Mekitze Nirdamim (, ''Meḳitse nirdamim'', "Rousers of Those Who Slumber") is a
literary society
A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...
dedicated to the retrieval,
preservation
Preservation may refer to:
Heritage and conservation
* Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible
* ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...
, and
publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.[Berne Convention, articl ...](_blank)
of
medieval Hebrew texts. It was first established at
Lyck,
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
in 1861, and is now based out of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
,
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
History
Mekitze Nirdamim was first established in
Lyck,
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
in 1861, mainly by the efforts of , editor of the Hebrew weekly ''
Ha-Magid''. The Society's first board consisted of prominent scholars and philanthropists such as Rabbi
Nathan Marcus Adler
Nathan Marcus HaKohen Adler (13 January 1803 – 21 January 1890) (Hebrew name: Natan ben Mordechai ha-Kohen) was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1845 until his death.
Life
A kohen, Adler was born in Hanover in present-day Germany. H ...
,
Albert Cohn,
S. D. Luzzatto,
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of London. Born to an History ...
,
Michael Sachs,
Mattityahu Strashun, and
Joseph Zedner.
The organization's focus on realigning ''
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 ...
'' and
tradition
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
among European Jews was met with opposition from some ''maskilim''. By 1864, nonethelessss, the number of subscribers stood at 1,200. Among its early publications were Luzzatto's 1864 edition of
Judah Halevi
Judah haLevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; ; ; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Sephardic Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets and is celebrated for his secular and religious poems, many of whic ...
's ''
Diwan'',
Salomon Buber's edition of the ''
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana () is a collection of aggadic midrash which exists in two editions, those of Salomon Buber (Lyck, 1868) and Bernard Mandelbaum (1962). It is cited by Nathan ben Jehiel and Rashi.
The name
The Jewish Babylonian Aramaic t ...
'' (1868), and parts of
Isaac Lampronti
Isaac Lampronti (February 3, 1679 – November 16, 1756) was an Italian rabbi and physician, best known as author of the rabbinic encyclopedia ''Paħad Yitzħak''.
Lampronti was born at Ferrara. His great-grandfather, Samuel Lampronti, had emig ...
's rabbinic encyclopedia (1864–74).
The Society became increasingly inactive during the 1870s. After Silbermann's death in 1882, Mekitze Nirdamim was successfully revived at Berlin in 1885 by
Abraham Berliner
Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (2 May 1833 – 21 April 1915) (Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He was initially educated by his father, who was the teac ...
, alongside
Moses Levi Ehrenreich,
Joseph Derenbourg
Joseph Derenbourg, or Joseph Naftali Derenburg (21 August 1811 – 29 July 1895) was a Franco-German orientalist.
He was born in Mainz (then French-controlled), as a youngest son of the lawyer Jacob Derenburg.
According to the 1911 ''Enc ...
,
David Günzburg
David Goratsiyevich Günzburg (; 5 July 1857 – 22 December 1910), 3rd Baron de Günzburg, was a Russian oriental studies, orientalist and Jewish communal leader.
Biography
He was the son of Baron Horace Günzburg, who co-founded World ORT, a n ...
,
Solomon Joachim Halberstam
Solomon Joachim Chayim Halberstam (23 February 1832 – 24 March 1900) known from his acronym as ShaZHaH (שזחה), was an Austrian scholar and author.
Biography
He was born in Kraków. His father, Isaac Halberstam, was a prominent merchant wh ...
,
Abraham Harkavy,
Marcus Jastrow
Marcus Jastrow (June 5, 1829 – October 13, 1903) was a Poland-born American Talmudic scholar and rabbi, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive ''Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Mid ...
,
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 ...
, and Mattityahu Strashun. Amid the
rise of Nazism
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
in Germany, the Society was moved to Jerusalem in 1934, under the leadership of then-president
Aron Freimann. Agnon served as president of the Society from 1954 to 1970, and was succeeded by
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...
.
Notable members
* Rabbi
Nathan Marcus Adler
Nathan Marcus HaKohen Adler (13 January 1803 – 21 January 1890) (Hebrew name: Natan ben Mordechai ha-Kohen) was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1845 until his death.
Life
A kohen, Adler was born in Hanover in present-day Germany. H ...
*
S. Y. Agnon
*
*
Yitzhak Baer
*
*
Abraham Berliner
Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (2 May 1833 – 21 April 1915) (Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He was initially educated by his father, who was the teac ...
*
Albert Cohn
*
Joseph Derenbourg
Joseph Derenbourg, or Joseph Naftali Derenburg (21 August 1811 – 29 July 1895) was a Franco-German orientalist.
He was born in Mainz (then French-controlled), as a youngest son of the lawyer Jacob Derenburg.
According to the 1911 ''Enc ...
*
Moses Levi Ehrenreich
*
Shulamit Elizur
Professor Shulamit Elizur (), born April 6, 1955, is a scholar of ancient and medieval piyyut (Hebrew poetry). She is the head of the Fleischer Institute for the Study of Hebrew Poetry, a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, a member of ...
*
*
Abraham Firkovich
Abraham (Avraham) ben Samuel Firkovich (Hebrew - ''Avraham ben Shmuel''; Karayce: Аврагъам Фиркович - ''Avragham Firkovich'') (Sept. 27, 1786–June 7, 1874) was a famous Karaite writer and archaeologist, collector of ancient ...
*
Ezra Fleischer
Ezra Fleischer (; 7 August 1928 – 25 July 2006) was a Romanian-Israeli Hebrew-language poet and philologist and laurate of the Israel Prize for Literature studies for 1959.
Biography
Fleischer was born in 1928 in Timișoara, in the Banat r ...
*
*
Aron Freimann
*
Shelomo Dov Goitein
Shelomo Dov Goitein (April 3, 1900 – February 6, 1985) was a German-Jewish ethnographer, historian and Arabist known for his research on Jewish life in the Islamic Middle Ages, and particularly on the Cairo Geniza.
Biography
Shelomo Dov (Frit ...
*
David Günzburg
David Goratsiyevich Günzburg (; 5 July 1857 – 22 December 1910), 3rd Baron de Günzburg, was a Russian oriental studies, orientalist and Jewish communal leader.
Biography
He was the son of Baron Horace Günzburg, who co-founded World ORT, a n ...
*
Solomon Joachim Halberstam
Solomon Joachim Chayim Halberstam (23 February 1832 – 24 March 1900) known from his acronym as ShaZHaH (שזחה), was an Austrian scholar and author.
Biography
He was born in Kraków. His father, Isaac Halberstam, was a prominent merchant wh ...
*
Abraham Harkavy
*
Marcus Jastrow
Marcus Jastrow (June 5, 1829 – October 13, 1903) was a Poland-born American Talmudic scholar and rabbi, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive ''Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Mid ...
*
Zadoc Kahn
*
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 ...
*
Louis Loewe
*
Samuel David Luzzatto
Samuel David Luzzatto (, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian-Austrian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.
Early life
Luzzatto was born ...
* Sir
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of London. Born to an History ...
*
Samuel Poznański
*
Michael Sachs
*
Hayyim Schirmann
*
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...
*
*
David Simonsen
David Jacob Simonsen (; 17 March 1853 – 15 June 1932) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied Oriental languages at the University of Copenhagen, and received his rabbinical training at the Jüdisch-Theologisches Seminar, Jewish Theologi ...
*
Mattityahu Strashun
*
Samuel Strashun
*
Israel Ta-Shma
*
Ephraim Urbach
*
David Yellin
David Yellin (; March 19, 1864 – December 12, 1941) was an educator, a researcher of the Hebrew language and Hebrew literature, literature, a politician, one of the leaders of the Yishuv, the founder of the first David Yellin College of Educat ...
*
Joseph Zedner
*
Jacob Berlinger
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekike Nirdamim
Learned societies of Germany
1864 establishments in Prussia
Hebrew manuscripts
Jewish printing and publishing
Publishing companies established in 1864
Research institutes in Israel
Book publishing companies of Israel
Book publishing companies of Germany