Joseph Rabinowitz (23 September 1837 – 17 May 1899) was a Russian missionary to the Jews, who founded the Hebrew Christian movement Novy Israel in 1882.

Biography

Rabinowitz was born on 23 September 1837 in Resina,

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

. He was brought up as a Ḥasid, but later acquired some secular knowledge and mastered the Russian language. For a time he practised law in the lower courts of his native town, settling subsequently in Kishinev. In 1882 he founded the movement Novy Israel, and began to preach Christianity to the Jews of Kishinev. Following immediately upon the founding of the Bibleitzy brotherhood by Jacob Gordin at Elizabethgrad, the new movement attracted much attention, and was freely discussed in Russian newspapers. Rabinowitz succeeded for a time in interesting Christian

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

Franz Delitzsch Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of J ...

in his movement and in allaying the suspicions of the Russian government, which strictly prohibited the formation of new religious movement and was called sect.Sistematicheski Ukazatel, St. Petersburg, 1892 But his open conversion to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

had the natural result of estranging many of his followers. He was baptized in Berlin on 24 March 1885. He died in Odessa on 17 May 1899 and was buried in Kishinev..

Publications

* * ''Ketuvim le-yeshurun''. Published in French as * * * *

References

* * English translation:

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz, Joseph 1837 births 1899 deaths Converts to Protestantism from Judaism Expatriates in Ottoman Palestine Expatriates from the Russian Empire in the Ottoman Empire Jews from Western Moldavia Bessarabian Jews Jews from Ottoman Palestine Messianic Jews People from Rezina District Hebrew Christian movement Russian Christians Russian Christian missionaries Russian Jews