Leopold Zunz
Main Research
In Etwas ueber die rabbinische Literatur (which appeared in 1818 and was the first attempt to reflect Hebrew literature in all its branches), Zunz outlined the program and aims of the "Science of Judaism" and his own plan of work. According to Zunz, Jewish literature should not be shut within the narrow confines of religious and halakhic tradition, as this literature also embraces the other humanities, as well as natural sciences. A knowledge of Hebrew literature in its broader sense would make possible the recognition of Jewish history as an inseparable part of the history of human culture in general – research into Hebrew literature is part of the humanities in general. He believed that the time was ripe for this research because the rabbinical epoch had come to an end and Hebrew literature had to be evaluated before it and its knowledge would disappear. Further, a scientific report on the Jew's very active past would testify to his talent and readiness to make contributions in the present, which would serve to facilitate obtaining civil rights. After an overview of all subjects to which Jewish culture had contributed in the Disaspora, Zunz returned to his main aim. By treating the rabbinical literature as an integral part of a universal humanistic culture (i. e., philosophy), he hoped to ban all prejudices against Jews and their literature.
Though in his outline for the investigation of Jewish literature, which he later called a "piece of immature work of youth," Zunz had used "only half speech," as he confessed to Ehrenberg, his Die gottesdienstlichen Vortraege der Juden was regarded as "no book, but an event; not a literary work but a school" (D. *Kaufmann ). After his plan to write a four-volume introduction to the Wissenschaft des Judentums was not realized, he used his collected materials to demonstrate the historical-philological aims of the new "Jewish science." The main text focuses on the *Synagogue and especially its midrashic literature
In Etwas ueber die rabbinische Literatur (which appeared in 1818 and was the first attempt to reflect Hebrew literature in all its branches), Zunz outlined the program and aims of the "Science of Judaism" and his own plan of work. According to Zunz, Jewish literature should not be shut within the narrow confines of religious and halakhic tradition, as this literature also embraces the other humanities, as well as natural sciences. A knowledge of Hebrew literature in its broader sense would make possible the recognition of Jewish history as an inseparable part of the history of human culture in general – research into Hebrew literature is part of the humanities in general. He believed that the time was ripe for this research because the rabbinical epoch had come to an end and Hebrew literature had to be evaluated before it and its knowledge would disappear. Further, a scientific report on the Jew's very active past would testify to his talent and readiness to make contributions in the present, which would serve to facilitate obtaining civil rights. After an overview of all subjects to which Jewish culture had contributed in the Disaspora, Zunz returned to his main aim. By treating the rabbinical literature as an integral part of a universal humanistic culture (i. e., philosophy), he hoped to ban all prejudices against Jews and their literature.
Though in his outline for the investigation of Jewish literature, which he later called a "piece of immature work of youth," Zunz had used "only half speech," as he confessed to Ehrenberg, his Die gottesdienstlichen Vortraege der Juden was regarded as "no book, but an event; not a literary work but a school" (D. *Kaufmann ). After his plan to write a four-volume introduction to the Wissenschaft des Judentums was not realized, he used his collected materials to demonstrate the historical-philological aims of the new "Jewish science." The main text focuses on the *Synagogue and especially its midrashic literature