Trude Weiss-Rosmarin (June 17, 1908 – June 26, 1989) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

writer, editor, scholar, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist. With her husband, she co-founded the School of the Jewish Woman in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1933, and in 1939 founded the ''Jewish Spectator'', a quarterly magazine, which she edited for 50 years. She was the author of 12 books, including ''Judaism and Christianity: The differences'' (1943), ''Toward Jewish-Muslim Dialogue'' (1967), and ''Freedom and Jewish Women'' (1977).

Early life

Weiss-Rosmarin was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the daughter of Jacob and Celestine (Mullings) Weiss. She attended the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

from 1927–28, and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

(1929), before obtaining her PhD in Semitics, philosophy, and archeology in 1931 from the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

for a thesis on ancient Arab history. While at university, she became active in Jewish and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

organizations. She emigrated in 1931 with her husband, Aaron Rosmarin (born 1904), to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where they settled in

. The couple divorced in 1951.

Writing and teaching

Weiss-Rosmarin and her husband opened the School of the Jewish Woman in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in October 1933 under the auspices of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. The school, which closed in 1939, was modeled on the Frankfurt ''Lehrhaus'' created by

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (; ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

and

Martin Buber Martin Buber (; , ; ; 8 February 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I and Thou, I–Thou relationship and the I� ...

, and aimed to combat what Weiss-Rosmarin saw as women's poor access to education. She and her husband offered classes in

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

. Out of the school's newsletter grew the ''Jewish Spectator'', which described itself as a "typical family magazine with a special appeal to women." By means of her often controversial editorials, Weiss-Rosmarin sought to influence the American-Jewish community, arguing for changes in Jewish family law, Jewish–Arab co-existence in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, access to a Jewish education for women, and equality for women in the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and in public life. An article Weiss-Rosmarin wrote for the ''Jewish Spectator'' in 1970, "The Unfreedom of Jewish Women," was considered by historian

Paula Hyman Paula Hyman (September 30, 1946 – December 15, 2011) was an American social historian who served as the Lucy Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at Yale University. She served as the president of the American Academy for Jewish Research ...

as a trailblazer in analyzing the status of Jewish women using feminism. Weiss-Rosmarin also wrote a regular column, "Letters from New York", in the ''London Jewish Chronicle'' and served as national co-chair of education for the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

. She taught at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and the

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Assoc ...

, and published books on a variety of subjects. She died of cancer in 1989.

Publications

*''Religion of Reason'' (1936) *''Hebrew Moses: An Answer to Sigmund Freud'' (1939) *''The Oneg Shabbath Books'' (1940) *''Highlights of Jewish History'' (1941) *''Judaism and Christianity: The Differences'' (1943) *''Jewish Survival'' (1949) *''Jewish Women Through The Ages'' (1949) *''What Every Jewish Woman Should Know'' (1949) *'' Saadia'' (1959) *''Toward Jewish-Muslim Dialogue'' (1967) *''Jewish Expressions on Jesus: An Anthology'' (1977) *''Freedom and Jewish Women'' (1977)

Articles

She also wrote a number of articles which appeared in Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, including: *
The Duty to Do Justice
', Vol.11/no.202 1980. *
On Criticizing the Establishment
', Vol.1/no.13 1971. *
Buber Repressed What Cohen Had Taught
', Vol.4/no.682 1974. *
An End to Separate and Unequal
', Vol.1/no.19 1971. an
more

References

Sources

*Hymen, E. Paula & Dash Moore, Deborah. (eds) (1997) ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia''. Routledge, (pp. 1463–1465)
"Inventory to the Trude Weiss-Rosmarin papers, 1931–1984"
Jewish American Archives

External links

* Jennifer Breger
Trude Weiss-Rosmarin
Jewish Women Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss-Rosmarin, Trude 1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century German non-fiction writers 20th-century German women writers American feminists American women magazine editors American women non-fiction writers American Zionists German feminists German women non-fiction writers Jewish American activists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish German feminists Jewish scholars Jewish women writers Women founders Jewish American feminists