Immanuel Löw
Encyclopedia
Immanuel Löw was a Hungarian rabbi, scholar and politician.
, Hungary, 20 January 1854, the son of Hungarian rabbi Leopold Löw
. He was educated in his native town and in Berlin
, where he studied at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
, graduating as rabbi and receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig
in 1878.
' of 1920-21 he was imprisoned for 13 months for alleged statements against Admiral Miklós Horthy
. While in prison, he worked on his four volume work Die Flora des Juden (“The Flora of the Jews”), on terminology of plants in Jewish sources. He was a famous preacher and from 1900–1939, four volumes of his sermons were published. His scholarly renown rests on his rabbinic lexicography and studies of artifacts. In 1883 he published a prayer book for Hungarian women and translated the Song of Songs and some psalms into Hungarian.
Both in the field of wildlife as well as minerals, he published more articles in scholarly publications. He wrote Mineralien der Juden (“Minerals of the Jews”), but his manuscript was lost during the Holocaust in 1944. A part of his literary legacy went on to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, and another part in the rabbinical seminary of Budapest.
(non-Orthodox) communities of Hungary in the upper chamber of the Diet of Hungary
. He was also a member of the Jewish Agency from 1926-1929. In 1944, during the Nazi occupation of Hungary, when he was 90, the Germans sent him to a brick factory and he was selected for deportation. Fortunately, he was accepted to be on the Kastner train
, which was set to allow the Hungarian Jewish elite to escape the Nazis. But sadly, he died when he arrived in Budapest before he boarded the train.
Early life
Löw was born in SzegedSzeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
, Hungary, 20 January 1854, the son of Hungarian rabbi Leopold Löw
Leopold Löw
Leopold Löw was a Hungarian rabbi.-Biography:Born in Černá Hora, Moravia, he received his preliminary education at the yeshibot of Třebíč, Kolín, Lipník nad Bečvou and Eisenstadt , and then studied philology, pedagogics, and Christian theology at the Lyceum of Bratislava and at the universities...
. He was educated in his native town and in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he studied at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
The Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary, established in Berlin in 1872 destroyed by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942...
, graduating as rabbi and receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in 1878.
Rabbi in Szeged
In 1878 he succeeded his father as rabbi of Szeged, Hungary. From 1889-1900, he published the collected writings of his father, in five volumes. The fine Szeged Synagogue built in 1903 was designed according to Löw's plans. In the 'White TerrorWhite Terror (Hungary)
The White Terror in Hungary was a two-year period of repressive violence by counter-revolutionary soldiers, with the intent of crushing any vestige of Hungary’s brief Communist revolution. Many of its victims were Jewish.-Background:...
' of 1920-21 he was imprisoned for 13 months for alleged statements against Admiral Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
. While in prison, he worked on his four volume work Die Flora des Juden (“The Flora of the Jews”), on terminology of plants in Jewish sources. He was a famous preacher and from 1900–1939, four volumes of his sermons were published. His scholarly renown rests on his rabbinic lexicography and studies of artifacts. In 1883 he published a prayer book for Hungarian women and translated the Song of Songs and some psalms into Hungarian.
Scholarly Work
Löw’s fame as a scholar is based primarily on his pioneering work in the field of Talmudic and rabbinic lexicography and in the study of plant names. This special interest is apparent in his doctoral thesis Aramäische Pflanzennamen (Aramaic Plant Names) (1879) as well as in Meleager Meleagros aus Gedera und die Flora Aramaea (1883). Löw systematically explored the basics of plant terminology in different periods of the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, dominated the latest scientific methods in this field, made himself familiar with literary sources of plant names, and made careful use of manuscript material. With the help of Semitic languages, especially Syriac, he clarified many etymologies. He had great influence on future scholars, particularly Yehuda Feliks, who considered him one of the greatest scholars of Jewish botany.Both in the field of wildlife as well as minerals, he published more articles in scholarly publications. He wrote Mineralien der Juden (“Minerals of the Jews”), but his manuscript was lost during the Holocaust in 1944. A part of his literary legacy went on to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, and another part in the rabbinical seminary of Budapest.
Political life
From 1927 Immanuel Löw represented the NeologNeolog
Neolog Judaism is a mild reform movement within Judaism, mainly in Hungarian-speaking regions of Europe, which began as a result of the Hungarian Jewish Congress, convened on December 14, 1868. The reforms were comparable to the more traditional wing of U.S. Conservative Judaism...
(non-Orthodox) communities of Hungary in the upper chamber of the Diet of Hungary
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary was a legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 15th century, and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and the Habsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout the Early Modern period...
. He was also a member of the Jewish Agency from 1926-1929. In 1944, during the Nazi occupation of Hungary, when he was 90, the Germans sent him to a brick factory and he was selected for deportation. Fortunately, he was accepted to be on the Kastner train
Kastner train
The Kastner train was a trainload of almost 1,684 Jews who, on June 30, 1944, escaped from Nazi-controlled Hungary, eventually arrived in Switzerland, while some 450,000 members of the Hungarian Jewish community were deported to the gas chambers at Auschwitz....
, which was set to allow the Hungarian Jewish elite to escape the Nazis. But sadly, he died when he arrived in Budapest before he boarded the train.
Selected bibliography
- Aramaeische pflanzennamen, von Immanuel Loew. Mit unterstuetzung der K. Akademie der wissenschaften in Wien. Pp. 490. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1881
- Der biblische 'ŻezŻob, von Immanuel Löw. Pp. 30. Wien: In Kommission bei A. Hölder, 1909
- Die flora der Juden. 4 v. in 5. Wien: Leipzig, R. Löwit, 1924–34
- Gesammelte Schriften / Leopold Low; hrsg. von Immanuel Loew. Nachdr. d. Ausg. Szegedin 1889-1900. 5 v. Hildesheim; New York : Olms, 1979.
- Rashuyot: mikhtamim ve-khatavot / me-et Libesh Lef u-veno `Imanu'el. Yerushalayim : [h. mo. l.], 698 [1937 or 1938] (in Hebrew)