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The Me'assefim () were a group of
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
writers who between 1784 and 1811 published their works in the periodical ''Ha-Me'assef'' (), which they had founded.


History

In 1782
Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...
's German translation of the
Pentateuch The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...
had appeared. In the ''bi'ur'' or commentary which he added to this translation, he dwelt on the beauty of the Hebrew language, its wealth of imagery, and its adaptability for poetic expression. By his comments on scripture, also, he largely stimulated Hebrew, grammatical, and exegetic studies. The seeds he thus scattered bore fruit even in his lifetime. While reading and discussing Mendelssohn's scriptural expositions, Isaac Abraham Euchel and Mendel Bresslau, who were at that time tutoring in the house of David Friedländer at
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, conceived the idea of causing Hebrew as a literary language to be used more widely among the Jews. Assured of the material support of Simon and Samuel Friedländer, they issued in the spring of 1783 an appeal to all Jews to assist in establishing a society for the study of Hebrew (Chebrat Doreshe Leshon 'Eber). The periodical ''Ha-Me'assef'' was projected as a rallying-point for all those who were interested in and able to contribute to the work. The undertaking met with a cordial reception in many quarters, especially in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Mendelssohn and even the aged Naphtali Herz Wessely promised their support and contributed to ''Ha-Me'assef'', the former anonymously. The first number of the periodical was announced April 13, 1783, in a prospectus, '' Nachal ha-Besor'', signed by Euchel, Bresslau, and Samuel and Simon Friedländer. The first volume appeared in 1784, being the earliest successful periodical published in Hebrew. The first three volumes were issued in monthly numbers at Königsberg (the frontispiece to vol. iii being Naphtali Herz Wessely's portrait); vols. iv-vi appeared in quarterly numbers at Königsberg and Berlin; vol. vii (one number only) at Breslau; vol. viii at Berlin; the first two numbers of vol. ix at Altona, and the last two at
Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...
; vol. x (two numbers only) also at Dessau. The new ''Collector'' (''Achare ha-Me'assef'' or ''Ha-Me'assef he-Chadash''), edited by S. Cohen, may be regarded as a continuation of ''Ha-Me'assef''. Vol. i appeared at Berlin in 1809; vol. ii at Altona in 1810; and vol. iii at Dessau in 1811. In addition to articles on Hebrew prose and poetry, ''Ha-Me'assef'' printed general scientific articles, papers on mathematics and natural science, biographies of eminent Hebrew scholars, and articles on the history of the Roman emperors. Responsa on religious questions, e.g., on the speedy burial of the dead, have also been collected in its pages. The attitude of ''Ha-Me'assef'' was by turns Orthodox or
Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
, according to the views of the collaborator. It was often very aggressive toward the strictly Orthodox view, although Wessely had from the very beginning advised a purely objective point of view.


Members

Collaborators on ''Ha-Me'assef'' included: * Judah Löw Ben-Zeeb *Simon ben Sanvil Bras * Mendel Bresslau (Brese) * Shalom Cohen *Wolf ben Abraham Dessau * Moses Ensheim * Isaac Abraham Euchel * David Franco Mendes * David Friedländer * David Friedrichsfeld * Joseph Haltern * Marcus Herz *Nathan Joseph Hirsch * Baruch Jeitteles * Baruch Lindau * Joel Löwe * *
Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...
* * Meir Obernik * Naphtali Herz Wessely *Joseph Witzhausen (Veit) * Aaron Wolfsohn (Halle)


See also

* Biurists *
Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...


External links


The prospectusHa-Me'assef
at
Historical Jewish Press Historical Jewish Press is an online archive of historical newspapers written and published by Jews. The database enables, through digitization, virtual access to the Hebrew press in most of its years of existence, starting from the late 18th Cent ...


References

Hebrew language Haskalah {{Hebrew-lang-stub