Trude Weiss-Rosmarin (June 17, 1908 – June 26, 1989) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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writer, editor, scholar, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activist. With her husband, she co-founded the School of the Jewish Woman in

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in 1933, and in 1939 founded the ''Jewish Spectator'', a quarterly magazine, which she edited for 50 years. She was the author of 12 books, including ''Judaism and Christianity: The differences'' (1943), ''Toward Jewish-Muslim Dialogue'' (1967), and ''Freedom and Jewish Women'' (1977).

Early life

Weiss-Rosmarin was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

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, the daughter of Jacob and Celestine (Mullings) Weiss. She attended the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

from 1927–28, and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

(1929), before obtaining her PhD in Semitics, philosophy, and archeology in 1931 from the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

for a thesis on ancient Arab history. While at university, she became active in Jewish and

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 ...

organizations. She emigrated in 1931 with her husband, Aaron Rosmarin (born 1904), to the

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, where they settled in

. The couple divorced in 1951.

Writing and teaching

Weiss-Rosmarin and her husband opened the School of the Jewish Woman in

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in October 1933 under the auspices of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. The school, which closed in 1939, was modeled on the Frankfurt ''Lehrhaus'' created by

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

and

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...

, and aimed to combat what Weiss-Rosmarin saw as women's poor access to education. She and her husband offered classes in

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

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, and

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. Out of the school's newsletter grew the ''Jewish Spectator'', which described itself as a "typical family magazine with a special appeal to women." By means of her often controversial editorials, Weiss-Rosmarin sought to influence the American-Jewish community, arguing for changes in Jewish family law, Jewish–Arab co-existence in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, access to a Jewish education for women, and equality for women in the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

and in public life. An article Weiss-Rosmarin wrote for the ''Jewish Spectator'' in 1970, "The Unfreedom of Jewish Women," was considered by historian

Paula Hyman Paula Hyman (September 30, 1946 – December 15, 2011) was a social historian and the Lucy Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at Yale University. She served as the president of the American Academy for Jewish Research from 2004 to 2008. Sh ...

as a trailblazer in analyzing the status of Jewish women using feminism. Weiss-Rosmarin also wrote a regular column, "Letters from New York", in the ''London Jewish Chronicle'' and served as national co-chair of education for the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...

. She taught at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and the

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Associa ...

, and published books on a variety of subjects. She died of cancer in 1989.

Publications

*''Religion of Reason'' (1936) *''Hebrew Moses: An Answer to Sigmund Freud'' (1939) *''The Oneg Shabbath Books'' (1940) *''Highlights of Jewish History'' (1941) *''Judaism and Christianity: The Differences'' (1943) *''Jewish Survival'' (1949) *''Jewish Women Through The Ages'' (1949) *''What Every Jewish Woman Should Know'' (1949) *'' Saadia'' (1959) *''Toward Jewish-Muslim Dialogue'' (1967) *''Jewish Expressions on Jesus: An Anthology'' (1977) *''Freedom and Jewish Women'' (1977)

Articles

She also wrote a number of articles which appeared in Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, including: *
The Duty to Do Justice
', Vol.11/no.202 1980. *
On Criticizing the Establishment
', Vol.1/no.13 1971. *
Buber Repressed What Cohen Had Taught
', Vol.4/no.682 1974. *
An End to Separate and Unequal
', Vol.1/no.19 1971. an
more

References

Sources

*Hymen, E. Paula & Dash Moore, Deborah. (eds) (1997) ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia''. Routledge, (pp. 1463–1465)
"Inventory to the Trude Weiss-Rosmarin papers, 1931–1984"
Jewish American Archives

External links

* Jennifer Breger
Trude Weiss-Rosmarin
Jewish Women Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss-Rosmarin, Trude 1908 births 1989 deaths German feminists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States American feminists Jewish American writers Jewish feminists American Zionists 20th-century German women writers 20th-century American Jews Women founders American magazine editors Women magazine editors