Max Lilienthal (November 6, 1815 – April 6, 1882) was a German-born adviser for the reform of Jewish schools in Russia and later a rabbi and proponent of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

in the United States.

Life and religion

Work for Russian Government

Lilienthal held a doctorate from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

when Ludwig Philippson recommended him to head a school inspired by the Enlightenment in

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, then a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He arrived in Riga in 1840. He made a greater impact with the Minister of National Education,

Sergey Uvarov Count Sergey Semionovich Uvarov (; – ) was a Russian classical scholar and politician who is best remembered as an influential statesman under Nicholas I of Russia. Biography Uvarov, connected through marriage with the Razumovsky family, ...

, than he did with the school. The next year, Uvarov summoned Lilienthal to serve as the Ministry of National Education's "learned Jew." Lilienthal's most important task was to convince the Jews of the importance of enlightened education. Lilienthal summoned committees from the various Jewish communities in the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

to provide recommendations on the reform of the schools, but the notion of reform was so controversial that many boycotted. Nonetheless, Lillienthal embarked on ambitious plans for the creation of

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

-inspired schools in Russia. He invited his peers in Central Europe to come and teach at Russian schools. Lilienthal did not understand the degree to which the Russian Jews resented having a foreign-inspired education imposed upon them. They saw Lilienthal as an agent of the tsarist government, which they believed wanted to convert them to

Russian Orthodox Christianity The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. As Pauline Wengeroff wrote in her memoirs decades later, "Dr. Lilienthal made it a point to gather many of Brest's young people around him every day, speaking to them of acquiring West European learning, offering useful bits of advice, sketching out their future as men of culture. He won the hearts of these impressionable young people who, while remaining true to their parents' religion in matters of observance, were branching off into new paths in all other respects, turning even further from the cultural orientation of the older generation." An 1844 law, introduced by Count Sergey Semionovich Uvarov, which ordered the creation of schools in which young Jews would learn secular subjects as well as Jewish religion was a victory for the Lilienthal and the Jewish Haskalah, but Lilienthal left Russia shortly afterward. His motivation for the sudden exit remains a topic of debate among scholars. According to traditional Jewish writers, particularly in the Chabad tradition, his departure was prompted by allegations from within the Haskala movement of the misappropriation of funds, leading to a Russian governmental investigation.

In the United States

Lilienthal served as a rabbi for several years after his arrival in

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in 1845, including at the Anshe Chesed Synagogue. He opened a Jewish school in 1850. In 1855, he moved to Cincinnati to become an editor of

The American Israelite ''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper st ...

and serve as rabbi of Congregation Bene Israel. As a rabbi in Cincinnati, he promoted Reform Judaism. He wrote for several publications and was an advocate for both Jewish and secular schools, teaching at Hebrew Union College and serving on the Cincinnati board of education. Lilienthal was later an active supporter of the movement to abolish slavery in the United States.

Personal life

Lilienthal married Babette "Pepi" Nettre (born 1821), daughter of his father's friend, Isaac Nettre, the Munich agent of the international banking firm of Solomon Hirsch. Two of his siblings would also marry children of Isaac Nettre: his brother, Samuel Lilienthal, married Caroline Nettre (born 1818); and his sister Henrietta Lilienthal, married Philip Nettre. Lilienthal had eight children: Eliza Lilienthal Werner; Theodore Max Lilienthal (married to Sophie Gerstle); Albert Lilienthal; Philip N. Lilienthal; Victoria Lilienthal; Jesse Warren Lilienthal (married to Lillie Bernheimer); Esther Lilienthal Heavenrich; and Dinah Lilienthal (died in infancy).

References

External links

Ohio History Central
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilienthal, Max 1815 births 1882 deaths 19th-century educators from the Russian Empire 19th-century German Jews Jewish educators 19th-century German educational theorists American Reform rabbis German emigrants to the United States Lilienthal family 19th-century American rabbis 19th-century American businesspeople