GUENZBURG, MORDECAI AARON

GUENZBURG, MORDECAI AARON
GUENZBURG, MORDECAI AARON (1795–1846), Hebrew author and founder of the first modern Jewish school in Lithuania. Guenzburg was born in Salantai and earned a living as an itinerant tutor until 1835 when he settled permanently in Vilna. In 1841 he and the poet Solomon salkind founded a modern Jewish school, which he directed as headmaster until his death. Guenzburg became one of the leading spokesmen for the Vilna Haskalah, though he was a moderate who opposed radical change. He observed the practical mitzvot which, under moses mendelssohn 's influence, he viewed as social regulations for the benefit of the Jewish community. He opposed the extremism of both the Orthodox and the secularists. When max lilienthal was invited to Russia by the authorities, Guenzburg joined the Vilna maskilim in attacking Lilienthal's attempts to win over the Orthodox and ridiculed his German ways and superficiality. Guenzburg's books in the area of French and Russian history enjoyed wide circulation and helped improve his financial condition. In 1844 and 1862 he published Devir (2 vols.), an anthology of letters, essays, and short stories, containing, among others, letters by Goethe, heine , and boerne , and a translation of the letters of Moses Montefiore's personal secretary, Eliezer Halevi (louis loewe ), who accompanied Montefiore on his first trip to Palestine. Devir also contained essays about the neglected Jewish communities in the Arab lands, China, and Ethiopia. Devir aroused in its readers a love for Palestine and influenced abraham mapu and Kalman Shullmann. His autobiography Avi'ezer, his most original work, appeared in 1864 (reprint 1966). Written in the style of Rousseau's confessions, it portrays the inner world of the Jewish child, and is a ringing attack on the ḥeder system of education. Stylistically, Guenzburg surpasses his contemporaries by far. For the sake of accuracy he resorted to mishnaic Hebrew, introducing talmudic phrases and neologisms, many of which became commonly accepted and are still in use, for example, milhemet magen ("defensive war"), milhemet tigrah ("offensive war"), rahitim ("furniture"), beit-do'ar ("post office"), etc. Guenzburg was the literary forerunner of P. Smolenskin , J.L. Gordon , M.L. Lilienblum , and R.A. Broides . His other works include Ittotei Rusyah Ha-Ẓarefatim be Rusyah (1843), on the Franco-Russian War of 1812; Pi-hahiroth (1843), a history of the wars of 1813–1815. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: D. Maggid, R. Mordecai Guenzburg 1795–1846… (Heb., 1897), includes bibliography; J. Fichmann, in: M. Guenzburg, Ketavim Nivḥarim (1911); Klausner, Sifrut, 3 (19603), 120–70; J.S. Raisin, The Haskalah Movement in Russia (1913), 213–21; Waxman, Literature, index. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: A.L. Mintz, "Guenzburg, Lilienblum and the Shape of Haskala Autobiography," in: AJS Review, 4 (1979), 71–110; M. Pelli, "Iyyun be-Aviezer le-M.A. Guenburg," in: Ha-Do'ar, 62 (1983), 156–57; Y. Bartal, "M.A. Guenzburg: Maskil Litai mul ha-Modernah," in: Ha-Dat ve-ha-Ḥayyim (1993), 109–25; M. Pelli, "Ha-Otobiografyah ke-Zhaner Sifruti be-Sifrut ha-Haskalah: Ḥayyavshel ha-Maskit M.A. Guenzburg," in: Ha-Do'ar, 78 (1999), 19–20. (Abba Ahimeir)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • GUENZBURG — (also Guensburg, Guenzberg, Ginzburg, Ginsburg, Ginzberg, Ginsberg, Ginzburger, Ginsburger), family name common among East European Jews, especially in Russia. The first known Jews to call themselves by this name (after the beginning of the 16th… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • DATO, MORDECAI BEN JUDAH — (1525–1591/1601), Italian kabbalist. He annotated Asis Rimmonim by elisha gallico (Venice, 1601). Dato s many writings are extant in numerous manuscripts. Two manuscripts of his piyyutim, collected in the work Shemen Arev, are found in the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • HASKALAH — (Heb. הַשְׂכָּלָה), Hebrew term for the Enlightenment movement and ideology which began within Jewish society in the 1770s. An adherent of Haskalah became known as a maskil (pl. maskilim). The movement continued to be influential and spread, with …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • VILNA — (Pol. Wilno, Lithuanian Vilnius), from 1323 capital of the grand duchy of lithuania ; from 1940 to 1991 capital of the Lithuanian S.S.R.; from 1991 capital of Lithuania; called by East European Jewry, especially in the modern period, the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GORDON, MIKHL — (1823–1890), Hebrew and Yiddish poet and essayist. Born in Vilna, he early came under the influence of the Haskalah circle of A.D. Lebensohn . He began his literary career in 1847 with a Hebrew elegy on the death of mordecai aaron guenzburg , a… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LILIENTHAL, MAX — (Menahem; 1815–1882), educator, author, and rabbi. Born in Munich, Bavaria, Lilienthal completed his studies at the university of his native town, and in 1839, on the recommendation of Ludwig Philippson, was appointed director of the Jewish… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • KABBALAH — This entry is arranged according to the following outline: introduction general notes terms used for kabbalah the historical development of the kabbalah the early beginnings of mysticism and esotericism apocalyptic esotericism and merkabah… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • PIYYUT — (Heb. פִּיּוּט; plural: piyyutim; from the Greek ποιητής), a lyrical composition intended to embellish an obligatory prayer or any other religious ceremony, communal or private. In a wider sense, piyyut is the totality of compositions composed in …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MUSIC — This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction written sources of direct and circumstantial evidence the material relics and iconography notated sources oral tradition archives and important collections of jewish music… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • BIBLIOPHILES — Little is known about private book collectors in antiquity and in the early Middle Ages. It might be assumed, however, that patrons of learning, such as hisdai ibn shaprut , collected important Hebrew and other books. Historical sources refer to… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”