Zvi Hirsch Kalischer
Encyclopedia
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
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 one of Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
's early pioneers in Germany
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...
.
Life
Kalischer was born in LissaLeszno
Leszno is a town in central Poland with 63,955 inhabitants . Situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously the capital of the Leszno Voivodeship . The town has county status.-History:...
(Leszno) in the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Province of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
. Destined for the 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...
nate, he received his Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic education from Jacob of Lissa and Rabbi Akiva Eiger of Posen. After his marriage he left Lissa and settled in Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, where he spent the rest of his life. Here he took an active interest in the affairs of the Jewish community, and for more than forty years held the office of Rabbinatsverweser ("acting rabbi"). Disinterestedness was a prominent feature of his character; he refused to accept any remuneration for his services. His wife, by means of a small business, provided their meager subsistence.
Works
In his youth he wrote Eben Bochan, a commentary on several juridical themes of the Shulkhan Arukh, Choshen MishpatChoshen Mishpat
Choshen Mishpat is the Hebrew for "Breastplate of Judgement". The term is associated with one of the four sections of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats aspects of Jewish law pertinent to finance, torts, legal procedure and loans and interest in...
(Krotoschin, 1842), and Sefer Moznayim la-Mishpat, a commentary, in three parts on the whole Choshen Mishpat' (parts i. and ii., Krotoschin and Königsberg, 1855; part iii. still in manuscript). He also wrote: Tzvi L'Tzadik (צבי לצדיק) glosses on the Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah
Yoreh De'ah
Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct....
, published in the new Vilna edition of that work; the Sefer ha-Berit commentary on the Pentateuch
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
; the Sefer Yetzi'at Mitzrayim commentary on the Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
Pesach Haggadah; Chiddushim on several Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ical treatises; etc. He also contributed largely to Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
magazines, as Ha-Maggid, Tziyyon, Ha-'Ibri, and Ha-Lebanon.
Views on the re-settlement of the Land of Israel
Inclined to philosophical speculation, Kalischer studied the systems of medieval and modern Jewish and ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
philosophers, one result being his Sefer Emunah Yesharah an inquiry into Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
and theology (2 vols., Krotoschin, 1843, 1871); an appendix to volume 1 contains a commentary (incomplete) on Job
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
and Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
. In the midst of his many activities, however, his thoughts centered on one idea: the settlement of the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
by Jews, in order to provide a home for the homeless Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an Jews and transform the many Jewish beggars in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
into a population able to support itself by agriculture.
He began writing in the Ha-Levanon Hebrew (at that period, a renovated language) monthly magazine. In 1862 he published his book Drishat Tzion on this subject, including many quotes from his commentaries in the Ha-Levanon magazine..
He proposed:
- To collect money for this purpose from Jews in all countries;
- To buy and cultivate land in Palestine;
- To found an agricultural school, either in Palestine itself or in France; and
- To form a Jewish military guard for the security of the colonies.
He thought the time especially favorable for the carrying out of this idea, as the sympathy of men like Isaac Moïse Crémieux, Moses Montefiore
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, Kt was one of the most famous British Jews of the 19th century. Montefiore was a financier, banker, philanthropist and Sheriff of London...
, Edmond James de Rothschild
Edmond James de Rothschild
Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his generous donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel.- Early years :A...
, and Albert Cohn
Albert Cohn
Albert Cohn may refer to:*Albert Cohn *Albert C. Cohn , father of Roy Cohn...
rendered the Jews politically influential. To these and similar Zionist ideals he gave expression in his Derishat Zion (Lyck, 1862), containing three theses:
- The salvation of the Jews, promised by the Prophets, can come about only in a natural way — by self-help;
- Colonization in Palestine;
- Admissibility of the observance of sacrifices in Palestine at the present day.
The appendix contains an invitation to the reader to become a member of the colonization societies of Palestine.
The second part of the book is devoted to speaking to "the nations" who believe in the bible and the prophets, and persuading them, that this new course in history is a logical one, and that they too can hope for the salvation of the Jewish nation as part of the salvation of the entire world.
This book made a very great impression, especially in the Eastern Europe. It was translated into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by Poper (Toruń, 1865), and a second Hebrew edition was issued by N. Friedland (ib. 1866). Kalischer himself traveled with indefatigable zeal to various German cities for the purpose of establishing colonization societies. It was his influence that caused Chayyim Lurie, in Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1861, to form the first society of this kind, and this was followed by others.
Owing to Kalischer's agitation, the Alliance Israélite Universelle
Alliance Israélite Universelle
The Alliance Israélite Universelle is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 by the French statesman Adolphe Crémieux to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world...
founded the Mikveh Israel
Mikveh Israel
The name Mikveh Israel may refer to:* Mikveh Israel, agricultural school and village in Israel* Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia, United States* Congregation Mickve Israel, Savannah, Georgia, United States...
agricultural school, the rabbinate of which was offered to him, but he was too old to accept it. Although all these endeavors were not attended with immediate success, Kalischer never lost hope. By exerting a strong influence upon his contemporaries, including such prominent men as Heinrich Grätz, Moses Hess
Moses Hess
Moses Hess was a Jewish philosopher and socialist, and one of the founders of Labor Zionism.-Life:Hess was born in Bonn, which was under French rule at the time. In his French-language birth certificate, his name is given as "Moises"; he was named after his maternal grandfather...
(see Rome and Jerusalem
Rome and Jerusalem
Rome and Jerusalem. The Last National Question is a book published by Moses Hess in 1862 in Leipzig. It gave impetus to the Labor Zionism movement...
, pp. 117 et seq.), and others, he is considered to have been one of the most important of those who prepared the way for the foundation of modern Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
.
Article references
External links
- http://www.wzo.org.il/home/movement/kalisher.htm
- http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/kalish.html
- Proto-Zionism and Its Proto-Herzl: The Philosophy and Efforts of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer