HENLE, ELKAN

HENLE, ELKAN (1761–1833), an early advocate of emancipation in Bavaria. Son of a wealthy Fuerth court agent, Jacob Buttenwies(en) Henle, he published a number of books and pamphlets demanding the spread of education and enlightenment (Haskalah) among his coreligionists and opposing the view that the Jews were not ready for emancipation. His writings include Ueber die Verbesserung des Judenthums (Frankfurt, 1803); Ueber die Verfassung der Juden im Koenigreiche Baiern und die Verbesserung derselben zum Nutzen des Staates (Munich, 1811); Die Stimme der Wahrheit in Beziehung auf den Kultus der Israeliten (3 vols., Fuerth, 1827). His last work sharply criticized the reformist catechism of alexander behr and opposed the formulation of a secular consistory in Bavaria. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Babinger, in: MGWSJ, 62 (1918), 223–30.