Lazar Horowitz
Encyclopedia
Lazar Horowitz, or Eleazar HaLevi Ish Horowitz, Eleasar ben David Josua Hoeschel Horowitz, aka El'azar Hurwitz (1803/1804, Floß
, Upper Palatinate
- June 11, 1868, Vöslau) was an Orthodox Rabbi who led the Orthodox Jewish community of Vienna
during the Vormärz
period.
Born in Bavaria
, Horowitz was a student of Moses Sofer
of Pressburg before moving to Vienna in 1828 to serve as the community's supervisor of Kosher meat. There, he collaborated with Reform Jewish rabbis of his day, such as Isaak Noah Mannheimer and Adolph Jellinek regarding synagogue
protocol in the central synagogues of Vienna. In 1829, he drafted the bylaws of the central Stadttempel
. Although he himself was an Orthodox Jew, he continued to pray occasionally in the Reform temple.
Horwitz wrote a book of halakhic responsa
called "Yad Eleazar."
His responsum regarding metzitzah b'peh was strongly influenced by the Hatam Sofer's rulings, according to Meir Hershkovitz in his 1972 article on Horwitz.
In 1863, Horowitz defended Heinrich Graetz
in Viennese court when Graetz was accused of heresy for an article he had published in a local journal. Graetz had written that the chapters in Isaiah
referring to the Messiah
were meant to be interpreted non-literally, and that they referred to a national Messiah instead of a personal one. Other Orthodox rabbis, including Azriel Hildesheimer
, criticized Horowitz for defending Graetz, arguing that it was inapproproate for an Orthodox rabbi to defend the theology of a Positive-Historical historian, no matter what the historian had written.
Floß
Floß is a municipality in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria in Germany....
, Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...
- June 11, 1868, Vöslau) was an Orthodox Rabbi who led the Orthodox Jewish community of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
during the Vormärz
Vormärz
' is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. Also known as the Age of Metternich, it was a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to calls for liberalism...
period.
Born in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Horowitz was a student of Moses Sofer
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century...
of Pressburg before moving to Vienna in 1828 to serve as the community's supervisor of Kosher meat. There, he collaborated with Reform Jewish rabbis of his day, such as Isaak Noah Mannheimer and Adolph Jellinek regarding synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
protocol in the central synagogues of Vienna. In 1829, he drafted the bylaws of the central Stadttempel
Stadttempel
The Stadttempel is the main synagogue of Vienna, Austria. It is located in the 1st District , at Seitenstettengasse 4.-History:...
. Although he himself was an Orthodox Jew, he continued to pray occasionally in the Reform temple.
Horwitz wrote a book of halakhic responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
called "Yad Eleazar."
His responsum regarding metzitzah b'peh was strongly influenced by the Hatam Sofer's rulings, according to Meir Hershkovitz in his 1972 article on Horwitz.
In 1863, Horowitz defended Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
in Viennese court when Graetz was accused of heresy for an article he had published in a local journal. Graetz had written that the chapters in Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
referring to the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
were meant to be interpreted non-literally, and that they referred to a national Messiah instead of a personal one. Other Orthodox rabbis, including Azriel Hildesheimer
Azriel Hildesheimer
Esriel Hildesheimer was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering modernizer of Orthodox Judaism in Germany and as a founder of Modern Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
, criticized Horowitz for defending Graetz, arguing that it was inapproproate for an Orthodox rabbi to defend the theology of a Positive-Historical historian, no matter what the historian had written.