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 Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or ' ...

's German translation of the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

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 ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

, 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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. Mendelssohn and even the aged Naphtali Herz Wessely 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 or

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

, 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 Friedrichsfeld * Joseph Haltern * Marcus Herz *Nathan Joseph Hirsch * Baruch Jeitteles * Baruch Lindau *

Joel Löwe Joel Löwe (; 1760 – February 11, 1802, Breslau), best known by the pen name Joel Bril (; Bril being an acronym for "son of R. Judah Löb"), was a German-Jewish Biblical commentator. Biography At the age of twenty he went to Berlin, where he re ...

*Marcus Löwisohn (Gompertz) *

* * Meir Obernik * Naphtali Herz Wessely *Joseph Witzhausen (Veit) * Aaron Wolfsohn (Halle)

External links

The prospectusMe'assefim
at

Historical Jewish Press Historical Jewish Press is an online archive of historical newspapers written and published by Jews. The database enables, through digitization, virtual access to the Hebrew press in most of its years of existence, starting from mid 19th Century t ...

References

Hebrew language Haskalah {{Hebrew-lang-stub

History

Members

See also

External links

References