Judah Hurwitz Explained

Judah Hurwitz (Hebrew: יהודא בן מרדכי הלוי הורוויץ|translit=Yehuda ben Mordekhai ha-Levi Hurvitz; 1734–1797) was a Jewish physician and author living in Amsterdam, Netherlands in the 18th century. Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, he was the son of Mordechai Hurwitz.

In 1766, his then-popular work Ammudei Beit Yehuda (translated as Pillars of the House of Judah) was published by Yehuda Leib Sussmans in Amsterdam. Although Hurwitz's stated intention in the book is to defend the theology and practice of traditional Judaism, he is often considered an early member of the Haskalah.^[1] His writings evinced interest in science.^[2]

External links

• Original Hebrew text of Ammudei Beit Yehuda
• The early Jewish Enlightenment in the Netherlands, and Hurwitz's place in therein
• Ammudei Beit Yehuda in the Library of Congress

Notes and References

1. Feiner . Shumuel . 2000-01-01 . Solomon Maimon and the Haskalah . Aschkenas . en . 10 . 2 . 337–360 . 10.1515/asch.2000.10.2.337 . 162038208 . 1016-4987.
2. Pelli . Moshe . 1979 . The Beginning of the Epistolary Genre in Hebrew Enlightenment Literature in Germany: The Alleged Affinity Between Lettres Persanes and 'Igrot Meshulam . The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book . 24 . 1. 83–103 . 10.1093/leobaeck/24.1.83 .