Moshe Leib Lilienblum ( yi, משה לייב לילינבלום; October 22, 1843 in
Keidany,
Kovno Governorate
Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was form ...
– February 12, 1910 in
Odessa) was a
Jewish
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""The ...
scholar and author. He also used the pseudonym Zelaphchad Bar-Chuschim ( he, צלפחד בר־חושים).
Biography
Moshe Yehuda Leib Lilienblum was the son of R. Zevi, a poor
cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
.
From his father, he learned the calculation of the course of the stars in their relation to the Hebrew calendar (''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim'', vol. 1, p. 15). His maternal grandfather, who was a teacher, also contributed to his early education.
At the age of thirteen, he organized a society of boys for the study of ''
En Ya'aqob'' (''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim'', vol. 1, p. 14); and at the age of fifteen he married and settled at
Vilkomir. A change in the fortunes of his father-in-law threw him upon his own resources, and in 1865, Lilienblum established a
yeshivah
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 stud ...
in
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
and another the following year (''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim'', vol. 1, p. 53-54).
Changed views of Judaism and the Jewish question
Changes affecting the Jewish community over the years, however, wrought a great change in Lilienblum's attitude toward
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 t ...
and the
Jewish Question
The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other " national ...
. Initially, he had read the writings of the ''
Maskilim
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'', the leaders of ''
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'', particularly those of
Mapu
The Popular Unitary Action Movement or MAPU ( es, Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario) was a small leftist political party in Chile. It was part of the Popular Unity coalition during the government of Salvador Allende. MAPU was repressed du ...
and M. A. Ginzburg. These produced in him a feeling of dissatisfaction with traditional
Talmudic
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
studies and an abhorrence for the ignorance and superstition surrounding him; he decided, therefore, to combat these faults. In an article entitled ''Orḥot ha-Talmud'', in ''
Ha-Meliẓ
''Ha-Melitz'' or ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860.
History
''Ha-Melitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From ...
'', 1868, he arraigned the superstitious beliefs and practises of his people, demanded the reform of Judaism, and insisted upon the necessity of establishing a "closer connection between religion and life." This article, and others of the same nature to follow, stirred up the Jewish communities in Russia, and a storm of indignation against him arose among the more traditionalist
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
; he was denounced as a freethinker and his continued residence in Wilkomir became impossible. In 1869, he then went to Odessa where he intended to prepare himself for the university (''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim,'' vol. 2, p. 3), but he was compelled to give up that idea.
The anti-Jewish riots of 1880 and 1881 however, aroused in Lilienblum a consciousness of the unsafe position of the Jews "in exile," and he wrote of his apprehensions in an article entitled ''Obshcheyevreiski Vopros i Palestina'' (in ''Razsvyet'', 1881, Nos. 41, 42); in it he points to the reestablishment of the Jews in
Palestine as the only solution of the Jewish question. This article did not remain without results; some hailed the idea as practical, and set themselves to realize it. In 1883 a committee was organized at Odessa for the colonization of Palestine, Lilienblum serving as ṣecretary and Dr.
Leon Pinsker
yi, לעאָן פינסקער
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Tomaszów Lubelski, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Odessa, Russian Empire
, known_for = Zionism
, occupation = Physician, political activ ...
, author of ''
Auto-Emancipation
upThe book "Auto-Emancipation" by Pinsker, 1882
''Auto-Emancipation'' (''Selbstemanzipation'') is a pamphlet written in German by Russian-Polish Jewish doctor and activist Leo Pinsker in 1882. It is considered a founding document of modern Jewis ...
'', as president. With the
Hibbat Zion conference in Katowice, in which Lilienblum took an earnest and energetic part as secretary, representatives of European Jewry met and discussed the first plans for colonization in Palestine, a foundation stone was laid for the
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
movement (''Derek la-'Abor Golim,'' p. 16).
Lilienblum's activity thus covers two distinct periods in his thinking. In the first period, he followed the example of the ''
Maskilim
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'' and the ''
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'' and demanded the reform of Judaism; he differed however from the Maskilim in that he was much less extravagant, his style being free from the flowery ''meliẓah'' used by them, and his ideas being marked by soberness and clearness. His ''Orḥot ha-Talmud,'' mentioned above, and his autobiography, ''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim'' (The Sins of Youth;
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, 1876), contain a description of his material and spiritual struggles; both made a marked impression upon the earlier period. His influence in the second period, that of Jewish national reawakening, in which he actively participated, also was due to this characteristic style. In his article on the Jewish question and Palestine in 1881, as well as in his later ''O Vozrozhdenii Yevreiskavo Naroda'' (Odessa, 1883), which includes the former and other essays of a similar character, he clearly and soberly presents the anomalous position held by the Jewish people among the nations in which they lived and logically demonstrates their hopelessness except through national independence.
Works
Lilienblum also wrote:
* ''Ḳehal Refa'im'', a poem describing the different types of Russian Jewry of the time, as they appear in the nether world (Odessa, 1870)
* ''Olam ha-Tohu'', on some phases of Hebrew literature (in ''
Ha-Shaḥar
''Ha-Shaḥar'' () was a Hebrew-language monthly periodical, published and edited at Vienna by Peretz Smolenskin from 1868 to 1884.
The journal contained scientific articles, essays, biographies, and literature, as well as general Jewish news. The ...
'', 1873)
* ''Biḳḳoret Kol Shire Gordon,'' on J. L. Gordon as a poet (in ''Meliẓ Eḥad Mini Elef'',
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, 1884)
* ''Zerubbabel'', historical drama in Yiddish (Odessa, 1888)
* "Derek la-'Abor Golim," a history of the
Chovevei Zion movement up to the time of the ratification by the Russian government of the committee for the colonization of Palestine (
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, 1899)
* ''Derek Teshubah'', an addition to ''Ḥaṭṭot Ne'urim'', describing the transition of the author from the negative period of the Haskalah to the positive period of national reawakening
* ''Pyat Momentov Zhizhni Moiseya'' (in Russian; Warsaw, 1900), a psychological analysis of some important moments in the life of
Moses
* Lilienblum also edited ''Kawweret'', a collection of articles in
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 ...
(Odessa, 1890), and the ''Luaḥ Aḥiasaf'', 1901. He was the author of a number of other articles, of which the most important is ''O Neobkhodimosti Reform v Yevreiskoi Religii'' (in ''Voskhod,'' 1882-83).
References
Further reading
*
* Lilienblum, ''Haṭṭot Ne'urim''. Vienna, 1876. 2 vols. in one
* Lilienblum, ''Derek Teshubah''. Warsaw, 1899
* Lilienblum, ''Derek la-'Abor Golim''. Warsaw, 1899
* Mordecai b. Hillel ha-Kohen, in ''Luaḥ Aḥiasaf''. Warsaw, 1893
*
Berdychevsky, Micha Josef, ''Dor Dor''. Warsaw, 1901
*
Slouschz, Nahum, ''La renaissance de la littérature hébraïque (1743-1885): essai d'histoire littéraire''. Paris, 1903. p. 166 ff. (chapter 8)
[Translated into English by Henrietta Szold as: ]
The Renascence of Hebrew Literature: 1743-1885
'. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1909. On Lilienblum: Chapter 8,
Reformers and conservatives – the two extremes
, p. 206–223, especially p. 210 ff.
*
Wiener, Leo, ''The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century''. New York, 1899. p. 238
External links
* The personal papers of Moshe Leib Lilienblum are kept at the
Central Zionist Archivesin Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A9\59-61.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilienblum, Moshe Leib
1843 births
1910 deaths
Rabbis from Kėdainiai
People from Kovno Governorate
Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis
Philosophers of Judaism
Hovevei Zion
People of the Haskalah
19th-century Lithuanian rabbis