From 1861 to 1867 he attended the gymnasium at Kroměříž, Moravia, where he studie ...

as joint editors (vols. xxxvii. to xliii.). Upon Kaufmann's death (1899) Brann became sole editor. Since Jan., 1904, the ''Monatsschrift'' has appeared as the organ of the ''Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums''. The "''Monatsschrift''" was first published in Dresden. Some volumes were then issued in Krotoschin and some in Berlin; but the greatest number appeared in Breslau. A complete table of contents for the first seventeen volumes is appended to vol. xvii., and a similar table for the years 1869 to 1887 is given at the end of vol. xxxvi. This table has been published separately also.

References

External links

All issues online
Compact Memory, University Library Frankfurt {{DEFAULTSORT:Monatsschrift fur die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums 1851 establishments in the German Confederation 1939 disestablishments in Germany Defunct magazines published in Germany German-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Germany Jewish magazines Judaic studies journals Magazines disestablished in 1939 Magazines established in 1851 Magazines published in Berlin Mass media in Dresden Mass media in Wrocław