Abraham Geiger was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and scholar who led the founding of Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

. He sought to remove all nationalistic elements (particularly the "Chosen People" doctrine) from Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, stressing it as an evolving and changing religion.

Biography

As a child, Geiger started doubting the traditional understanding of Judaism when his studies in classical history seemed to contradict the biblical claims of divine authority. At the age of seventeen, he began writing his first work, a comparison between the legal style of the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 and Biblical and Talmudic law. He also worked on a dictionary of Mishnaic (Rabbinic) Hebrew.

Geiger's friends provided him with financial assistance which enabled him to attend the University in Heidelberg, to the great disappointment of his family. His main focus was centered on the areas of philology

Philology

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

, Syriac, Hebrew, and classics, but he also attended lectures in Old Testament, philosophy, and archaeology. After one semester, he transferred to the University of Bonn, where he studied at the same time as Samson Raphael Hirsch

Samson Raphael Hirsch

Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...

. Hirsch initially formed a friendship with Geiger, and with him organized a society of Jewish students for the stated purpose of practicing homiletics

Homiletics

Homiletics , in theology the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific department of public preaching. The one who practices or studies homiletics is called a homilist....

, but with the deeper intention of bringing them closer to Jewish values. It was to this society that Geiger preached his first sermon (January 2, 1830). In later years he and Hirsch became bitter opponents as the leaders of two opposing Jewish movements.

At Bonn, Geiger began an intense study of Arabic and the Koran, winning a prize for his essay "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen?" (lit. "What has Mohammed taken from Judaism?"). The essay earned Geiger a doctorate at the University of Marburg. It demonstrated that large parts of the Koran were taken from, or based on, rabbinic literature. (On this see Origin and development of the Qur'an

Origin and development of the Qur'an

The study of the origins and development of the Qur'an can be said to fall into two major schools of thought, the first being a traditional Islamic view and the second being a secular view, finding its origins in the works of Western scholars....

).

This book was Geiger's first step in a much larger intellectual project. Geiger sought to demonstrate Judaism's central influence on Christianity and Islam. He believed that neither movement possessed religious originality, but were simply a vehicle to transmit the Jewish monotheistic belief to the pagan world.

At this time, no university professorships were available in Germany to Jews, so Geiger was forced to seek a position as rabbi. He found a position in the Jewish community of Wiesbaden (1832–1837). There he continued his academic publications primarily through the scholarly journals he founded and edited, including Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift fuer juedische Theologie (1835–39) and Juedische Zeitschrift fuer Wissenschaft und Leben (1862–75). His journals became important vehicles in their day for publishing Jewish scholarship, chiefly historical and theological studies, as well as a discussion of contemporary events.

By that time Geiger had begun his program of religious reforms, chiefly in the synagogue liturgy. For example, he abolished the prayers of mourning for the temple, believing that since Jews were German citizens, such prayers would appear to be disloyal to the ruling power and could possibly spark anti-semitism

Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

. Geiger was the driving force in convening several synods of reform-minded Rabbis with the intention of formulating a program of progressive Judaism. However, unlike Samuel Holdheim

Samuel Holdheim

Samuel Holdheim was a German rabbi and author, and one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. A pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics, he was often at odds with the Orthodox community.- Early life :...

, he did not want to create a separate community. Rather, his goal was to change Judaism from within.

Reformer

In the Germany of the 19th century, Geiger and Samuel Holdheim

Samuel Holdheim

Samuel Holdheim was a German rabbi and author, and one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. A pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics, he was often at odds with the Orthodox community.- Early life :...

, along with Israel Jacobson

Israel Jacobson

Israel Jacobson was a German philanthropist and, according to Borowitz and Patz in Explaining Reform Judaism , is considered the "father" of the Reform movement in Judaism.-Origins:...

 and Leopold Zunz

Leopold Zunz

Leopold Zunz was a German Reform rabbi and writer, the founder of what has been termed "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies" , the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual...

, stood out as the founding fathers of Reform Judaism. Geiger was a more moderate and scholarly reformer, seeking to found this new branch of Judaism on the scientific study of history, without assuming that any Jewish text was divinely written.

Geiger was not only a scholar and researcher commenting on important subjects and characters in Jewish history, he was also a rabbi responsible for much of the reform doctrine of the mid 19th century. He contributed much of the character to the reform movement that remains today. Reform historian Michael A. Meyer has stated that, if any one person can be called the founder of Reform Judaism, it must be Geiger.

Much of Geiger's writing has been translated into English from the original German. There have been many biographical and research texts about him, such as the work Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus by Susannah Heschel

Susannah Heschel

Susannah Heschel is Dartmouth College's Eli Black associate professor of Jewish Studies, an award-winning author, and the daughter of Abraham Joshua Heschel....

 (1998), which chronicles Geiger's radical contention that the New Testament illustrates Jesus was a Pharisee teaching Judaism.

Some of Geiger's studies are included in The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book

Origins of the Koran

:This article concerns the book. For a textual history of the Qur'an, see History of the Qur'an.The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book, is a 1998 book edited by secularist author Ibn Warraq...

edited by Ibn Warraq

Ibn Warraq

Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a polemical author of Pakistani origin who is critical of Islam, and who founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society . He is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry focusing on Qur'anic criticism...

. Other works are Judaism and Islam (1833) and An Appeal to My Community (1842).

Criticism

Samson Raphael Hirsch

Samson Raphael Hirsch

Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...

 devoted a good many issues of his journal Jeschurun to criticizing Geiger's reform stance (published in English as Hirsch, Collected Writings).

Some critics also attacked Geiger's opposition to a Jewish national identity; most notably he was criticized when he refused to intervene on the behalf of the Jews of Damascus accused of ritual murder

Damascus affair

The Damascus affair was an 1840 incident in which the accusation of ritual murder was brought against members of the Jewish community of Damascus. Eight notable Jews of Damascus were falsely accused of murdering a Christian monk, imprisoned and tortured. Several of the imprisoned died of torture,...

 (a blood libel

Blood libel

Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...

) in 1840. However, Jewish historian Steven Bayme has concluded that Geiger had actually vigorously protested on humanitarian grounds.

Geiger's works

• Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judentume aufgenommen? Bonn, 1833.

(translated as Judaism and Islam, F. M. Young, 1896).

• Das Judenthum und seine Geschichte von der Zerstörung des zweiten Tempels bis zum Ende des zwölften Jahrhunderts. In zwölf Vorlesungen. Nebst einem Anhange: Offenes Sendschreiben an Herrn Professor Dr. Holtzmann. Breslau: Schletter, 1865-71.

(translated as Judaism and its history: in 2 parts, Lanham [u.a.]: Univ. Press of America, 1985. ISBN 0-8191-4491-6).

• Nachgelassene Schriften. Reprint of the 1875–1878 ed., published in Berlin by L. Gerschel. Bd 1-5. New York: Arno Press, 1980. ISBN 0-405-12255-1

Secondary literature

• Susannah Heschel: Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus. Chicago; London: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998. (Chicago studies in the history of Judaism). ISBN 0-226-32959-3.
• Ludwig Geiger: Abraham Geiger. Leben und Werk für ein Judentum in der Moderne. Berlin: JVB, 2001. ISBN 3-934658-20-2.
• Hartmut Bomhoff: Abraham Geiger - durch Wissen zum Glauben - Through reason to faith: reform and the science of Judaism. (Text dt. und engl.). Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin, Centrum Judaicum. Jüdische Miniaturen ; Bd. 45. Berlin: Hentrich und Hentrich 2006. ISBN 3-938485-27-2
• Jobst Paul (2006): "Das ‚Konvergenz’-Projekt – Humanitätsreligion und Judentum im 19. Jahrhundert". In: Margarete Jäger, Jürgen Link (Hg.): Macht – Religion – Politik. Zur Renaissance religiöser Praktiken und Mentalitäten. Münster 2006.ISBN 3-89771-740-9
• Encyclopaedia Judaica (2007), entry Abraham Geiger
• Abraham Geiger and liberal Judaism : The challenge of the 19th century. Compiled with a biographical introduction by Max Wiener. Translated from the German by Ernst J. Schlochauer. Philadelphia : Jewish Publication Society of America 5722.

External links

• Article in the Jewish Encyclopedia
  Jewish Encyclopedia
  The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
  
   written by Isidore Singer
  Isidore Singer
  Isidore Singer was an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man.-Biography:...
  
   & Emil G. Hirsch
• Jewish Discovery of Islam (Archived 2009-10-24) by Martin Kramer
  Martin Kramer
  Martin Seth Kramer is an American scholar of the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Shalem Center. His focus is on Islam and Arab politics.-Education:...
  
  , includes discussion of Geiger.