HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Me'assefim () were a group of
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
writers who between 1784 and 1811 published their works in the periodical ''Ha-Me'assef'' (), which they had founded.


History

In 1782 Moses Mendelssohn's German translation of the Pentateuch had appeared. In the ''bi'ur'' or commentary which he added to this translation, he dwelt on the beauty of the Hebrew language, its wealth of imagery, and its adaptability for poetic expression. By his comments on scripture, also, he largely stimulated Hebrew, grammatical, and exegetic studies. The seeds he thus scattered bore fruit even in his lifetime. While reading and discussing Mendelssohn's scriptural expositions, Isaac Abraham Euchel and Mendel Bresslau, who were at that time tutoring in the house of
David Friedländer David Friedländer (sometimes spelled Friedlander; 16 December 1750, Königsberg – 25 December 1834, Berlin) was a German banker, writer and communal leader. Life Friedländer settled in Berlin in 1771. As the son-in-law of the rich banker D ...
at Königsberg, conceived the idea of causing Hebrew as a literary language to be used more widely among the Jews. Assured of the material support of
Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
and Samuel Friedländer, they issued in the spring of 1783 an appeal to all Jews to assist in establishing a society for the study of Hebrew (Chebrat Doreshe Leshon 'Eber). The periodical ''Ha-Me'assef'' was projected as a rallying-point for all those who were interested in and able to contribute to the work. The undertaking met with a cordial reception in many quarters, especially in Berlin. Mendelssohn and even the aged
Naphtali Herz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely ( yi, נפתלי הירץ וויזעל, translit=Naftali Hirtz Vizel; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was an 18th-century German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, ...
promised their support and contributed to ''Ha-Me'assef'', the former anonymously. The first number of the periodical was announced April 13, 1783, in a prospectus, '' Nachal ha-Besor'', signed by Euchel, Bresslau, and Samuel and Simon Friedländer. The first volume appeared in 1784, being the earliest successful periodical published in Hebrew. The first three volumes were issued in monthly numbers at Königsberg (the frontispiece to vol. iii being Naphtali Herz Wessely's portrait); vols. iv-vi appeared in quarterly numbers at Königsberg and Berlin; vol. vii (one number only) at Breslau; vol. viii at Berlin; the first two numbers of vol. ix at Altona, and the last two at Dessau; vol. x (two numbers only) also at Dessau. The new ''Collector'' (''Achare ha-Me'assef'' or ''Ha-Me'assef he-Chadash''), edited by S. Cohen, may be regarded as a continuation of ''Ha-Me'assef''. Vol. i appeared at Berlin in 1809; vol. ii at Altona in 1810; and vol. iii at Dessau in 1811. In addition to articles on Hebrew prose and poetry, ''Ha-Me'assef'' printed general scientific articles, papers on mathematics and natural science, biographies of eminent Hebrew scholars, and articles on the history of the Roman emperors. Responsa on religious questions, e.g., on the speedy burial of the dead, have also been collected in its pages. The attitude of ''Ha-Me'assef'' was by turns
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
or Reform, according to the views of the collaborator. It was often very aggressive toward the strictly Orthodox view, although Wessely had from the very beginning advised a purely objective point of view.


Members

Collaborators on ''Ha-Me'assef'' included: * Judah Löw Ben-Zeeb *Simon ben Sanvil Bras * Mendel Bresslau (Brese) * Shalom Cohen *Wolf ben Abraham Dessau * Moses Ensheim * Isaac Abraham Euchel *
David Franco Mendes David Franco Mendes (; 13 August 1713 – 10 October 1792), also known as David Ḥofshi (), was a Dutch-Jewish Hebrew-language poet. He was an early member of the Haskalah in Holland. Biography A businessman, he devoted his leisure hours to the ...
*
David Friedländer David Friedländer (sometimes spelled Friedlander; 16 December 1750, Königsberg – 25 December 1834, Berlin) was a German banker, writer and communal leader. Life Friedländer settled in Berlin in 1771. As the son-in-law of the rich banker D ...
* David Friedrichsfeld * Joseph Haltern * Marcus Herz *Nathan Joseph Hirsch * Baruch Jeitteles * Baruch Lindau * Joel Löwe *Marcus Löwisohn (Gompertz) * Moses Mendelssohn * * Meir Obernik *
Naphtali Herz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely ( yi, נפתלי הירץ וויזעל, translit=Naftali Hirtz Vizel; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was an 18th-century German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, ...
*Joseph Witzhausen (Veit) * Aaron Wolfsohn (Halle)


See also

*
Biurists The Biurists were a class of Jewish Biblical exegetes, of the school of Moses Mendelssohn. Most of the Biblical commentators immediately preceding Mendelssohn had interpreted the Biblical passages from an individual point of view, and Mendelssohn wa ...
* Haskalah


External links


The prospectusMe'assefim
at Historical Jewish Press


References

Hebrew language Haskalah {{Hebrew-lang-stub