IBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAL :FORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 1811-1875
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY 
 
 With a Translation of Some of the Tributes Paid to His 
 Memory an tlie Occasion of the Centenary of 
 His Birth, Celebrated at Szeged, 
 Hungary, June 4> 1911 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM N. LOEW 
 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 1912
 
 75$ 
 LI H 
 
 I DEDICATE 
 THIS VOLUME TO THE DESCENDANTS OF 
 
 IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 MY BELOVED DAUGHTERS AND SONS 
 
 AND 
 THEIR DAUGHTERS AND SONS 
 
 1947605
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 All that follows will be of interest to those whom I have 
 just mentioned in the dedication. Unfortunately, none of 
 them reads Hungarian, and all that they know of their no- 
 ble grandfather and great-grandfather they must know in 
 this way. To others who may happen to look into this vol- 
 ume, I beg to say that if the praise seems fulsome and the 
 language over-ornate, yet these are words of sincere ad- 
 mirers who know whereof they speak, and who know that no 
 words and no praise can be too great for the character, the 
 ability, and the actual achievement of Leopold Loew. 
 
 WILLIAM N. LOEW.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 18111911 
 
 One hundred years ago, who knows not Victor Hugo's line, 
 Napoleon exclaimed: "Henceforth the future's mine," 
 When from the High the thund'rous voice of God spoke loud: 
 ' ' Not so ! the future is but God 's ! " . . . Forgotten is the 
 
 proud, 
 
 Illustrious "King of Rome" born in that famous year, 
 Unhonored and unsung, unwept by e'en one grateful tear. 
 
 Thou, Leopold Low, immortal sire of ours, thou too wert 
 born 
 
 One hundred years ago, on a beauteous May-day morn. 
 
 No great empire awaited thee, a new-born son and heir; 
 
 Thou wert but poor folks' child, and yet a race and state de- 
 clare 
 
 Thy never-waning fame, thy most illustrious name, 
 
 And praise thy memory with heartfelt, proud acclaim. 
 
 Thou hast secured our deathless love and our devotion 
 
 By thy sacerdotal unction and deep emotion, 
 
 And by the purity and sweetness of thy soul; 
 
 The countless thousands found through thee the longed for 
 
 goal. 
 
 Thou taught 'st freedom to love, hate cant, despise the wrong! 
 Thou wert a prophet and a priest, a God-born son of song.
 
 10 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 Each word of thine had been a holy benediction, 
 Which soothingly brought calm to all human affliction. 
 And did'st thou read aloud a soulful, holy prayer 
 All human thought was turned from sorrow and despair. 
 With tenderness thou hast taught us resignation, 
 Thy speech appeased the cry of pain and desolation. 
 
 From superstition, hollow mockeries and form 
 
 Thou didst purify religion, and didst brave the storm 
 
 Created by thy sublime: "Let there be light!" 
 
 And there was light! and ignorance and cant took flight. 
 
 To the Magyar Jew who sings King David's psalm. 
 
 Thou, Leopold Low, wert the date-tree and the palm. 
 
 O'er dull tomes and scrolls thy master mind has pondered, 
 With Joshua ben Chananja's spirit thou hast wandered 
 To extract some maxim new for human good. 
 All mankind was for thee one common brotherhood. 
 With Malachi the prophet thou didst never cease to say: 
 "One God created us, let man love man alway!" 
 
 With thy great mighty force of heart and soul and mind 
 
 Thy epoch pushed ahead, thy master hand designed 
 
 A state in which the homeless, errant, outcast Jew 
 
 To proud selfconscious manhood grew, madest him pursue 
 
 An honorable calling, taughtst him to toil 
 
 As artisan, to learn a trade, to till the soil. 
 
 In eighteen hundred forty-nine, tremendous year, 
 
 Kossuth's, Petofi's the war god's voice we hear. 
 
 Thy priestly staff thou lay'st aside; beneath the heaven's 
 
 vault 
 
 Thou preachest liberty ! and in the midst of the assault 
 Inspirest the fighting men! For those who bravely die 
 Thou art with faith's divinely soothing prayers nigh.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 11 
 
 A Magyar citizen, faithful, loyal and true 
 
 Thou madest and what a fight it cost! of the Hungarian 
 
 Jew! 
 
 And with thee fought, it was a fine triumvirate 
 Our own Klauzal and he, the greatest of the great, 
 Francis Deak! No human speech, so rich to find 
 Words adequate to praise these in our hearts enshrined. 
 
 Thou hast given to dawning youth a new incentive, 
 Hast cheered the weak and stirred to deed the strong. At- 
 tentive 
 
 Listened to thy teachings half of the cultured world 
 And followed thee when thou thy own school's flag unfurled. 
 Ave! Ave! Priest, Savant, Leader, strong and kind, 
 Thine image is in mankind's grateful heart enshrined! 
 
 WILLIAM N. LOEW. 
 Szeged, Hungary, June 4th 1911.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW was born in Csernahora, a little village in 
 Moravia, one of the provinces of Austria, on May 22, 1811. 
 He was the first born son of a poor couple, the only Jewish 
 family in the village. On his father's side he was a descend- 
 ant of the famous Rabbi Loew ben Bezallel of Prague (1660), 
 the hero of the well known Gomel legend. 
 
 He received a better education than usually fell to the 
 lot of Jewish boys in those days in Moravia. A private tutor 
 was engaged for him and his younger brothers. The Roman 
 Catholic priest of the village, who had taken a liking to the 
 bright, wide awake boy, taught him the national language 
 and music. 
 
 Loew showed great inclination toward music and had 
 much natural ability in mastering it. He played the piano, 
 the violin and the flute, all three instruments fluently and 
 in his musical studies had advanced to the intricacies of coun- 
 terpoint and composition. 
 
 At the age of 13 he left his father's house to enter the 
 Jeshivah. (High school for Rabbinical lore.) 
 
 The institution of the "Jeshivah" is fast dying out. 
 Theological seminaries are rising in their place, but the 
 Jeshivah of olden days was the fountain at w r hich giants and 
 heroes of deep thought and learning acquired that wide and 
 profound knowledge of Talmudic lore for which they were 
 famous. He attended three of these Jeshivahs. Rabbi 
 Joachim Deutschmann 's at Trebitsch, later at Kollin ; Rabbi 
 Moses Perl's at Kismarton and Rabbi Baruch Frankel's at 
 Leipnik. 
 
 In the year 1835 he was made the recipient of his first 
 "Hattarah" (certificate of authorization to assume the office 
 
 12
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 13 
 
 of Rabbi) from Rabbi Deutschmann, who described him as 
 "the most intelligent scholar he ever had." His other "Hat- 
 tarahs," Loew received later from Chief Rabbis L. L. Rap- 
 paport of Prague, Loew Schwab of Pest (Budapest) and 
 Aaron Chorin of Arad. 
 
 In addition to his Talmudical studies he devoted earnest 
 and close attention to Hebrew grammatical learning, so that 
 he was able to write Hebrew with classic beauty and power. 
 He wrote Jewish poetry with easy grace, and many of the 
 classic poems of Schiller were rendered by him into the 
 language of the divine psalmist. 
 
 In 1830 he left the Jeshivah and in September of that year 
 went to Prossnitz, then a famous Jewish center, becoming 
 the scholar of Loew Schwab, then the Rabbi there, who, later 
 on, became his lifelong friend and father-in-law. Here 
 he began his studies of the ancient classics of Rome and 
 Athens and modern languages: French and Italian. In all 
 of these he acquired more than superficial proficiency and a 
 complete bibliography of his works names articles of literary 
 and scientific merit written by him in Hebrew, German, 
 Hungarian, French and Latin. 
 
 In Prossnitz he received the appointment as Hebrew 
 teacher. Of those days one of his pupils, Louis Schnabel, a 
 Superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York 
 city, published in the "Deborah," a Jewish family paper 
 edited by him, a most graceful and grateful article paying 
 tribute to the memory of his beloved teacher. 
 
 In 1835 he migrated to Hungary. He decided on this 
 step because the then "Landes Rabbiner" i. e. Chief Rabbi 
 of the Province of Moravia, had refused him a "Hattarah" 
 on the ground, that he, Loew "can read and write Ger- 
 man and other languages is not fit to be a rabbi ! ' ' 
 
 Loew went to Pest and again he was with his former 
 teacher, the famous Loew Schwab, the Chief Rabbi of Pest. 
 He acted as private tutor in several Jewish families and in 
 addition he pursued his studies.
 
 14 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 For five years he studied hard. Every branch of human 
 knowledge was included in his curriculum. He studied 
 mathematics, dogmatics, theology, philosophy, exegesis and 
 hermeneutics, logic and psychology, ethics and metaphysics, 
 the classics and the interpretations of the Scriptures, history 
 and languages, natural history and natural philosophy, orien- 
 tal languages and archaeology. None of these was taken 
 upon in a haphazard manner but methodically and system- 
 atically. 
 
 Philological, historical, philosophical studies then com- 
 manded and probably even now command almost the ex- 
 clusive attention of Hebrew scholars. Loew was more am- 
 bitious. Dogmatics, ethics, catechetics and homiletics were 
 fields in which he culled with industrious hands and observ- 
 ing eyes. 
 
 In 1837 he graduated from the Lutheran Lyceum of 
 Pozsony (Pressburg) and in 1840 he passed successfully his 
 examinations as High-School teacher at Vienna. His studies 
 at these two non-Jewish institutions of learning were the 
 basis of the persecution he suffered from later on at the hands 
 of some of his bigoted coreligionists. 
 
 In the year 1840 he accepted a call as Rabbi of the Jewish 
 congregation of Nagy Kanizsa in Hungary and began his 
 useful career of rabbi, teacher and preacher. 
 
 The year previous he had begun his literary career with 
 the publication of a Rabbinical-Reform Program, which 
 caused men like Holdheim, Manheimer and Schwab to re- 
 gard the young author with high appreciation. 
 
 This program was a preface to the great Aaron Chorin's 
 "Jeled Sekunim. " It bears the name: "Die Reform des 
 Rabbinischen Ritus auf Rabbinschem Standpunkle. " 
 
 In Nagy Kanizsa he began to carry out his Reform pro- 
 gram. Synagogue and school, the two fields of his labors, 
 soon showed the results of his beneficial efforts. Instead of 
 the jargon sanctioned by custom, grammar and correct lan- 
 guage were introduced. The language of the country was
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 15 
 
 taught, trade schools and girl's schools were opened, all 
 novelties in the educational world of that period. 
 
 In the year 1844 he began to preach in the Magyar tongue 
 and to write articles in that language. He had become a 
 regular contributor of the "Pesti Hirlap," then the fore- 
 most Magyar newspaper, edited by the famous historian 
 Ladislaus Szalay and later on by the world-famed Louis 
 Kossuth. One of Loew's articles was in answer to one of 
 Kossuth's, then almost the demigod of Hungary whom Loew 
 bravely assailed for his lukewarmness in his advocacy of the 
 rights of the Jew and for Kossuth's idea, expressed in those 
 articles, of eventually granting to the Jews their political 
 emancipation only and leaving their recognition as mem- 
 bers of the Magyar nation, their social recognition, de- 
 pending on their the Jews "changing certain racial 
 habits." Loew's polemic with Kossuth became the sensation 
 of the day. It was unheard of for a Jewish rabbi to assail 
 the great leader of a nation. 
 
 Loew carried his point, the revolutionary government of 
 Hungary with Louis Kossuth as Governor-Dictator at the 
 head enacted a law embodying the emancipation of the 
 Jews in Hungary and conferring on them absolute and full 
 rights of citizenship. Later on the two men, Loew and Kos- 
 suth, became friends and when Loew died, Kossuth spoke 
 of his death as a national loss. 
 
 At about the same time he had his famous literary contro- 
 versy with Rev. Joseph Szekacs, then a Protestant minister 
 and professor, later on the Bishop of the Protestant church of 
 Hungary. Loew hauled him over the coals mercilessly for 
 some passage in a literary review written by him. Loew's 
 "open letter" caused a stir and the result was that the 
 Protestant minister at an early opportunity corrected what 
 he had written about the Jew he became a warm advocate 
 of Jewish emancipation and a personal friend and admirer 
 of Leopold Loew. 
 
 Loew's Hungarian literary work of those days was al-
 
 16 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 most exclusively devoted to awakening in the Magyar Jew 
 a patriotic spirit and to educating and ripening his people 
 for that position to attain which was his highest ambition 
 as lawfully recognized citizens of the land with all political, 
 civil and religious rights of citizenship. Equally earnest how- 
 ever were his efforts to awaken a spirit of love and ap- 
 preciation in the hearts of the Hungarian people and na- 
 tion towards the Jew in Hungary. During these years he 
 also began his agitation for a correct translation of the 
 Hebrew Bible into the Magyar, a work finished about thirty 
 years afterwards under the auspices of the "Hungarian 
 Jewish Society" an organization called into life by him 
 and at present still continuing its activities. 
 
 Another purpose in his life, which set in then, and which 
 was ever afterwards most faithfully adhered to, was to be 
 an ever-watchful guardian of his people and his religion 
 against the attacks of the enemies of Jews and Judaism. 
 
 In the month of August, 1846, he moved to Papa, a city 
 in the county of Veszprem, Hungary, having accepted the 
 call from the large and important Jewish congregation of 
 that city. The Jews of Papa, however, or at least a power- 
 ful minority intimately connected with the Jews of Pozsony 
 (Pressburg), could never forgive Loew his audacity in spend- 
 ing almost two years in the latter city; that instead of at- 
 tending the Jeshivah of Rabbi Moses Tzofer, then one of 
 the foremost orthodox leaders of southeastern Europe, he 
 devoted these two years to studying at a Lutheran Lyceum. 
 
 Here began Loew's religious martyrdom. It is impossible 
 to draw a correct picture of the fight which broke forth 
 upon his call to Papa. To understand it fully one must 
 know the condition of civilization of Magyar Jews and of 
 Magyar Gentiles of those days ; one must have a clear insight 
 into the social conditions, the political organization and the 
 public system of the county comitatus governments. 
 
 The protest of this minority against his election, the 
 charges made against him f. i. he had been seen bareheaded,
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 17 
 
 he was heard playing the piano on a Friday evening and 
 such things caused a stir in town and county meetings; 
 appeals were taken and were carried to the highest authori- 
 ties corresponding to our Governors of State, the court of 
 appeals of the State and finally to the Supreme law authori- 
 ties of the land ! The final decisions were in favor of Loew, 
 his election was confirmed, the numerous charges against 
 him were dismissed, some of his calumniators were fined, 
 some were sentenced to corporal punishment, and some were 
 imprisoned. 
 
 Loew 's days in Papa were full of sorrow, full of bitterness ; 
 but he felt no discouragement. He went ahead with 
 dauntless courage and indefatigable industry. A new Syna- 
 gogue was consecrated, a new elementary school was created. 
 He published the Ben Chananja, a monthly magazine dedicated 
 to the interests of Jews and Judaism, which publication he re- 
 newed several years afterwards and continued for a decade, 
 making the Ben Cliananja, one of the foremost repositories of 
 Jewish thought in Europe. His sermons were delivered in 
 German not the jargon Yiddish, then the ' ' official ' ' language 
 of the average Jew occasionally he preached in the Hunga- 
 rian language. 
 
 While at Papa he became also Professor of Hebrew at 
 the Protestant College of that city and lectured before non- 
 Jewish societies and literary bodies. This was one of the 
 things that created such bitter feeling against him. His 
 congregation contained a certain class of people to whom 
 culture and education and refinement were like blood red flags 
 before infuriated bulls. To them it was a sacrilege, a sin 
 crying to Heaven, that a Jewish Rabbi should teach men 
 who were to become "Gallochs," Christian priests, or that 
 a Rabbi should be seen in modern dress, or seen fraternizing 
 with a Catholic or Protestant minister. 
 
 The Hungarian revolution caused the political martyrdom 
 of Leopold Loew. He became a chaplain of the national 
 guard and went into the field of battle. His revolutionary
 
 18 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 sermons were by order of the revolutionary government dis- 
 tributed among the army. Even to-day they are considered 
 masterpieces of Magyar pulpit-oratory and one of them, 
 his famous "Az Isten veliink vagyon" (God is with us) is 
 reprinted in more than one handbook of Hungarian elo- 
 quence. Hungarian literary histories refer to and cite 
 Loew's Magyar sermons as some of the best works of their 
 kind in the entire range of Hungarian literature. 
 
 At the close of the revolutionary war, Loew and his father- 
 in-law Schwab, the Chief Rabbi of Pest, were arrested by 
 the military authorities charged with "high treason." For 
 ten weeks they remained in prison. Day by day the two 
 Jewish Rabbis heard one or the other of their prison-mates 
 called, saw them march out under military escorts, then they 
 heard the ringing out of the shot of rifles, or the thud of 
 the weight of the gallows and they knew the fate of their 
 former fellow-prisoners. Loew and Schwab were miracu- 
 lously saved by an appeal to Haynau, the military commander 
 of Hungary, made by an Austrian Princess of imperial 
 blood, to whom Loew's wife had gone in the last hour of 
 her despair, reminding her, that it was this prisoner Loew 
 whom she, the Princess, had at one time rewarded and prom- 
 ised her good will for reading to her and to a literary circle 
 of hers at her request some chapters of Isaiah in German 
 and in French. The Princess promptly came to Loew's 
 rescue. Haynau however, notwithstanding the powerful 
 pressure, was willing to free the two prominent leaders of the 
 Jews of Hungary, only if they paid a ransom. One million 
 guilden was the price set for their liberty. The Jews of 
 Hungary collected the amount and paid it. Loew and 
 Schwab were freed. 
 
 When in _1863^ Francis Joseph became desirous of being 
 King of Hungary de jure not only de facto as he had been 
 since the crushing of the revolution, that is to say when 
 the Magyar nation and the King were about to be recon- 
 ciled, Leopold Loew, at an audience before the King, pleaded
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 19 
 
 for the remission of this fine of one million guilden paid for 
 the participation in a revolution which the King himself, 
 by his own actions, had stamped as "forgotten and for- 
 given." The plea was considered to be just, the fine re- 
 mitted and with the interest accumulated repaid in the form 
 of a fund, out of which Jewish schools and institutions of 
 learning, among them the Jewish Theological Seminary 
 of Hungary at Budapest, are supported. 
 
 This "pardon" story of Loew by Haynau is not complete, 
 without telling the following incident: Loew's "pardon" 
 contained the command that thenceforth, in the usual prayer 
 for the Emperor and the Imperial family, interpolated in the 
 Sabbath-service he must also add a prayer for Haynau. 
 Loew, of course, did this regularly and the military com- 
 mander of Hungary was prayed for as ordered. 
 
 In 1855 Leopold Loew while in Vienna, on a visit to 
 friends, saw a gorgeous military funeral passing the street. 
 On inquiry he learned that it was the funeral of Haynau, 
 the military commander of Hungary. Loew, remembering 
 that after all it was Haynau who had pardoned him, bared 
 his head and silently followed the bier for a few blocks and 
 murmured his prayer for the repose of the soul of the 
 dead. When Loew returned to Szeged, where he then was 
 Rabbi, he of course omitted at the Saturday's service the 
 prayer for Haynau. Within less than an hour after the 
 close of the Sabbath service of that day, Loew was sur- 
 prised to see two gendarmes with bayonets fixed enter his 
 house and command him to follow them. He was taken to 
 the city's military commander and there was charged with 
 having broken faith by neglecting to repeat the usual prayer 
 for Haynau at that morning's service. Loew tried to 
 justify his act by telling the commander, that he, Loew, had 
 been at the funeral of Haynau which had taken place earlier 
 in the week at Vienna, and that it would be a stupid thing 
 to pray for a man dead and buried the same prayer which 
 had been said for him while alive and in office. The mili-
 
 20 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 tary authorities were generous enough not to punish Loew, 
 but only to "reprimand" him, and ordered him to continue 
 his prayers for Haynau, until he should be officially notified 
 that he need do so no longer. 
 
 The religious persecution to which Leopold Loew was sub- 
 jected in Papa and the bitterness of the days of the Magyar 
 revolution caused heart rending woe to his good wife, 
 Leon tine Schwab (the daughter of his teacher Loew 
 Schwab), whom he had married in June 1842. The angelic 
 woman, devoted loyally to her husband, shared with him his 
 sorrows. Her sensitive, delicate soul thoroughly understood 
 and approved her husband's religious struggle against 
 hypocrisy, superstition, bigotry and ignorance, and she bore 
 bravely the heavy burden of her husband's religious martyr- 
 dom. With equal fortitude she faced the terrible dangers 
 of the Magyar revolution. She was proud of her husband, 
 proud of her father both of whom were in prison for the 
 cause of freedom and the fatherland. 
 
 In a Diary she kept (1849), I find the following entry: 
 February 22, "Our enemies" (the orthodox jews of Papa) 
 "know no bounds in their fanaticism. They still occupy 
 the position in which they stood an hundred years ago. Ac- 
 cording to them a good priest must not talk and walk like 
 other decent men; he can not be a good priest if he takes 
 care of his person or gives a thought to the education of the 
 youth. He must know the talmudic law and needs no other 
 learning of any kind. He must not be civilized or cultured. 
 No wonder they condemn Loew. Has he not everything that 
 they find to be faulty ! He tells them face to face that it is 
 his aim in life to enlighten the Jews, to civilize them, to 
 educate the Jewish youth to be men of culture and refine- 
 ment and not allow them to remain bigoted, blind zealots. 
 Indeed I would become a hater of humanity should I judge 
 mankind by the men around me here. The beauteous great 
 globe, however, so full of God's goodness, must surely be also 
 inhabited by great and noble souls. It is but an ordeal of
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 21 
 
 fate that we must live amidst these coarse, spiteful, inimical 
 people. I hope, however, that at some time it shall be given 
 us to live among civilized people who will appreciate Loew's 
 efforts. I am proud of my beloved father who is honored 
 by so many. I am proud of my dear husband who is only 
 hated because of his prominence. This pride gives me 
 strength to bear the cruel bitterness of fate." 
 
 Aug. 20th "My God! My God! What awful rumors are 
 circulating! At Nagyvarad, it is said, the Magyars have 
 been defeated. Gorgey and his fifteen thousand men have been 
 taken prisoners at Vilagos. Some say that he voluntarily 
 surrendered to the Austrians to whom he sold himself. Oh, 
 I do not believe it! I can't believe it. Gorgey could not 
 have become a traitor. It can not be true! God grant that 
 these rumors prove to be unfounded and that soon we receive 
 some good news." 
 
 Aug. 22. "They are still talking about Gorgey. . . . 
 It is said that Kossuth has abdicated. . . . Terrible! 
 Terrible that a struggle for the noblest human rights should 
 end thus!" 
 
 September 20th and 23d. "I am heartbroken. My father 
 is in prison. The fate of my husband's future fills me with 
 anxiety. Our enemies will surely take advantage of the 
 condition of affairs and charges and accusations will now 
 pour in." 
 
 October 3d. "We just received the latest news which tells 
 of the surrender of Komarom. This ends Hungary's heroic 
 struggle. I never want to read another newspaper." 
 
 October 15th. "The time of the ordeal has come. My good 
 husband has also been put into prison . . . oh, my God, 
 protect him, let not a hair of his head be touched. Help 
 me, my God, strengthen me to bear the weight of these com- 
 ing days. Oh, how ill I am." 
 
 Oct. 21. "I was allowed to visit my husband at the prison. 
 I saw him and I held him in my arms." 
 
 Oct. 30. "These are grievous, sorrowful days. Only care
 
 22 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 and woe are my share in life. When I see the suffering of 
 the others my own suffering grows bearable. I am longing 
 to see my children. Goodby, God bless you my dear hus- 
 band. I must go to our children." 
 
 Leopold Loew was pardoned on December 19th, 1849, and 
 he promptly returned to Papa ; remained there, however, only 
 a few months. Within a few hours so to say after his mi- 
 raculous escape from prison, probably death his enemies in 
 the city of Papa began to embitter his life and to take steps 
 to supply the Austrian authorities with "proofs" of Loew's 
 "treason to the country." Promptly he accepted a call just 
 then received from the Jewish congregation of Szeged, the 
 great Magyar city of the Magyar lowland. In December 
 1850 he assumed the Rabbinate of Szeged and filled it until 
 his death, in 1875. 
 
 His salutatory, a sermon of great force, was published un- 
 der the title: "Die heiligen Lehrer der Vorzeit," and is a 
 bold and manly reform-program of an enlightened mind and 
 a truly religious soul. 
 
 In Szeged Leopold Loew enjoyed such peace as he had not 
 known for years and his educational, literary and theological 
 labors showed the beneficial influence of his happy surround- 
 ings. His foremost works were written there, and the longer 
 he remained there, the more closely connected he became 
 with his congregation which bore him a love that grew be- 
 yond his grave, and with the city of Szeged which honored 
 and respected him as one of its most prominent citizens, 
 which elected him into its council, named him as member 
 of all committees appointed to look after the city's welfare, 
 made him a member of its most exclusive social and political 
 clubs, designated him as its spokesman on important oc- 
 casions. On the occasion of the celebration of the centenary 
 of the birth of Leopold Loew, the great Catholic city of 
 Szeged named one of its principal streets in his memory: 
 "Leopold Loew Street." 
 
 While in Szeged he received several calls from other con-
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 23 
 
 gregations. His answer was invariably, that he could not 
 leave his congregation and his city. He was also offered the 
 Chief directorate of the ' ' Hochschule f iir die Wissenschaf t des 
 Judenthuras" at Berlin, Germany's most celebrated Rab- 
 binical Seminary and the like office of the Jewish Theological 
 Seminary of Budapest, Hungary, both of which he declined. 
 The Mafteach, an introduction to the Holy Writ, was his 
 first great work published in Szeged and is considered still a 
 standard work of Jewish exegises. 
 
 In 1858 Loew again took up the publication of his " 
 Chananja" begun in Papa. It was first a monthly, later on 
 ;i weekly journal, dedicated to Jewish theology. For ten 
 years this newspaper, published in a corner of Hungary, 
 was one of the leading exponents of Jewish thought and 
 Jewish science throughout the European continent. 
 
 In 1863 he was cited before the military tribunals 
 Hungary was then under military rule. The government 
 had issued an order relating to the consent necessary to be 
 obtained from the political authorities before Jewish wed- 
 dings were allowed to be celebrated, and ordered also a 
 revenue tax to be paid in the form of stamp on and for the 
 "Kethuba" (marriage contract). Loew criticised this 
 movement of the government in unmeasured terms and 
 through this criticism caused a prompt repeal of the shame- 
 ful tax. He was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment, 
 which sentence, however, the military commander of Szeged 
 suspended. "The orders of the government," he was told 
 by the military Judge Advocate, "are not issued for the pur- 
 pose of being criticised by you." "And yet," Loew re- 
 plied, "the Minister of Finance repeals the rescript in con- 
 sequence of this very criticism of mine." 
 
 He fared similarly when in 1863 he protested against the 
 orders of the government appointing special overseers of the 
 schools, to be paid by the Jewish congregations. In his pro- 
 test he used the following language: "The Jews of Hungary 
 do not beg; they ask not for charity in their religious or in
 
 24 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 their educational matters. They demand full and unre- 
 stricted enjoyment of civil and religious rights, because they 
 bear all burdens of citizenship." 
 
 He came into hostile relationship with the military au- 
 thorities again because he refused to swear some Jewish wit- 
 nesses sent to him by a court of law to administer ' ' the Jew- 
 ish oath" to them. He was threatened with imprisonment 
 if he insisted on his refusal to administer the oath. Loew 
 positively refused ; he said there is no such thing as a ' ' Jew- 
 ish oath ' ' ; again and again he received official rescripts warn- 
 ing him against his " contumaciousness. " Loew refused and 
 finally the Jewish witnesses were sworn as were all other wit- 
 nesses, that oath being administered to them which the 
 law of the land prescribed. Out of this incident arose the 
 request of the government to him to give his views on the 
 "more Judaico." His "opinion" is an exhaustive his- 
 torical essay on the oath of the Jews. This "Jewish oath" 
 opinion of the Jewish Rabbi was read at a stated meeting 
 of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Budapest and printed 
 in its academic publications. It was translated into German, 
 French and English, the latter translation appearing in 
 The Jewish Times (New York, 1872, Moritz Ellinger, Editor). 
 
 Another of his more important opinions furnished to the 
 government was "The Jewish Cult," an historical and crit- 
 ical essay, which also received an English translation which 
 appeared in the columns of Rev. Dr. Isaac's Jewish Messenger 
 of New York. 
 
 The government of Hungary, before the "Ausgleich" 
 (1867), when Hungary was but a conquered province, and 
 the government of Constitutional Hungary, again and again 
 appealed to him for his opinion on all matters relating to 
 Jewish law, ritual, cult, customs, arising in the congregations 
 or before courts of law. That Constitutional Hungary should 
 have done so was natural, for he, the loyal patriot had helped 
 to bring about the conditions which resulted in the estab- 
 lishment of constitutional government, and of course he was
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 25 
 
 ''persona grata"; but the former government, the autocratic 
 absolutism looked upon him with suspicion, surrounded him 
 with spies, yea, the funeral orations at the grave of mem- 
 bers of his congregations were listened to by "spitzels" 
 spies who reported his language to the police authorities 
 yet it respected the purity of his character and his great 
 learning and though "blacklisted" as a citizen, as "a dan- 
 gerous rebel," again and again he was asked to advise the 
 government how to decide the Jewish questions with which 
 it had to deal and was asked to write textbooks for the pub- 
 lic schools. 
 
 His written opinions upon these divers subjects fill several 
 volumes. They cover a variety of subjects. For instance, 
 this question arose between a congregation and its Rabbi 
 and was taken into a court by both parties: "who has the 
 right, the Rabbi or the congregation, to set the hour of the 
 opening of the morning service?" Another: "Can a congre- 
 gation force its Rabbi to wear an official robe, or has the 
 Rabbi the right to clothe himself in any kind of costume he 
 chooses?" "Are there any religious functions which unmar- 
 ried men may not perform?" "Is it permissible to plant 
 trees in front of a synagogue ? " or " Is it permissible to plant 
 flowers on the grave of departed beloved ones?" or "How 
 high must the railing be which separates the women from 
 the men in the synagogue?" Strange as it may seem, such 
 questions did arise, and the two governments regarded him 
 and recognized him as the foremost authority and turned 
 to him for expert opinion on all matters relating to communal 
 and ritual controversies which the different factions in Juda- 
 ism carried into the courts for adjudication. 
 
 Congregations, Rabbis and individuals likewise promptly 
 appealed to him for his final opinion in matters relating to 
 Jewish law and ritual, etc., etc., instead of carrying them 
 into courts of law. None of these "opinions" of Leopold 
 Loew are ordinary dicta, the decisions of a man forcing his 
 view upon another; all of these "opinions" and it has been
 
 26 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 mentioned that they fill several volumes and cover a multi- 
 tude of questions relating to Jewish history, ritual and law,- 
 are studies of great merit, they give the origin, nature, and 
 development of customs, rights and ceremonies and show solid 
 scholarship, deep erudition and broad, comprehensive knowl- 
 edge of the Talmud both in its Haggadic and its Halachic 
 literature; while as a modern savant, they show him to be 
 a scientific author and a historian of the foremost rank. 
 
 The great German critic, Franz Delitzsch, wrote thus about 
 one of Leopold Loew's works (Die Lebensalter) in the "Lit- 
 erarisches Centralblatt " : " The author, the most prominent 
 among the Rabbis of Hungary and also one of the most in- 
 fluential members of the Synod, proves in the work before 
 us, not only his magnificent intimacy with the whole range 
 of Jewish literature into its very closest corners, but also a 
 knowledge of history which reminds one of D 'Israeli's 'Curi- 
 osities of Literature'; he is a surprisingly well read mind, 
 who has a saying of Glaus Harms as well as a passage of 
 Heinrich Heine at his command; he masters his subject, 
 which in its form, as built by him, is an architectural beauty, 
 and in its style is an artistic gem, which teaches pleasantly 
 and changes the most abstruse things into playthings of 
 charming causeries. " 
 
 The great Abraham Geiger, in his "Juedische Zeitschrift 
 fur Wissenschaft und Leben" speaks thus of Loew's ''Opin- 
 ions, published in the 'Ben Chananja' ": 
 
 ' ' The opinions of the editor upon manifold questions which 
 not only touch matters of daily life, but also important rites 
 of religion, bear witness to his deep insight into Jewish life 
 and his profound learning on historical and theological sub- 
 jects. Such contributions are of enduring value." 
 
 The "Ben Chananja" championed not only the cause of 
 reformed, purified Judaism but also fought courageously and 
 dauntlessly for the rights of the Hungarian Jew. When in 
 August, 1862, Agost Trefort later on Minister of religious 
 worship and education in constitutional Hungary made his
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 27 
 
 inaugural speech before the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 
 he made a remark derogatory to the Jews. Leopold Loew 
 promptly replied to him in an "open letter," which created 
 a stir all over Europe. The great daily papers reprinted it, 
 and from the most distant part of the civilized world came 
 letters of thanks and "addresses" for his splendid defense. 
 The Jewish students of the Universities of Budapest and 
 Vienna presented him with a silver loving cup and torchlight 
 parades were given in his honor. 
 
 With the close of the year 1867 the "Ben Chananja" 
 ceased to exist. Loew took the position that since the Jews 
 in Hungary were now emancipated, it was not fair that a 
 newspaper devoted to their interest should be published in 
 the German language. 
 
 He devoted his time to his historical studies. Some of his 
 articles relating to the history of the Jews in Hungary were 
 published as early as 1841 in Bush's "Jahrbuch fur Israe- 
 liten" and in other periodicals and newspapers. 
 
 In 1870-71 he published two volumes of his "Graphische 
 Requisiten" which were followed soon after by another 
 volume "Die Lebensalter, " two great works on Jewish or 
 rather Talmudical Archaeology of which science he is the 
 founder. Still another volume "Der Synagogale Ritus" 
 remained unfinished; part of it appeared after his death in 
 "Frankel's Monatschrif t " and the full MS. was printed in 
 the "Gesammelte Werke. " The volumes are nothing more 
 nor less than the history of civilization of the Jews and in a 
 larger sense a history of religion, i. e., the religious history 
 of the Jews. 
 
 Leopold Loew's historical works, his works pertaining to 
 the political, religious and cultural history of the Jews in 
 Hungary, his contributions to Biblical exegesis, his studies 
 in Jewish theology and dogmatism fill five large, quarto vol- 
 umes, edited after his death by his son and successor to the 
 rabbinate of Szeged, Dr. Immanuel Loew, the worthy and 
 the great son of a great father.
 
 28 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 A collection of his Magyar sermons published under the 
 title "Beszedek" "Speeches" received a full and lauda- 
 tory review in the Jewish Times, from the late Anthony Hof er, 
 an editorial writer of the New York Herald. 
 
 The national life of his country was closely connected with 
 Loew's rabbinical life. A collection of his published ser- 
 mons would show the political history of Hungary during 
 the years of his rabbinical career. "The Dawn of the 
 Kevolution" (1840-1848), "The Heroic Struggle" (1848- 
 49') ; "Vae Victis" (1850-63), "The Dawn of Constitutional 
 Freedom" (1863-67), and "Constitutional Liberty and 
 Emancipation" (1868-75) are the headings under which his 
 sermons and speeches could be classified. 
 
 He loved to celebrate national-political events in his Tem- 
 ple. His commemoration sermons, delivered on the deaths 
 of Gabriel Klauzal, Count Ladislaus Teleki, Baron Joseph 
 Eotvos and Count Stephen Szechenyi, four famous Magyar 
 statesmen, were greatly admired; his sermons were often re- 
 printed by the daily journals of the capital of Hungary as 
 masterpieces of sublime patriotic thought. 
 
 His position in Szeged was one of comparative ease, 
 yet of constant struggle and care. A threefold martyr, po- 
 litical, religious and literary, he was ever engaged in battle 
 now against ignorance, now against arrogance, now against 
 the blind zeal of Chassidim, now against the impetuousness 
 of the so-called Parnassim, the plutocracy of "New Jerusa- 
 lem." 
 
 The Jewish Congress of or in Hungary knew him not among 
 its delegates. This congress was a pet scheme of the then 
 minister of public worship and education, Baron Joseph Eo- 
 tvos, a truly warm friend of the Magyar Jew. To bring 
 about a concentration and centralization of the Jew and the 
 Jewish congregations of Hungary under the paternal care 
 of the government was his plan, and the "Jewish Congress" 
 was to discuss and prepare for it. 
 
 A very interesting condition of affairs arose in Hungary.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 29 
 
 Leopold Loew, the very foremost of reformers and the most 
 orthodox Chassidim, were for once of the same opinion, to 
 wit, both were opponents of the Jewish Congress. The mo- 
 tives of their objections were, however, different. Loew's op- 
 position to the centralization of Jewish congregations was 
 based, among other reasons, on the fact "that the historic 
 conditions under which a Jewish congress could and should 
 organize the Jewish church in Hungary, are not yet under- 
 stood, and the matter is in the hands of dilettantes, who, how- 
 ever kindly disposed, forget that the divine command, 'in 
 the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread, ' ' applies here 
 also and was not meant to refer to the bread we actually eat." 
 
 Loew was a member of the Jewish Synods held at Leipzig 
 and at Augsburg. The New York Herald's correspondent 
 said of him, in a pen picture, that his patriarchal appearance 
 made him worthy of the brush of a Rembrandt, while his 
 learning and eloquence, his kindness and geniality, made him 
 a beloved, a leading member of that noteworthy gathering. 
 His reports to the Synod, as for instance his opinion upon the 
 subject of riding on Sabbath and holidays, are full of pro- 
 found learning and show a most scrutinizing examination of 
 the subjects of which they treat. In a characterization of 
 the members attending the Leipzig Synod we read about 
 Loew: "As soon as he raises his voice, he dominates his audi- 
 ence. Each of his words is deliberate and reflected. The 
 fullness of his Talmudical knowledge, the natural logic of 
 his conclusions, his thoughtful exposition of the scriptural 
 text, indicate the acute thinker. His words expressed in a 
 lovely, gentle manner, are gladly complied with. How profit- 
 able it is to be in his company." 
 
 Leopold Loew's reform program was based on the lessons 
 to be drawn from what he called "the historical school." 
 Beneath a picture of his he wrote the following motto: "Pa- 
 tience! The future of Judaism belongs to that school which 
 can best understand the past." 
 
 At the central conference of American Rabbis held on July
 
 30 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 3d, 1911, at St. Paul, Minn., Rabbi Julius Rappaport of Chi- 
 cago, 111., read a paper in memory of Leopold Loew. The 
 Chicago Rabbi's contribution to the centenary of Leopold 
 Loew is written with such generously fair appreciation and 
 with such thorough grasp of Loew 's life and life 's work, that, 
 in conclusion, I cannot abstain from citing therefrom in 
 extenso. 
 
 "In these days of Zionism and nationalism it will be in- 
 teresting to learn Loew's opinion in reference to Jewish na- 
 tionalism. In the argument against emancipation the Jews 
 were charged with being a nation within a nation. Leopold 
 Loew protested against such charges and declared that: 
 'Jews are only a religious community and are members of 
 the countries in which they live. The French Jews are as 
 much strangers to the German Jews, and these in turn to 
 the Italian Jews, these again to the English Jews, as are the 
 Christian inhabitants of these countries to the Christians of 
 other countries. The laws of the countries in which they 
 happen to live are their (the Jews') laws; the interests of 
 the country, their interests; the national hopes, their own 
 hopes. No, the Jews have no distinct nationality. They are 
 only a religious community. Much as we are inclined to 
 believe in the Old Testament prophecy, the restoration of the 
 Jewish state to-day is altogether an Utopia.' In the same 
 spirit he replies to the author of 'Rome and Jerusalem.' 
 'We hold the author's program of a Jewish nation for an 
 empty phantom. From the mixture of Germanic and Gallic 
 ingredients you cannot form a Jewish nation.' 
 
 "Interesting as it would be, time will not permit me to 
 enter upon an analysis of his contributions towards the history 
 of Jews and Judaism in general such as ' Gesch. d. Mahrischen 
 Landesrabbinates, ' 'Das Vereinswesen in Israel,' 'Die Grosse 
 Synode,' Gesch. d. Kabbala, and those of Hungary in special, 
 many articles and brochures upon which he has issued e. g. 
 'Ungar, Municipalien u. Juden,' 'Gesch. d. Ung. Sabbathaer, ' 
 'Vergang. u. Gegenw. d. Hassidier, ' and above all a greater
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 31 
 
 volume, 'Der Juedische Congress,' pertaining to the po- 
 litical, religious and cultural history of the Jews of 
 Hungary. 
 
 "To analyze or even to enumerate all the writings of Loew 
 is impossible in a short sketch. The mere bibliography of 
 his works in the fifth volume of his Ges. Schriften comprise 
 19 closely printed pages, and we simply mention here such 
 as 'Die Grundlehre d. Rel. Israels,' 'Juedische Dogmen,' 
 ' Die Tradition, ' ' Eherechtl. Studien, ' and many other studies 
 in Jewish theology and dogmatism. Loew's efforts are bent 
 upon providing the religious history of the Jews. He set out 
 ' To illumine the darkness in which former generations walked 
 till they had arrived at the place where I and my time stand. ' 
 Applying the searchlight of scientific rules of philology to 
 the pages of the Talmud and investigating it with the critical 
 eye of the scholar, Loew endeavors to prove that the so-called 
 oral tradition of the Mishna from Biblical times is untenable. 
 The importance of Loew in the service of the science of reli- 
 gion was fully recognized by the master of that science, Abra- 
 ham Geiger, when he says, 'To make clear to our age the 
 inner struggle of Rabinism and Talmudism, to prove how in 
 spite of all stagnation the latter teachers and at that not 
 only the philosophically trained ones had their independent 
 convictions which they did not sacrifice blindly, to prove this, 
 is the very meritorious service which Leopold Loew rendered, 
 the service of strengthening the recognition that in Judaism 
 the free decision has never placed itself under the letter of 
 the Talmud.' " 
 
 Leopold Loew's personal position in Hungary was indeed a 
 most remarkable one. Jew and Christian loved, honored, es- 
 teemed and revered him. Rich and poor, high and low vied 
 with each other to do him reverence. When generals of the 
 army, ministers of the state, dignitaries of the Catholic, 
 Protestant and Greek Catholic Churches, savants of the 
 nation, came to Szeged, they promptly paid their tribute of 
 respect by calling on him. On momentous historic occasions
 
 32 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 when the city or county designated a committee or body of 
 men to represent it, Leopold Loew was invariably at the head 
 of such committee or deputation or was the spokesman of the 
 occasion. On numberless occasions, at county meetings, po- 
 litical festivals, national events, banquets of public bodies, 
 it was always Leopold Loew who was invited and honored to 
 be the speaker of the occasion. 
 
 The dedication of Jewish synagogues he consecrated, I 
 think, fifteen of them, were made national-political events, 
 simply because "the famous Leopold Loew" was to deliver 
 the dedicatory sermon, the great newspapers of the metropolis 
 eagerly reprinted the speech. 
 
 In Czegled, an important city of the Magyar lowland, 
 the crowd which had assembled to hear his memorial sermon 
 for Count Ladislaus Teleki, surging into the synagogue, had 
 grown so big, that it was decided to adjourn to the public 
 square of the city. The Jewish Eabbi was accompanied by 
 the Catholic and Protestant clergy and the city and county 
 authorities, the bells of the churches ringing, to the mar- 
 ketplace where he delivered one of the greatest speeches of 
 his life. A banquet and a torchlight procession headed, and 
 led by and consisting in the main of Gentiles, wound up the 
 memorial services of a Jewish congregation. On May 8th, 
 1911, a month before the centenary of Leopold Loew, "Szeged 
 es Videke," a daily newspaper of Szeged, edited by Dr. 
 Balassa, mentioning the approaching 100th birthday of Leo- 
 pold Loew, reprinted this "Teleki Laszlo" speech of Leopold 
 Loew. The "Szegedi Naplo, " editor Ladislaus Tafar, the 
 most powerful daily newspaper in the Magyar lowland, be- 
 sides publishing a series of highly appreciative leading arti- 
 cles about Loew and Loew's work and his biography, re- 
 printed some of Loew's famous after-dinner speeches, and 
 columns of interesting reminiscences and anecdotes. The as- 
 sociate editor of this paper, Mr. Edward Kisteleki, a Magyar 
 poet of high repute, published a story of the life of Leopold 
 Loew in pamphlet form, which was distributed as his gift
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 33 
 
 on the day of the centenary among the school boys of the 
 city. 
 
 Of the consecration of a temple at Semlin an amusing anec- 
 dote is told: the General of the army stationed at the foot 
 of the city was also present, an honored guest, with the other 
 dignitaries of the district of the congregation. Loew de- 
 livered the dedicatory sermon; as usual he was most elo- 
 quent. At one of the passages spoken by Loew in his usual 
 eloquent manner, he said, "Give the Jew a fatherland and 
 he will love his fatherland." The old general became so 
 enthusiastic that impulsively he drew his sword and saluted 
 the Rabbi! The adjutant of the general, waiting for 
 him at the entrance of the Synagogue thought his chief's 
 action to be a sign for general salute and also drew his 
 sword; the company of soldiers the guard of honor of 
 the general, stationed in front of the building, promptly 
 responded by discharging their rifles and from the fort 
 of the town came the response in the roaring of the 
 cannon. 
 
 In Szeged he was simply idolized. Old peasants and 
 peasant women, school boys and school girls would gather 
 around him, eager to have a chance to kiss his hands. He 
 knew everybody and everybody knew him; with the clergy 
 of the other denominations of his city he stood on terms of 
 intimate friendship and with two of the cardinal princes of 
 the Roman Catholic churches of Hungary, Their Eminences 
 Cardinals Haynald and Lonovics, he maintained a friendly 
 relationship. The Right Rev. Alexander Bonnaz, Bishop 
 of Szatmar, to which diocese the city of Szeged belonged 
 and the "provost" of Szeged, Right Rev. Father Anthony 
 Kreminger, who for nearly 50 years was the leader of 
 the Catholic Church of the Catholic city of Szeged, were his 
 dear friends and even to-day, 37 years after the death of 
 Loew, the inhabitants of the city love to tell anecdotes about 
 the three priests, showing the mutual love and esteem in 
 which thev held each other.
 
 34 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 On the 13th of October, 1875, he died. His funeral was 
 a national affair. Men like Count Coloman Tisza, then Min- 
 ister President of Hungary, Louis Kossuth, the great exile in 
 Italy, leaders of thought of Hungary and other countries of 
 Europe, declared his death to be a national loss. More than 
 an hundred congregations and religious and social and polit- 
 ical and the philanthropic bodies of the land sent their dep- 
 utations to the funeral, and delegates, and letters and dis- 
 patches of sympathy and condolence poured in from all parts 
 of the civilized world. 
 
 Leopold Loew was married twice. I have mentioned his 
 first wife and cited from her "diary" sufficiently to show 
 how much that noble woman suffered. When her husband 
 reached the haven of rest, the appreciative, the patriotic and 
 the intelligent city of Szeged, she was given only six months 
 to enjoy it; then came cold, cruel death. God bless her 
 memory. Leopold Loew's second wife was Babette Redlich, 
 the daughter of an honored citizen of Magyar Kanizsa, a 
 village near Szeged. She became the mother of six orphan 
 children, the oldest about 10 years old. She herself bore 
 seven children, so that there were thirteen under her loving 
 care. What a gloriously noble hearted, dear old "step- 
 mother" she was. The writer, for instance, one of these thir- 
 teen children, never knew she was not in truth his own mother, 
 until he was fourteen years of age; then as he was about 
 to leave home, she took him to the cemetery and leading him 
 to a grave she tearfully told him that he stood before the 
 grave of his own mother, and together they bent their knees 
 and prayed. Love, affection, kindness, generosity, forbear- 
 ance, patience, sweetness of nature, gentleness of speech, piety, 
 charity, characterized her, she was all loyalty, all devotion, 
 all unselfishness, a martyr to maternal duty. 
 
 His oldest daughter, Amalia, married Dr. Benedict Baracs, 
 then (1863) one of the first Jewish lawyers in Hungary, for 
 until about 1862, the Jews of Hungary were barred from 
 entering that profession. Dr. Jur. Henry Baracs, the well-
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 35 
 
 known publicist of Cleveland, 0., is a grandson of Leopold 
 Loew. 
 
 Leopold Loew's oldest son, Dr. Jur. Tobias Loew, achieved 
 the highest honors until then ever achieved by a Jew in Hun- 
 gary. He advanced to the position of Deputy Attorney Gen- 
 eral, which high office is not, as it is in the State of New York 
 or in the U. S., a political position or a temporary one de- 
 pending on the success of one or the other political party, but 
 is an important judicial position and a life appointment. He 
 left three sons, each one of them following the footsteps of 
 their illustrious sires. Dr. Tibor Loew is a judge, Dr. Lorant 
 Loew is a leading lawyer and author, Andrew Loew is the 
 superintendent of a landed estate of several thousand acres 
 of farmland. 
 
 Another son of Leopold Loew is Dr. Samuel Loew, M. D., 
 Sanitary Councilor of the Kingdom, Knight of the Order of 
 Francis Joseph, Chief Examining Physician of the Magyar 
 Life Assurance Society, one of the leading men of his pro- 
 fession in Hungary. 
 
 Another son is the celebrated Chief Rabbi of Szeged. Dr. 
 Immanuel Loew, Knight of the Order of Francis Joseph, 
 author of famous works on the Botany and the Zoology 
 of the Talmud, a philologist of high authority in Europe, 
 consulting editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia published 
 in New York, Hungary's greatest Jewish pulpit orator, a 
 great preacher and leader of Israel. 
 
 Another son, Dr. Jur. Theodore Loew was the pride of the 
 Loew family, made so by his qualities of heart and mind. 
 He was a practicing attorney of Budapest, counsel to some of 
 the very most important financial and industrial institutions 
 of the country. He was the author of important law books 
 and stood high in his profession. 
 
 Dr. Phil. Leo Fleischer and Otto Fleischer, probably the 
 foremost pioneers of the "ammunition industry" of the dual 
 monarchy Austria and Hungary ("the Austrian Krupps" 
 as they are called), are Leopold Loew's grandsons, children
 
 36 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 of his daughter Josephine who married Mr. Ignatz Fleischer, 
 a railroad contractor and builder of Vienna, Austria. 
 
 Moses Loew, another son, is a leading architect of Vienna. 
 Henry Loew, the youngest son, who had been in the banking 
 business, retired early from his business to devote himself to 
 his passionate love of travel, visiting the art treasures of 
 Europe. 
 
 His daughters, Mrs. Rebecca Loew Breitner, Mrs. Jose- 
 phine Loew Fleischer, Mrs. Johanna Loew Wolf and Mrs. 
 Leontine Loew Boros, are genuine mothers in Israel, lovable, 
 sweet women. 
 
 Two of Leopold Loew's children died very young, one, 
 Simon, in his tenderest infancy, one Therese in the very 
 bloom of beauteous youth, at the age of twenty. 
 
 Mrs. Rosalie Loew Whitney, the well-known woman lawyer 
 of New York city, the wife of Travis H. Whitney, is a grand- 
 daughter of Leopold Loew. 
 
 His other grandchildren living in the United States are: 
 Amalia Loew, Moses Washington Loew, Leopold Loew, John 
 Tobie Loew and Mrs. Fredericka Loew Coussirat, the wife of 
 Henry A. D. Coussirat, Esqr. 
 
 His tombstone bears the following inscription (in Magyar 
 language of course) : 
 
 "Here lies Chief Rabbi Leopold Loew, Champion of the 
 Magyarization, the progress and the emancipation of the 
 Jews of Hungary. Born in Csernahora on May 22, 1811, 
 was chosen as Chief Rabbi of Nagy Kanizsa in 1841, 
 of Papa in 1846 and of Szeged in 1850. Died in Szeged on 
 October 13, 1875, was buried on October 17th. 
 
 Blessed be his memory. 
 
 "In peace and war he carried to victory the 
 flag of Faith, Fatherland and Science. The 
 hero is at rest, his congregation and his 
 family weep for him. Faith, Fatherland and 
 Science guard his memory."
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 37 
 
 In November, 1910, the pride of the Loew family, Theo- 
 dore, died. The living Loews, suffering from the blow, but 
 vying to console each other in their letters, expressed the 
 wish to celebrate "the next" anniversary of Papa's birth- 
 day at a "Family Reunion" to be held in the dear old nest 
 at Szeged. 
 
 It was to be a strictly private and family affair, but when 
 the congregation and the city learned of the intentions of the 
 family, it the festival promptly became a municipal, state 
 and national affair and on June 4th, 1911, the centenary of 
 Leopold Loew was celebrated. 
 
 A similar festival, the centennial of the birthday of a Jew- 
 ish rabbi, the world probably has never before heard of. 
 
 The memory of a Jewish rabbi, celebrated by the Jews of 
 Hungary, the celebration participated in by a Christian com- 
 munity, memorial addresses delivered by leading savants of 
 the Hungarian nation, by a leading Protestant and a well- 
 known Roman Catholic priest, laudatory mention thereof 
 made in the Magyar Parliament, the great journals of the 
 land "writing it up" in editorials and in reviews and no- 
 tices, learned societies taking notice thereof at their meetings 
 in the form of resolutions of appreciation and acknowledg- 
 ment and eulogistic speeches, and a Catholic city of 120,000 
 inhabitants naming one of its principal streets "Leopold 
 Loew Street," is surely an unique, a rare, but at the same 
 time a splendid and flattering evidence of the worth of the 
 man and of the grateful appreciation of those amidst whom 
 he devoted his life to all that is good, noble and elevating. 
 
 WM. N. LOEW. 
 
 New York, May 22d, 1912.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW. 
 
 A LECTURE, DELIVERED AT THE "CENTENARY" BY PROFESSOR 
 MAURUS KARMAN DE KISLAK. 
 
 Honored President, Respected Guests: 
 
 IT is only with deep emotion and due reflection that I dare 
 raise my voice here, at this place and on this occasion. 
 
 The playful and sentimental memories of my childhood 
 and my youth rise around me. I find in them order and co- 
 herency only if I distinctly follow the threads of my moral 
 development and tread the path of my own growth. 
 
 Next to the example of my good parents, the thoughtful 
 father's sacrificing industry, the devoted mother's affection- 
 ate care, rises especially the influence of that sublime mind 
 and forceful soul, whose memory on this one hundredth an- 
 niversary of his birth we intend to celebrate in a manner 
 which bears witness to the welfare of our nation, our religion 
 and our homes. In the strict sense of the word, as far as 
 systematic, school-like instruction is concerned I am in no 
 greater measure a scholar of the great man than is any other 
 member of this congregation of my age; but by the grace of 
 Providence my education fell into the most beautiful days 
 of his wide-horizoned, epochal activity, and he gave me the 
 opportunity to follow his mind's very foundations, as he did 
 to my knowledge to no other man; so that now, in my old 
 age, without boasting, I can truthfully say I have been his 
 most devoted admirer and disciple. 
 
 Apart from my natural gratitude, I accepted the invita- 
 tion of this esteemed congregation for the reason that I 
 would have an opportunity, not only in deeds, for I have 
 
 38
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 39 
 
 aspired to do this in all my activities, but in living words 
 also, to explain what among the many excellent factors of 
 our national life and the development of our Hungarianism 
 the influence of Leopold Loew in reality means. My task 
 shall be to do this in bold outlines, because to think it out 
 consecutively and in its details cannot be done within the 
 space of a festal oration. Still less permissible is it to waste 
 iny time with petty reminiscences, of which I have a wealth 
 of material, because I must carefully see that the individual 
 influences shall not assume too great importance in compari- 
 son with that which is substantial, universal, and imperish- 
 able in his memory. 
 
 You, gentlemen, know, because this period of his life is 
 pretty well known that Leopold Loew came to Szeged 
 steeled by his experiences of our fierce sectarian struggles 
 and our great national crisis; that here, while not amidst the 
 most favorable material conditions, he at least could, with 
 peaceful stability and joyful liberty, complete the task of his 
 life. However, the aims and principles of his calling led 
 him ; just as when they had become the goal to his youthful 
 hopes, he prepared himself with exemplary conscientiousness 
 for his future career; and then as an alien by birth, he 
 sought with indomitable steadfastness and found within the 
 boundaries of this land a suitable field for his activity. Not 
 the interests of sectarian jealousy and not the desire to secure 
 for the rabbinical position a superiority were with him the 
 bases of his demand that he be not only the rabbi of his con- 
 gregation, but also the director of its schools. Although his- 
 torically he could bring the office of the Rabbi in connection 
 with the prophetic teachings, he preferred to have it united 
 with popular education and public instruction. And thus, 
 I think, I commit no sin against the truth if I give expression 
 to the appreciation of the greatness of his life in the very 
 words with which at the very outset of his career, he char- 
 acterized the final aims of education and teaching. He said : 
 "We can appreciate and we judge an educational institution
 
 40 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 according as it fulfills its threefold scope : namely, its human, 
 its religious, and its national aims." 
 
 In the united service of humanity, religion and nationality 
 or to put it, in view of his personal position, more distinctly, 
 in the harmonious union of human culture, true Jewish faith 
 and Magyar nationality the hero of our celebration saw the 
 province of his high calling. Truly, these were the ideals of 
 his life; of every phase of these he was a champion; his in- 
 sistence on the emancipation of the Jews, his suggestions for 
 the reform of the ritual and divine service, the demand for 
 the spread of Magyarization were all but means wherewith 
 to labor for the more thorough realization of those leading 
 principal ideals of his. Let me be permitted to request your 
 kind attention to my proof of this, his peculiar view. The 
 tendency of this conception is universal in its general bear- 
 ings, it speaks to everybody everywhere, to individuals and 
 to peoples ; in a more decided form it can especially assist us 
 in the difficulties of the public affairs of our epoch and our 
 own land and especially so in the general turmoil of their 
 sectarian and national struggles. 
 
 I. "Race- wide" must be our culture. This is in Loew's 
 program the first demand. Its foundation evidently is that 
 undeniable axiomatic truth that culture is not the creation 
 of one country or of some particular race, or of a certain 
 epoch. Every part of the human race of the globe has a 
 share in it ; all nations of the world as they come into his- 
 torical connection with one another have contributed to it 
 their own share ; and at the same time every cultural achieve- 
 ment remains the permanent possession of humanity at large. 
 The spreading of education, the spreading of culture is the 
 race-wide aim without any racial, social, religious or national 
 restrictions. 
 
 A twofold duty arises out of this fact, and not only to 
 the individual, but to all mankind. In the first instance a 
 man must not, unless he wishes to deny that he is human, 
 exclude himself from any one of the branches of cultural
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 41 
 
 growth as it develops in every direction, but he must follow 
 with appreciative interest all of the revelations of the human 
 mind. 
 
 As to the second duty mentioned, let it be stated that no 
 one without any exception, must be barred from the paths 
 of culture; but an unrestricted, boundless field must be left 
 to every cultural effort and every enthusiastic aim thereof 
 must be met with sympathetic help. 
 
 I believe that it is not necessary to explain in detail and in 
 specific terms the importance of the consequences if this tenet 
 extended its influence over all the world. However, there is 
 beneath it a view of life, which in its entirety, has not yet 
 taken deep root in every human community, but to us, the 
 children of Israel it is our ancient though not always recog- 
 nized tradition. We can not honor Loew's memory more 
 worthily than by characterizing this conception in his own 
 language and appreciatingly remembering how he brought 
 this idea into connection with the solution of the so long de- 
 layed and even to-day often agitated question of the national- 
 ization of the Jews. 
 
 At the consecration of a new synagogue, at a place where 
 but a short time before only a few homeless Jewish families 
 had found a resting place, he made the "Emancipation of 
 the Jews" the subject of his discourse, and he spoke as fol- 
 lows (The Emancipation of the Jews, speech delivered on the 
 occasion of the newly built synagogue at Semlin, October 8, 
 1863) : "The pious and thoughtful Israelite will follow with 
 sympathy and care the civilizatory condition of his race. Far 
 distant from him is the thought that civil liberty and civil 
 virtues are indifferent to him, because they are only earthly 
 blessings and that the pious soul may long only for Heavenly 
 bliss. Such sickly one-sidedness is in contradiction with the 
 ideals of our ancient teachings, yea even with the very letter 
 thereof. The Thora does by no means demand that man 
 should despise the earth, which the Creator has assigned 
 to him as his home; does not at all demand of him that
 
 42 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 earthly life, its aims and aspirations, its difficulties and their 
 solutions, be looked upon by him but as playthings of no value, 
 which may tie down only a sinful soul. It positively con- 
 demns this fanatic superstition, which makes man an inhuman 
 thing, when it intends to raise him to the height of a super- 
 human being. On the first pages, it teaches us: 'And God 
 said, let us create man in our own image, that he rule over 
 the fish of the sea, the bird of the sky and over the cattle 
 of the earth.' Man could not rise to the power of reigning 
 over the earth, which is assigned to him as his vocation, if 
 in lazy, deedless dreaming he turned from the Earth . . ." 
 
 "The Earth needs man to improve it, but man too needs 
 the earth to improve himself and develop his God-given 
 strength and abilities according to his mission. This mis- 
 sion of his demands that he stand solidly on the Earth and 
 take deep root therein . . ." "The shiftless wandering 
 life, when man does not establish himself anywhere and is not 
 lovingly tied to one soil whereon he lives, is a contradiction 
 of his mission and of his human nature . . ." 
 
 This is a definition of culture which makes the peopling 
 of the earth and the conquest over nature to be the task of 
 humanity and which in its entire depth and sublimity our 
 own epoch appreciates best. If we consider the thorough 
 recognition of man's place in nature and his control and 
 adaptation thereof to be our human civilization, then we may 
 boldly say, that its clean-cut, undisturbed recognition is the 
 foundation of every other intellectual achievement. Without 
 the fulfillment of this first elementary claim which rests upon 
 the necessities of universal human fate and mission, every 
 other moral obligation or social formation which serves only 
 particular, peculiar interests, loses its justification. 
 
 Universal human civilization, which considers the common 
 aim of mankind, is not only the foundation stone, but doubt- 
 lessly is also the measure of all efforts which aiming at sepa- 
 rate, narrower achievements, mark the difference between in- 
 dividual and public achievements. Each and every separate
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 43 
 
 and individual effort must justify its right of existence by 
 showing that it advances or at least does not hinder the great 
 forward movement of all mankind. 
 
 II. Doubtlessly this justification is necessary when we 
 consider our second tenet, namely that our culture should 
 be religious. The multi-coloredness of the religions, the di- 
 versity of views of different sects of one and the same re- 
 ligion, make it imperative to examine closely this claim of 
 religiousness to be universally recognized as a factor in gen- 
 eral human progress and civilization. It is well, therefore, 
 that we have at our disposition a definition coming down to 
 us from that period of time, when Loew 's voice was not heard 
 by his co-religionists unheeded; the definition coming to us 
 out of the circle of those noble men, who at that time were 
 striving mightily to aid Magyar national life and national 
 independence by elevating public spirit and civilization and 
 by extending human rights. The members of the Diet named 
 a county committee under the chairmanship of Stephen 
 Bezeredy, the enthusiastic champion of the emancipation of 
 the Jews and of the abolishment of feudal serfdom, to prepare 
 a statute to be enacted covering the needs of popular educa- 
 tion. This proposed law, the very first of its kind written 
 in Magyar language* contains in its first section the fol- 
 lowing definition of the aim of popular education : ' ' Popular 
 education must, above all, be religious," adding thereto the 
 following detailed definition, "that is to say must be such that 
 divine faith and pure morality be therein interwoven." It 
 is of no little interest that this proposed statute refers also 
 with due appreciation to the other two tenets, saying: "At 
 the same time being founded on the principles of humanity 
 and nationality, it must be so directed that the scholar be 
 fittingly educated as a man, a citizen and as the subject of 
 his fatherland." 
 
 * The laws of Hungary were written in Latin. The Magyar lan- 
 guage became the official language of the land only in 1848. The 
 Translator.
 
 44 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 Against this close connection of faith and morality in 
 the definition of religiousness, we Israelites have the least 
 cause to complain. That universal civilization, which we now 
 are wont to call European, including in it the people of 
 America, learned this conception exclusively out of those 
 teachings which are found within the sacred writings of 
 the people of Israel. In the history of civilization of all other 
 people, either their belief in their religion stood in the way 
 of their moral purity or their purified morality came into op- 
 position Math their religious belief. 
 
 The serious study of our sacred writings will greatly en- 
 lighten us, on one side as to the mutual relationship of these 
 two characteristics of religiousness and on the other side 
 will give us instructive information as to the intrinsic value 
 and importance of pure morality. The story of our people, 
 the documents of which are our sacred writings and the study 
 of which as is well known, is part of our religious instruction, 
 is a veritable elementary proof of the truth, that it is by no 
 means the force of religious zeal w T hich is the guaranty of 
 pure morality, but that, on the contrary, it is with the im- 
 provement of morality that the sublime sincerity of divine 
 faith goes arm in arm. 
 
 It is the substance of each of its lessons to recognize moral 
 perfection and holiness are not per se our duty because God 
 commands it, but it is a divine command because He Himself 
 is perfect and holy. In the union of the love of God and the 
 love of mankind, it is not the love of God which leads safely 
 to the practice of love of humanity, but universal love of 
 humanity is the sole road on which we can reach to the true 
 love of God. 
 
 Concerning the purely human side of the moral tenor of 
 religiousness, let me be allowed to cite that proclamation of 
 the Prophet, which Leopold Loew too, while examining the 
 idea of religious consciousness mentions in the very first 
 Sjoiagogal sermon by him published: over and above every- 
 thing it is the underlying meaning of pure, enlightened
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 45 
 
 civilization, one which he loved to explain and dwell upon, 
 not only in his pulpit but also in the schoolroom, because 
 its admonition does not speak to Israel's people alone, but 
 in its strict, true sense is an exhortation addressed to man 
 without any regard to his race or nationality. This prophetic 
 admonition is the most exact definition of religiousness that 
 can be given. 
 
 Israel's people ask: "Wherewith shall I come before the 
 Lord and bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come be- 
 fore Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old ! Will 
 the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten 
 thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my 
 transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 
 It is evident that this line of questioning is an unusually 
 forceful declaration of the religious feeling of ancient times. 
 To-day, very likely, the religious zealot would ask about the 
 efficacious use of prayer, penitence and charity. 
 
 And this is the answer of the Prophet: "He hath showed 
 thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require 
 of thee but to do justly and love kindness and to walk humbly 
 with thy God." 
 
 According to this imperishable lesson, therefore, justice is 
 the foundation of philanthropy and on them together rests 
 the humility of divine faith. 
 
 However, he, whom we now honor, Leopold Loew, did by 
 no means consider that he had done justice to his personal 
 calling by preaching such universal, human religiousness. 
 Speaking to us, to his co-religionists, he expressly demanded 
 of us Jewish faith. What meaning has this demand, what is 
 its influence, especially amidst a social life which while not 
 estranged from the tenets of our religion, nevertheless has 
 placed itself in its religious life upon another basis? To 
 speak more distinctly, what can be the further mission of 
 Jewish faith amidst Christian Civilization? 
 
 To find ourselves set right in these matters of doubt, it is 
 by no means necessary for us to wander aimlessly about on
 
 46 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 the adventurous pathways of deep theological discussions. 
 The example and the memory of Leopold Loew, the recog- 
 nition of the lines of his studies on the basis of his own 
 language, puts everyone, be he a co-religionist or not, upon 
 the right road. There is need for nothing else but the faculty 
 which he said was the substantial basis of a theological char- 
 acter, and which together with me, at the height of our 
 present civilization, every cultured man must consider his 
 most substantial characteristic, there is no need for aught 
 else than "an historic sense" not deadened by prejudice. 
 
 As a starting point to my explanation, there offers itself 
 to me a declaration of his which cannot be misunderstood 
 dating from that same period. At that time, one of our 
 savants, who thought he had accomplished an extraordinarily 
 meritorious labor in behalf of his co-religionists by his trans- 
 lation of our Thora into the Magyar language, and who found 
 appreciation and support probably even beyond his merits, 
 inasmuch as he became the first Jewish member of the Acad- 
 emy, upon his conversion to another faith, did not hesitate to 
 appeal to his former co-religionists to follow his example. 
 When this unusual proceeding of his had created wrathful 
 indignation, he found in one of the more prominent ministers 
 of his new faith an ally, who thought it proper to let us know 
 his opinion: "That the Jew's higher degree of civilization 
 necessarily leading him the Jew to the abandonment of 
 his faith." 
 
 "We most positively protest" was Loew's reply 
 "against this presumption. No! no kind of civilization can 
 lead us away from our ancient faith. The more educated we 
 are, the more holy are to us the elementary teachings of truth 
 and honor, the dearer is to us our ancient faith. Some his- 
 toric transformation of Judaism we surrender to history, but 
 the truths taught by Moses and the Prophets, and which in- 
 spired our Psalmists to such sublime songs, these truths we 
 want to keep and guard as the highest points of all religious 
 knowledge. We want to stand as sentinels of our holy re-
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 47 
 
 ligion with that steadfastness and firmness which we have 
 shown for thousands of years." ( An open letter to Rev. 
 Dr. Jos. Szekacs, Minister of the Evangelical Congregation at 
 Pest, 1842. See Loew's complete works IV, p. 351.) 
 
 What gives the key to this unexampled solidity of our 
 loyalty? What explains this extraordinary superiority of 
 our sacred teachings? 
 
 The proofs of history. The Holy Writ, which, imitating 
 strange customs, we also call the Bible, is by no means one 
 harmonious creation, is not the composition of a specially 
 blessed generation or epoch, but as is well known is the col- 
 lection of many books, the collection of many literary pro- 
 ductions totally different from each other in substance and 
 in form and showing a remarkable difference also as to the 
 period of their composition. If we call it by a name also 
 taken from a foreign world of thought, the "book of divine 
 revelation," which the contents thereof do not prove it really 
 to be, that appellation must be considered to be given to its 
 holy aim and by no means to be a claim of the divinity of its 
 source. Its formation, its creation, is an unparalleled oc- 
 currence in the history of the world ; one that can probably 
 never again be repeated. 
 
 A nation, the people of Israel, passed through the degrees 
 of moral growth, having gained a home, rising from its tribal 
 condition, influenced by the civilization of the different 
 peoples surrounding it, organizes a united nation and achieves 
 no mean economical and intellectual victories, enters finally 
 into the whirl and struggle of the powers for the rule over 
 the world, and then loses all guarantees of her existence and 
 of her national life, awakes to the consciousness that the flow 
 of events and all that happened to her was but the means 
 to the complete development of her religiousness, that is to 
 say, her moral purity and her divine faith. 
 
 The leaders of her best thought looked back from the height 
 of this consciousness over the soul life of the race, over its 
 literary productions and out of everything that still remained
 
 48 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 at their disposition they made choice and brought into order 
 and put together all that which they thought to be appro- 
 priate for the conservation and the nursing of their sacred 
 convictions. 
 
 And thus, in a threefold grouping, the documents apper- 
 taining to the instruction of the people, containing the 
 prophetic annunciations and finally expressing the hopes of 
 the rebuilding of the nation are gathered and the Bible 
 is thus created; in fact, it is an autobiography of the people 
 of God, to which is added a rich supply of documents, which 
 show a picture of all the changes of religious thought and 
 feeling, and gives an account of all complications or moral 
 struggles and of all victories of the faithful soul. 
 
 The history of Israel is placed into the framework of the 
 oldest traditions of humanity as it had been known by that 
 epoch and each and every page thereof expresses inspiringly 
 the conviction that surrendering the guarantees of its na- 
 tional life was an act in the interest of the sacredness of re- 
 ligion and for the happiness of all mankind. 
 
 That great Prophet, who at the zenith of moral and re- 
 ligious growth, looked deepest into the innermost recesses of 
 the soul of his people, says of Israel, the servants of the Lord, 
 its destiny (Isaiah, 42, I) : Behold, my servant, whom I 
 uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth : I have 
 put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to 
 the Gentiles. 
 
 Isaiah 49 :6 : And he said, It is a light thing that thou 
 shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and 
 to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for 
 a light to the Gentiles . . . 
 
 In the consciousness of this sublime mission ended, al- 
 though not without some retrospection and after bitter strug- 
 gles and fatal sufferings, all national aspiration of Judaism; 
 its language wherein our sacred books were written died out 
 too, and we, the descendants, became a remnant strewn 
 among the peoples of the earth, consecrated, pledged to the
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 49 
 
 tenets of our true faith and to the teachings of our sacred 
 writs. 
 
 What sublime evidence in favor of the justification of the 
 unusual condition of the religion of the Jew is this exceptional 
 portion of the holy writ among the other creations of the 
 human mind. Art and science follow the traces of Hellenic 
 genius and develop themselves on its forms; the government 
 of the State proceeds to regulate itself on the basis of the 
 laws of the Romans; but these nations themselves, denying 
 these true, peculiar creations of their national genius, were 
 destroyed and the history of mankind had to begin de novo 
 for the possession of their heirlooms. 
 
 The people of religion, the only one among the nations of 
 antiquity, did not swerve from the traditions of their ances- 
 tors; amidst all upheavals of the world's history it stood as 
 the defending guard and for the benefit of all mankind it 
 holds high the torch which was lit at the fire burning in the 
 souls of their fathers that it may light up the paths of reli- 
 gious accomplishments; pure morality and divine faith walk- 
 ing thereon in harmonious unity. 
 
 The almost two thousand five hundred years which sepa- 
 rates us from the time when the substantial books of our 
 Bible originate and the ample evidence they contain, direct 
 everybody, whether he be our co-religionist or whether he 
 stand outside the pale of our religion to what must be the 
 position taken by us in the interest of human civilization and 
 the progress of morality when our sacred writings are in is- 
 sue. 
 
 The intellectual life of Judaism has the peculiarity, that 
 ever since the holy writings were printed, this life evidenced 
 itself exclusively in the interpretation and annotations of 
 these sacred writings. Leopold Loew's sole systematic theo- 
 logical work ("Hamaf teach "-The Key, Practical Intro- 
 duction into the Sacred writings and History of their ex- 
 pounding; Nagy Kanizsa, 1885) enlightens us on what forms 
 this activity of our creed had attained in the post-biblical
 
 50 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 epoch under the influence of the different civilizatory circles 
 which surrounded it. 
 
 Only those men did and could exert deeper influence on 
 the religious thought and the growth of religious feeling 
 especially so outside the closed circle of our own faith 
 who, wrapped up in the civilization of their epoch took its 
 entire intellectual wealth into the service of the interpreta- 
 tion of the holy writings and ever and ever showed in new 
 lights the truth of their teachings. It suffices to mention as 
 an example, dating into the epoch of antiquity, the name of 
 Judffius Philo, the Greek Scholar, who, though he was not 
 able to read our sacred writings in the original, did never- 
 theless, even in their Greek translations, recognize the sub- 
 limity of our moral principles and of our religion. At the 
 zenith of the mediaaval ages, it was Maimonides, with his 
 Arabian culture, and at the dawn of the modern epoch it 
 was Tpinoza in Holland, at that time the sole asylum of free 
 thought, who contributed according to the needs of their re- 
 spective times and the scientific methods of their days to the 
 expounding of our sacred writings and became throughout 
 all of the range of civilization, the champions of humanity's 
 enlightened religious thought and conscientiousness. 
 
 On the other hand whenever and wherever our people stood 
 aloof from the sources of progressive civilization be it by rea- 
 son of the narrowness of its own perception, or be it because 
 of the intolerance of the society surrounding it, the pure light 
 of the teachings of the holy writings not only grew fainter, 
 but in consequence thereof it opened its own doors to the 
 reception of all kinds of foreign superstition and bigotry. 
 It was for this reason that in the cultured and conscientious 
 elucidation of our sacred writings by and with the aid of all 
 the means known to the scientific discernment of our times 
 and in the corresponding unprejudiced development of our 
 moral course of life he, whose memory we celebrate to-day, 
 saw the special task of Magyar Judaism ; which task, however, 
 Magyar Judaism does not fulfill for its own exclusive wel-
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 51 
 
 fare, but in accordance with the distinct commands of our 
 sacred writings does it for the benefit and happiness of that 
 country, in which divine Providence had given it a home. 
 Thus then it could happen that the very foremost representa- 
 tive of our religion stood aside and took no part in the at- 
 tempt when other uninformed spokesmen, under the pressure 
 of external conditions and led astray by purely political en- 
 ticements, attempted to make us exchange our ancient con- 
 gregational autonomy which did not and could not hinder 
 the free growth of the congregations throughout the land, 
 with a kind of a strange, foreign central congregational or,- 
 ganization, and for the sake of such a union, were ready to 
 force upon our creed, even with the aid of lawful force 
 the yoke of unfortunate epochs and obsolete times. In the 
 cause of the liberty of conscience and the purity of inherited 
 teachings he then fought his famous war against the haggling 
 unprincipledness which had no sympathies with religious zeal 
 nor with the light of scientific perception. I do not dwell 
 any longer on these sad events, when he, whom \ve now honor, 
 stood almost all alone, but my soul prompts me to make a 
 frank confession, that mainly this experience ripened within 
 me the decision under no conditions to enter the service of 
 any religious institution, but that loyal and faithful to our 
 ancient faith as made known to me by our sacred writings, 
 I should devote my abilities and my enthusiasm to purely na- 
 tional institutions and that the blessing of Providence lias 
 accompanied this resolution. 
 
 Indeed, our true Jewish faith, the representation of its 
 historic mission, loses naught of its importance even beyond 
 the narrower circle of our creed, when upon the general field 
 of universal civilization it faces the convictions of other 
 creeds. I do not belittle at all the historic importance of 
 those writings which inform us of the formation of Chris- 
 tianity, and which though speaking another language, not 
 Hebrew but Greek, and though many centuries and an in- 
 tellectual development wholly at variance with our own di-
 
 52 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 vides us from them, were nevertheless added to the line of 
 our own holy scriptures then already substantially finished, 
 as the holy scriptures of the new faith. I can thoroughly 
 appreciate, fully recognize the merits of the part Christian- 
 ity had in the education of the peoples and in the establish- 
 ment of universal civilization. It can not be forgotten, how- 
 ever, that in comparison to the literature of the Old Testa- 
 ment, which embraces the story of an entire race, it is only 
 of the religious movement of a very short period of time of 
 which the sacred writings of the new faith bear witness ; fur- 
 thermore, it is plainly evident that they do not mirror the 
 intellectual and mental struggles of the higher, more elevated 
 circles of the society of their period, but speak mostly of the 
 religious hopes and moral needs of the simple souls, living 
 among petty surroundings and conditions. Moreover, orig- 
 inating without any exception from Jewish authors, resting 
 in all their details upon the proofs of our own sacred writ- 
 ings, referring to them step by step, they belong in their 
 entire formation and by reason of their literary aims to that 
 very continuity of the development of the interpretation of 
 our sacred writings, the true value of which depends upon 
 their being correctly understood. The growth of the Chris- 
 tian world showed plainly that purer morality and nobler 
 faith divine actually go arm-in-arm with a deeper, more 
 thorough understanding of the Old Testament. And not a 
 small part therein is the circumstance, that apart from the 
 contending forces of the Christian creeds, Judaism could by 
 the grace of Providence give living witness of the never- 
 ceasing blessing of its ancient faith, which remained un- 
 shaken in spite of cruel persecution and alluring proselytiz- 
 ing. 
 
 Thus our function and mission therefore never grew obso- 
 lete, and in accordance with the prophetic declaration, 
 (Micha 4:1-5), which the hero of this celebration cites in 
 connection with his hopes of the emancipation of the Jews, 
 it shall never end until time be lost in Eternity: "When
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 53 
 
 the flag of the liberty of conscience shall everywhere wave 
 and the Sons of God have peopled God's entire Earth, when 
 nation shall raise no sword against another nation and war- 
 fare shall no more be taught by them, but all shall sit peace- 
 fully, one beneath his vineyard, and the other beneath his 
 fig-tree, because indeed then the peoples shall walk, each in 
 the name of his God and we shall walk in the name of our 
 Lord, God forever." In the application of the prophetic 
 declaration in this sense, is evidenced not only the uncondi- 
 tional achievement of the liberty of conscience, but also the 
 sublime consciousness of the religious mission of our own 
 religion. 
 
 III. In the end, every noble endeavor of the individual 
 in his own life, as well as that made at large, aims at the im- 
 provement of our national self-consciousness. Our educa- 
 tion, our culture therefore should be national; this is the 
 third, the last exhortation, and here within this land, in our 
 own country, it should be of "Hungarian National" aim. 
 Leopold Loew soon enough found occasion and means to ex- 
 pound this conviction of his and his whole life and every act 
 therein is a conscientious expression thereof. Amidst our 
 national conditions, amidst the difficulties of our historical 
 existence, he is the instructive example of the truth that be- 
 longing to a nation is not a racial attribute nor a privilege 
 of birth or of the mother tongue, but is the outcome of a 
 conscientious resolution and of a sacred will and is the merit 
 of action in conformity with these. 
 
 In the same pamphlet wherein he set forth his educational 
 and civilizatory principles, he felt constrained severely to 
 repel "a few unassuming views" of an anonymous writer 
 who "raised religious difficulties in the matter of the na- 
 tionalizing of the Jews and their assimilation with the 
 Magyar nation" and whose opinion culminated in the ques- 
 tion : whether we want to educate our children in the Jewish 
 faith, "because," he said, "if so, they cannot become true 
 patriots." In his forceful specific answer our hero of this
 
 54 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 day pointed out with striking brevity what is to be done on 
 the one side by the national legislation, and on the other side 
 by our co-religionists. The task namely is, he said, that our 
 co-religionists "instead of becoming Hungarian Jews, should 
 become Jewish Hungarians." In a homily of his, entitled 
 "The Lord has unloosened my chains," wherewith a quarter 
 of a century afterwards he greeted at the Synagogue in 
 Szeged the enactment of the emancipation of the Jews, he 
 expressed almost in the form of vows the burdens of that 
 task. Two of these vows can be looked upon as the condi- 
 tions precedent of such nationalization, while the third 
 brings about the realization of the task. 
 
 Patriotism is the first duty; "for our Magyar fatherland, 
 and beneath the sky there is no other land for us, to 
 be possessed of an enthusiasm which is willing to do deeds 
 for it, and to promote the welfare and the glory thereof" 
 . . . This behest coming from his lips has no other mean- 
 ing than to tell us that patriotism is not merely love of one's 
 native place, but is the appreciation of the nation and the 
 land which has opened the field and given wide opportunities 
 for our activities in the service of humanity. Often does he 
 cite in his writings and in his speeches the admonition of 
 the Prophet Jeremiah who sent to the remnant of his peo- 
 ple, the best of Israel's people imprisoned at Babylon, the 
 message : ' ' Seek the welfare of the city where you are exiled 
 and pray for it to the Lord, because in its welfare there is 
 also welfare for you." Still more cheerfully did he ever 
 dwell on the proofs of more than a thousand years of history 
 of scattered Judaism, showing how without any exception 
 our creed had with grateful loyalty repaid the kindness of 
 every nation which had willingly accepted it as co-laborers 
 in the fulfillment of its own civilizatory efforts. 
 
 The knowledge of the national idiom is the second duty: 
 "Sincerely and with determined partiality to foster the na- 
 tional language in which our emancipation has been enacted 
 and to develop a deep sympathy with Magyar literature."
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 55 
 
 "What did this admonition mean, coming from his lips, who 
 in his childhood's days spoke another tongue, who, as he 
 expresses it in the preface to his first printed Synagogical 
 sermon: "is not a native Hungarian, but came to understand 
 the Magyar language only through his literary studies," 
 but who, for instance, never spoke to me or to his children 
 and to whom we never spoke in any other but the Magyar 
 language. What he meant is clear from that first sermon 
 of his: "proceeding from the elementary principle that 
 Magyar intelligence and the knowledge of the Magyar lan- 
 guage are indivisible subjects." 
 
 "Yes," my friends he said: "it is not merely material 
 profit, but it is preeminently the so-much desired improve- 
 ment of the Magyar intelligence which should inspire us 
 to the fostering and the cultivation of the Magyar lan- 
 guage." "The frictions of the ideas and principles, the 
 moods and the humor, the longings of the heart, its sighs 
 and its hopes, the ambition and the enthusiasm of the nation 
 is rooted deep in its Magyarism, is mirrored back in its Mag- 
 yarism. The most sacred revelations of Magyar life remain 
 hidden to us if we are not initiated into the charms of the 
 Magyar tongue. On the other hand, if we are in possession 
 of the Magyar language and if we can partake in the glories 
 of the Magyar genius, we may even find consolation for still 
 being considered but the step-children of our mother, of 
 Hungary. ' ' 
 
 Patriotism, Magyarization, are, however, but preparatory 
 stages to our chief obligation: "to be loyally faithful to the 
 Magyar nation, this champion of liberty, and intrepidly to 
 stand by her in good and in evil days and to take part in 
 all her modern activities." I do not doubt that within the 
 hearts of all of us reechoes the call which shows that our 
 valiant priest as well as our great poet holds that our na- 
 tion's most glorious memory is that here was carried aloft 
 the flag of liberty. The closing phrase of the ministerial 
 call at the same time makes intelligible to us what led the
 
 56 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 chief rabbi of Papa into the encampment at Sellye. In that 
 same homily delivered at Szeged he remembers that period 
 with the following statement : ' ' In the public career behind 
 me, that hour was the most solemn and the most glorious, 
 when in 1848 in the open field, beneath the open skies I spoke 
 to the Magyar National Guard, proclaiming in their behalf 
 first that we do not want to aid injustice, but we want to 
 protect the law; secondly, we do not favor arbitrariness but 
 we want to assist lawful liberty; thirdly, we do not want to 
 help barbarous crudeness but we want to advance civiliza- 
 tion; fourthly, we do not want to protect rebellion but we 
 w r ant to strengthen the throne of our gracious King." I, 
 myself, reckon it to be amongst my most beautiful memories, 
 that in the year following (1869), he took me along to 
 Czegled they looked upon me there as his seminarist-coad- 
 jutor where he again spoke beneath the free heaven to the 
 people of the entire city without regard to religious belief, 
 in celebration of the emancipation. On this occasion it 
 seemed to me I heard in the harmonious unanimity of the 
 sentiments of the Jewish rabbi and the Magyar people of the 
 city of Czegled the throbs of the big heart of the Magyar 
 nation. 
 
 Nevertheless it has never entirely ceased to be said and 
 now and then the accusation is still heard, and sometimes in 
 the face of the most patriotic activity (however, only from 
 sources where the independent and larger growth of Magyar- 
 soul life is not much cherished) that the Jews of this coun- 
 try, while they do not consider themselves a distinctly sepa- 
 rate nationality, are still the representatives of a foreign, 
 especially of a German spirit. One decade after our eman- 
 cipation, Leopold Loew, with a view of throwing light upon 
 the repeated failure of the attempt to organize our ecclesias- 
 tical status, reviewed the common law status of Judaism dur- 
 ing the century passed, and at this time he deemed it neces- 
 sary to repel this ridiculous accusation with all the force of 
 his authority and to show its utter groundlessness.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 57 
 
 He did it and he could do it by reason of his personal bit- 
 ter experiences during the most mournful decade of our na- 
 tional life. "In Hungary" he said "it was Michael 
 Haas, School Inspector, and later on Bishop of Szatmas, the 
 most sycophantic and most active satellite of the Bach-abso- 
 lutism, who had intended to force upon the Jews of Hungary 
 the work of representing German civilization. The Govern- 
 ment intended to use the Jews especially for the Germanizing 
 of the land ; out of gratitude the Government then curtailed 
 the right of the Jews to hold real property and it introduced 
 the political consent to marriage. At this time there grew on 
 this field of Germanized civilization a poisonous plant until 
 then unknown to Magyar Judaism, namely the spy system, 
 the denunciation. German civilization must turn with con- 
 tempt from the mischief which at this period was practiced in 
 its name. Hungarian Jews with genuine German culture and 
 Hungarian Christians of like German culture as well, asso- 
 ciate themselves freely, readily, frankly without any sinis- 
 ter thoughts with the Magyar element. This element is rep- 
 resented by an entire nation, while other races are but frag- 
 ments of races w r hich have their points of gravity beyond the 
 boundaries of our land. With the Magyar element the po- 
 litical self-consciousness is absolutely unanimous with the na- 
 tional self-consciousness. With this element and with every- 
 body who identifies himself with the Magyar national spirit 
 is seen most powerfully a real love of the fatherland and of 
 liberty." 
 
 Nothing proves the deep truth of this analytic appreciation 
 of our public affairs than the pages of our history. Hun- 
 garianism stood from its earliest days throughout all of the 
 European crises and struggles at the side of intellectual 
 progress and liberalism, while the other races, our other na- 
 tionalities would often readily enter the service of reaction- 
 ary forces and of arbitrariness which blocked the free growth 
 of moral development and of national aims. 
 
 Let me be permitted, however, to this characteristic main
 
 58 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 feature of the Magyar soul to add still another one; added 
 thereto out of my recollections, verified by history and often 
 mentioned to me by the man whose memory we now cele- 
 brate, as one he had also personally observed. . . . He 
 called it loyalty, the respect in which the law and the author- 
 ities are held, and in his opinion the Hungarian people would 
 have hardly shown such sacrificing resoluteness during its 
 struggles for liberty, if it had not been the lawful govern- 
 ment which called it to arms for the defense of the country. 
 I do not dispute this fact, but without any doubt whatever 
 it is surely true that at all times greatest responsibility rested 
 and rests now on all who according to law are the leaders 
 of the nation or who assume the role of such leaders, not to 
 misuse this honest loyalty of our people. I boldly say, that 
 I would regard it as a serious danger if, especially at such 
 stormy currents as at present disturb the tranquillity of mind 
 of all Europe with heated discussions on subjects of reli- 
 gion and problems relating to our social lives and on matters 
 relating to elementary education, our leaders desiring to 
 bring about a radical change in our public affairs should take 
 the motto of religious tolerance and of the harmonious coop- 
 eration of the nationalities and of the social classes as a pre- 
 tense and would attempt to use it, if not for the utter pre- 
 vention, at least as an excuse for a delay in bringing about 
 modern, lawful and necessary reforms. Indeed, those who 
 now-a-days stand in the way of free thought and of the log- 
 ical progress continually growing therefrom might blindly 
 lead the nation to a fatal crisis. To every thinking mind and 
 deeply feeling soul they would make it more difficult to re- 
 main a Magyar to-day, than it had been to him, whose mem- 
 ory we now celebrate, to become a Hungarian during our 
 great reform epoch. The grace of Providence protect our 
 Nation from such a happening! 
 
 Honored President and Esteemed Public : According to my 
 best ability I attempted to respond to the call you honored 
 me with. As a little reminder, I beg leave to bring Leopold
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 59 
 
 Loew's message, his blessed legacy, into connection with the 
 well known motto, which even he did not hesitate to use in 
 greeting the emancipation of our people; but I do not use 
 them in the order of the call of the French Revolution, I use 
 them as it is recited by our great poet, who in his bold soar- 
 ing, looked at the lesson of the history of all mankind and 
 the fate of all moral efforts. On the universality of the pure 
 human destiny rests the claim of equality, on religiosity, on 
 the unison of divine faith and pure morals are based the du- 
 ties of fraternity and finally on the most glorious traditions 
 of our national existence is based the love of liberty, the in- 
 destructible yearning of individual liberty of thought as well 
 as of the national independence of the people. 
 
 May in this sense the memory of Leopold Loew be blessed 
 in the hearts of our faith and our nation.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 AFTER-DINNER SPEECH, DELIVERED AT THE MUNICIPAL BAN- 
 QUET, SZEGED, JUNE 4TH, 1911, ON THE OCCASION OF THE LEO- 
 POLD LOEW CENTENARY, BY THE RIGHT HON. ZOLTAN BEOTHT, 
 MEMBER OF THE UPPER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT,, VICE-PRES. 
 HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, PRES. KISFALUDY SOCIETY; 
 PROFESSOR AT THE BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY. . . . 
 
 Honored Sir: 
 
 My heartfelt thanks are due to you, Dr. Izso Rosa, our 
 esteemed toastmaster, for your kind introduction. In re- 
 sponse to your words of appreciation, I must say one thing, 
 and that is this: My coming here to-day deserves no special 
 mention and less so doe's it deserve to be regarded as having 
 any significance. All of you, I believe, will recognize the 
 truth of this when I shall have briefly set forth the two rea- 
 sons which prompted me to come here to-day. The first rea- 
 son is, I cannot call it otherwise, the behest of my con- 
 science, my heart, the command of my Magyar conscience. 
 
 "We demand of our Jewish compatriots not only that they 
 zealously and actively partake in the practical activity of our 
 national life, but rightfully we also demand that they take 
 part, that they be a very part of the soul of this national 
 activity. To put it into another form that they share with 
 us the historic soul of the Magyar nation ; that the growth of 
 this soul, its political and its intellectual growth, they shall 
 regard as the growth of their own history; that the great 
 souls of the nation, the great souls of the past and of the 
 present they shall consider to be their own. They shall feel 
 this to be the case, as it was felt by Leopold Loew. I read a 
 sermon of his about the Resurrection, the resurrection of the 
 
 60
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 61 
 
 Magyar nation; and I found therein how he connects Jewish 
 history with Magyar history, finds historic parallels between 
 St. Stephen and Moses, Szechenyi and Samuel, the Macca- 
 bees and the Rakoczys, and so forth, and out of these con- 
 nections, out of these comparisons he deducts important les- 
 sons for our national life. 
 
 However, gentlemen, while we demand this of our Jewish 
 compatriots, we also must feel the duty flowing from this 
 desire of ours, the duty that we too look upon their great 
 souls, upon their great men who understood their task in 
 life, who fulfilled the mission of their lives as if they were our 
 own, parts of ourselves. Thoughtfully considering this and 
 prompted by national, Magyar, sense of duty I came here to 
 honor the memory of one of the greatest leaders of a national 
 unity. 
 
 This was one of the reasons. The other is of a personal 
 nature. It is about fifty years since my father gave me, 
 then in my blooming youth, a couple of pamphlets to read. 
 One of the pamphlets was a sermon delivered on the eve of 
 the opening of the National Diet in 1861, the other was a 
 memorial sermon delivered in memory of Szechenyi. Both 
 were sermons of Leopold Loew. He put them in my hands 
 that out of them I might learn patriotism and religiosity. 
 A Calvinistic father of a Calvinistic home did this and I 
 can truthfully say that what I then read made such a force- 
 ful impression on me that not even to-day, have I forgotten it. 
 
 Probably I did not thoroughly grasp what I then read, but 
 those were strenuous times. The run of strenuous years 
 ripens men more quickly, makes them understand those 
 thoughts, those ideas more thoroughly. As I said before, 
 what I then read remains until to-day, unforgettable in my 
 mind. The bringing together of names from the Old Testa- 
 ment with Magyar historical names made a most powerful 
 impression on me. Entirely unconsciously it brought me un- 
 der the influence of an older Magyar life, the spirit of a Mag- 
 yar life of many centuries ago. I have in mind that cen-
 
 62 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 tury, the spirit of that epoch which was the epoch of the 
 awakening of the conscience of the spirit of the Magyar soul, 
 the Protestant epoch. This awakening of the conscience of 
 Magyar life, the marshaling before my eyes of these figures 
 of the Bible and of our history, that it is which I cannot 
 forget; and that had its influence over my soul when I read 
 Leopold Loew's citations from the Old Testament. His ex- 
 pounding of the Biblical passages powerfully moved me to 
 my very soul. 
 
 Prom the distance of a half a century his speech resounds 
 to me. Since then a great deal has happened, and a great 
 deal has happened just as he had hoped it would happen. 
 
 It happened that his hopes met the aspirations of the na- 
 tion ; of the Magyar national desire to be united, to be loyal, 
 to advance in the path of progress. This spirit created, and 
 this spirit secured for us all that we possess to-day. The 
 position achieved by us, the political rights secured, our pub- 
 lic institutions safely established, for these we must thank 
 this spirit of which Leopold Loew was not only a factor, but 
 its interpreter and representative. 
 
 If we want briefly to characterize this spirit, this active 
 spirit to which is due all that we possess to-day, if we want 
 briefly to characterize the very substance of this spirit we 
 probably could say, that this spirit is the very idea of na.- 
 tional and human interests, the very thought of progress and 
 the continuous and solidly fixed connection of their oneness, 
 the spirit of their interpretation, the spirit of their indivisible 
 union. This union created everything, all that is valuable, 
 all that is precious, all on which we must take our stand, 
 and wherein we can find the ancient guarantees of our prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 If in our days there seem to appear signs showing a loos- 
 ening of this spirit, I say if there appear signs tending to 
 show a loosening of this union of our Magyar national thought 
 and progress, these are all the more important because it is a 
 natural law that all creations can only be maintained by
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 63 
 
 those forces which created it. Everything that is precious 
 to us, whereon the guarantees of our future rest was created 
 by this spirit. These were the thoughts of Leopold Loew, 
 these very thoughts are the lessons of his career; a career 
 and an activity guided by his efforts in behalf of our 
 national work. 
 
 Gentlemen, we celebrate to-day the feast of Whitsuntide, 
 the feast of consecration and illumination. 
 
 When we see ourselves consecrating ourselves loyally to 
 our Magyar lives, when we seek illumination as to what is 
 our duty in the future; it is almost with reverential piety 
 that we must think of a passage in one of the sermons of 
 Leopold Loew which I have already mentioned and the 
 passage, I am citing it from memory, runs like this: The 
 nationalities and the religious sects of this land will be 
 united; united in fraternal love, because deep in our hearts 
 we feel that the Almighty to whom we pray is One, One is 
 the land which nourishes us and wherein we shall rest; One 
 is the eternal home beyond the grave. As I said before, on 
 this festival of consecration and illumination these thoughts 
 of Leopold Loew come to our minds and this being the case 
 can we raise our glasses to aught more worthy than to the 
 sublime memory of Leopold Loew and to the memory of all 
 those to whom his memory is still a keen inspiration.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 MEMORIAL SERMON DELIVERED AT THE SYNAGOGUE OP SZEGED, 
 
 ON JUNE 4, 1911, BY DR. LOUIS VENETIANER, 
 
 CHIEF-RABBI OP UJPEST 
 
 "And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of 
 the Lord's home shall be established in the top of the mountains and 
 shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it." 
 
 LEGENDARY exposition of the Holy "Writ paints of this 
 prophecy of Isaiah a colored dream picture, which connects 
 this thought an ideal epoch of a brotherhood of man which 
 redeemeth humanity with the thought, that then the Lord 
 will bring together the four prominent mountains of the 
 Holy Land, the Carmel, the Tabor, the Sinai and the Hermon 
 and on their united top He will rebuild the altar to which 
 the inhabitants of all of the earth shall come for the blessings 
 of the peace of love. 
 
 The sacred altar, rebuilt on the united mountain-tops, ap- 
 pears before my mental vision now, as I stand here, deeply 
 moved, representing the National Association of Rabbis and 
 in their behalf help to celebrate the memory of Leopold Loew. 
 
 In behalf of the Rabbis of Magyar Israel I conjure up the 
 commanding figure of that God-sent man whose name has 
 grown into one with the modern history of our country's 
 Judaism; who prescribed the course and who dug the bed 
 of a mighty, progressive current in the advancement of which 
 his activity set the precedent for the efforts of the Magyar 
 Rabbinical corps, which with the utmost possible zeal at- 
 tempts to put each believer of our creed into the saintly 
 work of building the temple of our common national welfare. 
 
 While the historical philosophy of our epoch sees in the 
 activity of man of historic importance only the exponents of 
 
 64
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 65 
 
 the will of the masses, we are bound to appreciate in Leopold 
 Loew the phenomenal power of providence. 
 
 A kind Providence transplanted him from a foreign land 
 into our country's soil in order that taking root here, he 
 might bear luscious fruit for the welfare of Magyar Israel. 
 
 Hungarian Judaism had already seventy years ago a will 
 of the masses which, however, only the sporadically animated 
 first rays of spiritual enlightenment could make leap into 
 flame. 
 
 There were even spiritual leaders whose horizon already 
 spread to the morning dawn of the rising epoch, in whom, 
 however, there were missing those marvelous powers which 
 with the force, alike to the laws of nature, causes even the 
 indestructible granite statue of Memnon to greet the rising 
 sun and call to blissful work the awakening man. 
 
 Providence brought Leopold Loew from a foreign land to 
 us, that his sweet voice should inspire the sleepers to activity, 
 that his learning should enlighten the intellects, that on the 
 immutability of his will power might break enmity's de- 
 structive billows, that his enchanting individuality should 
 secure respect for Judaism. If to-day I should behold in 
 Magyar Judaism a valuable diamond crystal, which spreads 
 the brightness of its heart and mind in its activity for the 
 public weal, then it was Leopold Loew all alone who created 
 the kernel of this crystal, for it was he who formed with his 
 peculiar strength Magyar Judaism's progressive value for 
 our fatherland. 
 
 It is for this, that at this solemn hour, dedicated to his 
 memory, I desire to answer the question : what qualities made 
 him an instrument of Providence in our country and by 
 what means did he become the prototype of the Magyar 
 rabbinical order? 
 
 I 
 
 Of the four mountains on the united tops of which accord-
 
 66 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 ing to religious legend, God shall build the temple of uni- 
 versal bliss, the mountain of Carmel is the first. 
 
 It is here that with brave resolution, inflamed by his faith, 
 with the love he bore for his people and with the conquering 
 force of truth, the prophet Elias gave evidence of the Only 
 One, in the wake of which testimony the floodgates of heaven 
 opened and new life sprouted on the barren soil of the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 Leopold Loew was a prophet Elias for Magyar Israel who 
 came with dauntless courage, with conscious knowledge, with 
 armor taken from the truth of his faith to the bar and with 
 open helmet faced the reigning prejudice which condemned 
 the Judaism of our land to inanimate barrenness. Until he 
 appeared the arrows of slander did not rebound from the 
 iron walls of defense, the spreading of the flood of accusa- 
 tions was not checked by a towering rock; the shadows 
 of darkness were not dissipated by the light spread by 
 learning; it was Providence which brought Leopold Loew 
 into the land, that he give clear evidence in behalf of 
 Israel. And he testified with enchanting speech and con- 
 vincing pen. 
 
 It was understood by the Magyar intellect, it was felt by 
 the Magyar heart that out of a breast throbbing for the com- 
 mon welfare of the whole country sprang his longing to re- 
 lieve Israel of the burden of humiliation it had borne for 
 centuries and to bring his co-religionists provided with the 
 virtues of national civilization, within the entrenchments of 
 civil rights. 
 
 And as of the prophet Elias tradition tells us Mount Car- 
 mel was the stage where he gave his testimony for the reason 
 that there the darkest caverns of the Holy Land whence the 
 enemies could break forth with immunity upon the believers 
 of the Only One were found, thus did Leopold Loew bring 
 light into every dark cavern of prejudice and slander and 
 repelled the aggressors, whether they bore the priestly garb, 
 or the academic wreath or whether they hid themselves in
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 67 
 
 anonymous obscurity, and he thus cleared the road leading 
 to the goal of national public welfare. 
 
 II 
 
 While in the defense of his faith and in the justification 
 of Israel Leopold Loew tirelessly did his pioneer work, there 
 sounded continuously, louder and louder, the cry of the bat- 
 tle which called the patriots to join the ranks for the defense 
 of the country. There came the mighty army of Sisserak, 
 warriors with their chariots responding readily to the com- 
 mands of lightning-souled Barak and the youth of Israel 
 assembled on the mountain of Tabor, that for time everlast- 
 ing they write w y ith their hearts' blood on the soil of the 
 Holy Land that the Jew can not only live, but can also die 
 for his country. And Leopold Loew, who at the time of the 
 outbreak of the revolution had for nearly ten years been 
 nursing in the rising generation the love of fatherland, who 
 was the first Jewish preacher to systematize the Magyar 
 Sermon in the synagogue, who had been the first Jewish 
 teacher to insist on introducing the Magyar language in the 
 Jewish schools of Hungary, Leopold Loew now arose. In- 
 spired, he called to arms, his speech inflamed, his example 
 attracted. 
 
 On the wings of enthusiasm he went into the camp and 
 took with him thousands of youth to the throat of death, 
 and it almost happened that he sealed with his blood the 
 covenant of the Magyar Jew become a Magyar patriot. He 
 bravely looked into the face of a glorious death for his coun- 
 try. Behind the bars of a prison he awaited the sentence 
 to die on the gallows. 
 
 Providence, however, saved him, because still greater mis- 
 sions awaited him. He had then but united two mighty 
 mountain tops on which a future brotherhood of men should 
 build its temple: the Carmel, testifying to the truth of 
 Israel and the Tabor of self-sacrificing patriotism.
 
 68 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 Even then he had secured for himself the eternal grati- 
 tude of Magyar Judaism because he had aroused a more 
 just and equitable criticism of the followers of his faith and 
 because of the example he had set, for as the legend of tra- 
 dition says of the mountain Tabor, that it is the life's thread 
 which connects the Holy Land with the living forces hidden 
 in the depths of nature, thus the intrepid love of father- 
 land is the only life-thread which unites Magyar Judaism 
 with the heart of our sweet mother, our country. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The nation was crushed; the noise of battle had grown 
 mute; sadly the patriotic hearts which throbbed in unison 
 and which understood one another sought each other. 
 Hardly had the doors of prison opened for Leopold Loew, 
 when the cultured and patriotic congregation of Szeged, ap- 
 preciating him, tendered him the guidance of its congrega- 
 tional and spiritual work and entered into that loving cove- 
 nant, which, as it now appears, has lasted even beyond his 
 grave. "What Leopold Loew created here is of eternal worth, 
 not only to the faithful of Szeged and not only to all of 
 Magyar Israel, but for Judaism generally; here he erected 
 the third mountain top for the sacred altar of the brother- 
 hood of men, the mountain of Sinai. 
 
 "Within our country it was he who opened the sources of the 
 science of Jewish religion. The new branch of science of 
 which he is the founder, Jewish archaeology, had an influence 
 equal to revelation to all those who wished to meet with en- 
 lightened ideas and thoughts in the field of religious life; 
 for these are the living elements of the faith given on the 
 mountain of Sinai and the historic outgrowths of our present 
 religious life. The science of Jewish religion made Szeged 
 an European center. In our fatherland it had become so 
 universally recognized that Leopold Loew all alone repre- 
 sented in all Jewish questions the sole power of meritorious
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 69 
 
 and reliable decision, that just as Moses was sought out by 
 the people to submit to him at the foot of the mountain of 
 Sinai all their big and little matters of life for adjudication, 
 so the bulk of Jewish congregations of Hungary and the 
 established government and later on the constitutional gov- 
 ernment, in all the big and little matters relating to Jewish 
 religious questions, turned to him. 
 
 During two decades there was no governmental disposition 
 made of any Jewish matter without the opinion of Leopold 
 Loew and posterity owes him and his glorious memory eter- 
 nal gratitude because his name is interwoven with the success 
 of wiping from the laws of the land the humiliating custom 
 and law of the Jewish oath and because his name shines 
 bright with that of Bertalan Szemere, Joseph Eotvos, Fran- 
 cis Deak and with that of Gabriel Klauzal, who sleeps his 
 dreamless sleep in the cemetery of Szeged, as the foremost 
 champion of Jewish Emancipation. 
 
 IV 
 
 The leader of Magyar Israel was the priest of the Jews of 
 Szeged, he was the creator of the priestly zeal, the prototype 
 of the faithful shepherd to the loyal flock entrusted to his 
 care. He, in whose breast the sorrow of all Israel throbbed, 
 whose horizon embraced with thoughtful care the whole of 
 the Judaism of the country, that for the common welfare of 
 the country he might build the temple of a coining brother- 
 hood of men, he realized his ideals within the narrower cir- 
 cles of his activity where he was a blessing to his faithful 
 followers, as was the legendary mountain top, the dewy Her- 
 mon, at the foot of which springs the fructifying stream of 
 the Holy Land, carrying its blissful influence throughout 
 the land that Canaan might be rich with milk and honey. 
 
 Invigorating honey flowed from the teachings of his lips, 
 strengthening milk from his labor and fructifying dew fell 
 from the throbbings of his heart over the meads of love,
 
 70 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 which now bring the wreath of gratitude to his eternally 
 green memory. 
 
 And as at one time it was on the top of the Hermon, the 
 highest mountain of the Holy Land, that the bonfires were 
 lit that for the exiled Israel they might announce the new 
 moon, the coming of a new era, or the approach of a holiday, 
 thus look Magyar Israel's Rabbis on the activity of Leopold 
 Loew, which lights up with its splendor the path on which 
 we must proceed, that we may prepare for the coming of that 
 new epoch, the most sacred feast of the universal peace of 
 the brotherhood of men. 
 
 The ideal dream picture of the legendary altar is before 
 our mental vision when we are remembering thee, thou glo- 
 rious spirit of Leopold Loew and we give thanks to the 
 mighty Lord who reigneth over the universe, whose provi- 
 dence, for the blissful benefit of Magyar Israel, sent thee, 
 who held high the torch of Elias in the defense of the faith, 
 who kindled the fire of Barak in thy teachings of patriotism, 
 who spread the spirit of Moses in the practice of religion 
 and who blessed in thy priesthood with the dew of Hermon. 
 Be with us who loyally follow thee; thou art our example 
 that through us too may come nearer the realization of man- 
 kind's most beauteous dream, that the roof be set to the tem- 
 ple of our Only One, who created the soul of the universe 
 where arm in arm will gather in the peace of love, the peo- 
 ples of all of the world. Amen !
 
 THE MEMORY OF LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 DEDICATORY SERMON, DELIVERED BY DR. ADOLPH LOWINGER, 
 RABBI OF SZEGED, AT THE UNVEILING OP THE ME- 
 MORIAL TABLET ERECTED AT THE SZEGED SYNA- 
 GOGUE, AT THE LEOPOLD LOEW CEN- 
 TENARY, ON JUNE 4TH, 1911 
 
 "Blessed be he by the Lord who hath not withheld His love from the 
 living and the dead." 
 
 GOD'S blessing on you, you remaining pillars of our glori- 
 ous past, who have seen the shining face of the great man, 
 who have heard the wise teachings of his lips, who have fol- 
 lowed the noble example of his life, who, with throbbing 
 hearts, thirsty souls and youthful enthusiasm hung on each 
 of his words, and who to-day stand with hoary heads, bent 
 by the weight of years, with souls tempest-tossed, before an 
 open grave and moved to the core of your hearts, as you 
 see a divine being rise from the earth, rejuvenated in life 
 and strength, new born in intellect and wisdom, risen in 
 splendor and glory. 
 
 God's blessing on you, you two great lights of ours, the 
 leaders, spiritual and lay leaders of our congregation, who 
 led us, since we have become orphans, a herd which lost its 
 shepherd, with unselfish love, deep intelligence, bright in- 
 tellectual force, who guarded with wide-awake care, with 
 vigilant eyes the vineyard of the Lord since the shepherd's 
 staff of Judah had fallen. 
 
 God's blessing on you, you, "the seventy from among the 
 hoary heads of Israel," the officers and the representatives 
 of our congregation whom the Lord had chosen that you, too, 
 
 71
 
 72 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 bear the heavy burden and the weighty care of the people. 
 
 God's blessing on the municipal government of our city 
 and on each citizen thereof, on all of you who have made your 
 pilgrimage here; as at one time, at the foot of the moun- 
 tain of Sinai all Israel was in camp, that with one heart 
 and soul the splendor of our feast be raised, the fires of our 
 tribute be lit and the flames of our love and gratitude be 
 kindled to new life. 
 
 God's blessing on you, who rest in your graves, who should 
 be here with us in our circle, whom our purblind eyes look 
 for lovingly, because you were flourishing branches of Judah's 
 race, dauntless warriors of his camp, enthusiastic standard 
 bearers of his immortal soul, loyal soldiers of his inspired 
 thoughts, but who fell before your time, kind Providence' 
 bless you in your dust, be blessed by Him, who does not 
 withhold his love from the living and the dead! Amen. 
 
 Our love divine evidencing itself for our great departed 
 Leopold Loew, is our memorial festival to-day, the feast of 
 his rejuvenation, of his new birth. 
 
 His death was but the beginning of the eternity of his mind 
 and soul and we have been led by a kind providence to put 
 into a form this spirit and to embody into visible form this 
 soul, to immortalize his memory with this memorial tablet. 
 
 ' ' With his death the two tablets of law broke ' ' ; the carrier 
 of the divine message rests in his grave, but this does not 
 mean the end of the divine words. The body fell into a 
 heap, but the divine call, the heavenly spirit, the word, the 
 law remains, is immortal, all we must do is to put into a new 
 form, so that in a definite form we may behold what is in- 
 finite. 
 
 It is for this that the Lord said: "I shall inscribe on the 
 new tablet what had been written on the first tablets." 
 
 I write upon them the name of Leopold Loew, that we may 
 gain light from his everlasting brightness, wisdom from his 
 measureless learning, example from his ideal life, for it is 
 not he Avho never dies, whom we must wake to new life; it
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 73 
 
 is not his memory we must renew who has inscribed his name 
 for everlasting time into the book of history of the nation 
 and of Judaism; but it is our forgetful heart, the sleeping 
 soul of posterity must we arouse towards the memory of 
 the great and glorious man. 
 
 Let this memorial tablet engrave into our minds what is 
 written of our tablets of law : ' ' The tablets were deeds of the 
 Lords, the writing was writing divine engraved into the tab- 
 lets." 
 
 The evidence of this tablet shall bear witness, that Leopold 
 Loew's activity, efforts, struggles, the story of his whole 
 life was a divine act. 
 
 Every step of his was guided by faith, every deed of his 
 was directed by faith, his words of teaching, reproaching, 
 admonishing, reminding, inspiring were the whispers of 
 faith. 
 
 "He was the messenger of God, the Lord of hosts" to 
 encourage the faint-hearted, to console the mourners, enthuse 
 the timid, to make light where darkness dwells, to arouse 
 hope where woe obtains, to improve faith where despair 
 lowers. He was God's messenger that on the wings of his 
 soul he raise his fellow-men into the bright, sunlit heights of 
 heaven. 
 
 "His writings were the writings of God," because the 
 prophet says : ' ' The lips of the priest guard the learning, and 
 out of his mouth are expected his teachings." To such a 
 mission he devoted his entire life. He nursed, strengthened, 
 distributed learning. He descended into the depths of the 
 literature of tradition and brought precious gems, everlast- 
 ing valuable treasures into daylight. He descended into the 
 dark graves of ancient days and he made the sleepers speak 
 again. He interpreted all their thoughts, longings, hopes and 
 dreams, so that on the path of our ancient teachers, he might 
 lead Israel, that the pillar of flame of the desert and the 
 flame of the Sinai light our labyrinthal pathway. 
 
 "Engraved in the tablets" it is, but read not only what is
 
 74 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 engraved, but regard this marble tablet also as the symbol 
 of liberty; for he was the inspired prophet of liberty, the 
 enthusiastic champion of law, the fearless leader of truth, 
 and the glorified martyr of the ideals of enlightenment. 
 
 When the sea was in the way of Israel's victorious march, 
 Judah stepped into the rushing waves and cut a path through 
 the waves which threatened to swallow the truth. 
 
 Leopold Loew stood on the bloodstained field of the battle 
 of liberty and encouraged to steadfastness, inspired to the 
 fight, enthused to patriotism. 
 
 He took the field for the rights of the Jew, and he fought 
 with the power of the pen, the force of speech ; he struggled 
 with the splendor of the thought and led his brethren from 
 the yoke of mediaeval ideas into the soft, fresh, enlivening 
 air of modern day. 
 
 He breathed the spirit of eternal life into the decrepit, 
 tired corpse of Judaism. 
 
 ' ' This is the dedication of the altar on which day the princes 
 of Israel consecrated the same." "We consecrate this me- 
 morial tablet that it may be a new altar of our sanctum. 
 Here resound our psalms at the time of our joys, here break 
 forth our sighs in the hour of our sorrow, here flow our 
 tears on the days of our grief and here do we listen to the 
 word of God falling from the lips of those who inherited his 
 spirit and fill his mission. In the front of them and at 
 their back is the sublime ideal picture, at their back the 
 Thora, facing them : by example, at their back the tablets of 
 the law, before them thy memorial tablet and thou dost place 
 thy hand in blessing on their heads, that in dauntless 
 strength, in complete mental and physical health they may 
 stand here, at this sacred spot, to their hoariest age. And 
 when the years shall have flown by, when new generations 
 shall seek fame from the glory radiating from this marble 
 tablet and take courage from the name thereon engraved, and 
 hope from the example set by thee, build up their faith from 
 the lessons thou didst teach and when ceaselessly moving time
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 75 
 
 shall even turn this stone to dust; the immortal bliss spring- 
 ing from thy name shall rejuvenate the grateful hearts of 
 these coming generations in their religious deeds, in their 
 patriotic impulses. 
 
 Come then, thou glorious spirit ; be greeted immortal spirit 
 hewn into stone. Welcome, sacred relic ! With the most holy 
 piety of our souls, with the most rhapsodic love of our hearts, 
 do we receive thee in this sacred mansion of the Lord God, 
 that thou mayest light us with the brightness of thy soul, 
 be with us with the warmth of thy heart, lead us with the 
 flame of thy faith, and be blessed by the Eternal, who does 
 not withhold His love from the living and the dead. Amen.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 MEMORIAL SPEECH DELIVERED ON JUNE 4, 1911, BY 
 DR. IMMANUEL LOEW. 
 
 "This is the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, before his 
 death blessed the children of Israel." 
 
 MOSES, according to an ancient tradition, is one of the ten 
 men whom the scriptures call the "man of God," the man. 
 chosen by divine providence. 
 
 The celebration of centenaries is a new phenomena in the 
 circle of Judaism. The first centenary celebrated by us 
 was that of Rappaport, the founder among us of historical 
 research, held about two decades ago. 
 
 Our co-religionists, suffering the after effects of the medi- 
 aeval times, did not gladly renew the memories of the past 
 and for this reason they were tardy in the celebration of 
 the memory of men of bygone days. 
 
 Our co-religionists in Germany during this year will have 
 celebrated five centenaries ; those of Riesser, Frankel, Hirsch, 
 Geiger, and in the last days of this year will come that of 
 Philippson. 
 
 They celebrated the birthday of the champion of their 
 civil rights, of the profound founder of Talmudic research, of 
 the rejuvenator of religious zeal and of the preeminent cham- 
 pion of progress as demanded by history, and they will cele- 
 brate the creation of Jewish sectarian newspaperdom. 
 
 "What they have been celebrating in Germany piecemeal, 
 we celebrate in our land by one feast, because he, whose 
 centenary we celebrate to-day, fulfilled here the missions of 
 all the five leaders named. 
 
 76
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 77 
 
 I. The first whom the scriptures call a man of God is 
 Elkanah, of whom the scriptures have only noted the perfect 
 picture of his sympathetic family life. 
 
 A man of God our father in his family life was to us. 
 And how happy he was amidst the old, somewhat narrow con- 
 ditions in which he lived with our mother; who at the be- 
 ginning of the month would set aside the prices of the need- 
 ful postage stamps to send letters to the children who had 
 already left the paternal roof. Amidst those narrow con- 
 ditions what love reigned among us in the paternal home ! 
 And how did he find time, he the profound scholar, the 
 leader of thought, the warrior in public life, how did he 
 find time amidst the tasks of science, the struggles of pub- 
 lic life, the cares of his office, to occupy himself with us, his 
 children, those who were still at home and those he had al- 
 lowed to enter a larger life. 
 
 It was seldom that we were all together at home, only 
 once were we twelve children together. At the celebration 
 held yesterday it was forty years that all the twelve of us 
 gathered around him to celebrate his birthday; thou my 
 brother, who, prompted by filial devotion hast come to to- 
 day's festival from thy trans- Atlantic home, wert then the 
 only exception. 
 
 Now we sisters and brothers are again all -together but our 
 number is reduced. 
 
 Our Mollie is not with us; she to whose memory he had 
 with bleeding heart erected a memorial in the preface of his 
 last work; nor our darling Therese, who died during the 
 mourning year of her father; nor our Tobie, who to-morrow 
 would have begun his 68th year, and whose 31st anniversary 
 of death will fall some day of the coming week ; and not our 
 Theodore for whom we unconsciously look in his accustomed 
 pew, for we are still in the year of mourning in which we 
 lost him. 
 
 II. Mica, the prophet, was the second spoken of by the 
 scriptures as the man of God.
 
 78 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 One of the creative elements of the prophetic mission is 
 the priestly activity. 
 
 And what a priest was Leopold Loew, with his enchanting 
 manners that endeared him alike to great and small who 
 came to him for sympathetic advice, for consolation and en- 
 couragement! And what a priest was he as he stood up in 
 his pulpit. How enraptured they hung on his lips, how in- 
 spiring was his speech; how enthusiastic his influence when 
 the hoary priest spoke to his congregation. 
 
 This year's Passover festival was the 50th aniversary of 
 his celebration of the resurrection of the nation. Those who 
 were present will never forget it. When throughout this 
 broad land the congregations of the faithful dedicated a new 
 synagogue, when patriotic piety celebrated a national feast, 
 when throughout the land the emancipation of the Jews was 
 being celebrated, it was his voice which resounded because 
 prophetic inspiration poured from his lip when he spoke. 
 
 What prophetic, inspiring language flowed from him 
 when he delivered the marriage sermons at the weddings of 
 his children, two of them here at his home, two of them at 
 the capital. His was a wonderful figure, holding his hearers 
 spellbound with an irresistible magic. 
 
 At Leipzig, in Germany, there were in congress assembled 
 the cream and the brains of German Judaism to discuss the 
 conditions of rejuvenated Judaism and a famous philosopher. 
 Professor Lazarus presided. When the meetings ended and 
 the discussions closed, Leopold Loew arose and blessed the 
 president of the congress. Those present felt as if they had 
 heard a successor of the old prophets, speaking with the en- 
 thusiasm of a noble soul, with inspired piety and deep emo- 
 tion born of sublime faith. 
 
 III. Samuel is the third Biblical figure of whom it is writ- 
 ten that he is a man of God. 
 
 Leopold Loew's social position in this city was absolutely 
 new in the history of the Jews and in their relation to the 
 peoples in the midst of which he lived.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 79 
 
 His activity, the part he played in public life, his rela- 
 tionship to the ministers and priests of the other religious 
 denominations was totally unprecedented in the history of 
 scattered Judaism. 
 
 When for the first time since its foundation the city caused 
 its history to be written, the manuscript was submitted to a 
 committee of which the Jewish Rabbi was the chairman. 
 
 When the city sent a congratulatory delegation to a 
 national festival in honor of Francis Toldi, the founder of 
 the history of Magyar literature, the city selected the Jew- 
 ish Rabbi as leader of that delegation. 
 
 When the city tendered its unanimous nomination as its 
 representative in the national legislature to the famous his- 
 torian, Bishop Michael Horvath, as its spokesman before the 
 Roman Catholic Bishop, the city selected the Jewish Rabbi. 
 
 His name lent luster to his rabbinical position and his 
 bold fights against those who attacked Judaism lent glory 
 to his congregation in Szeged. 
 
 The prophet Samuel, the man of God, also did not reside 
 and did not labor in the focus of national life. He lived in 
 an interior town, at Ramah. Leopold Loew was too solid, 
 too mighty and too conscientious an individuality to cause 
 the plutocratic leaders of the congregation of Magyar 
 Jerusalem to think of him when on two occasions they sought, 
 during his lifetime, a rabbi for their spiritual guidance. But 
 for all that he fulfilled his great mission right here at Szeged. 
 
 It seemed as if he had spoken of himself when he said: 
 "Magyar Judaism needs rabbis of scholarly attainments and 
 independent character, who are able and who are willing with 
 zeal and devotion to defend Jewish honor against attacks 
 from without, our Jewish tenets against attacks from 
 within. 
 
 IV. The fourth whom the scriptures say to have been a 
 man of God is Elijah, the master of the prophetic schools. 
 
 Leopold Loew was a schoolmaster, a master of teaching. 
 He taught when still a youth, but later on he secured the
 
 80 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 technical qualifications for the science of teaching at a foreign 
 institution. 
 
 Judaism always taught. It had an ideal as to the end and 
 as to the result but it had no theory as to the method of 
 teaching. Much force was lost in this unsystematic learning, 
 but those who, notwithstanding this lack of system in their 
 tuition, completed their studies, were remarkable for the 
 thoroughness of their acquisitions. 
 
 He taught. He founded schools, built them and superin- 
 tended them. He wrote text-books and as far back as 1844 
 he insisted on higher education and unfurled the flag of a 
 rabbinical seminary. The highest authority in Hungary on 
 the field of Pedagogy, Maurus Karman, was his pupil. 
 
 V. The fifth is the divine psalmist David, of him says 
 the scripture : ' ' an the lute of the man of God, David. ' ' 
 
 One of the foremost tasks of Leopold Loew's life was the 
 artistic perfection of the divine service. He fought enthusi- 
 astically for the recognition of tw T o arts as aides to divine 
 services; one was song and music, which ever since his boy- 
 hood days had been near his heart, the other was the high 
 art of speech, for which his refined taste had grown en- 
 thusiastic. It was {esthetic sense of form, that had also 
 come to him from foreign sources, from the study of the 
 ancient and modern classics. 
 
 The arts of the living speech and of the song conquered the 
 synagogue. And what a glorious art was his speech, when 
 with deep emotion he expounded the scriptures or when with 
 refined taste his eloquence poured forth to inspire his 
 hearers. 
 
 VI. The sixth is the fiery souled prophet, Elias, the revo- 
 lutionary spirit of the prophet, Elias, inspired Leopold Loew 
 in his efforts for progress. 
 
 It was never with indifference but always with the rejuve- 
 nated zeal of faithful souls that the Baal-crushing spirit of 
 the prophet Elias reformed the institutions of religion. 
 
 Leopold Loew wanted to raise the esteem in which the re-
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 81 
 
 ligion of the Jews is held and he wanted to deepen their own 
 sense of religious feeling. 
 
 Wisely and gently yielding according to the needs and 
 culture of the day, Judaism, brought into unison with Euro- 
 pean civilization, was strengthened and glorified by him. 
 
 The extremes are enemies of equal force and the boiling 
 point and the freezing point have the like power to kill. 
 
 The boiling zealotism and the cold, dull indifference, are 
 alike capable of destruction. Since the very first line of his 
 brilliant literary career to its very last letter, he fought with 
 determination against both. 
 
 His work was that of saving and building up, and not 
 destroying. The symptoms of emasculation frightened him; 
 he demanded that the stagnation of accustomed routine be 
 infused with the fresh circulating blood of new interest. It 
 had been constantly said of Judaism that its twigs were fall- 
 ing, its branches dismembered, its trunk covered with foul 
 moss ; that in vain the sun of spring shone and that no more 
 the tree would bloom. According to his conviction the vital 
 root of Judaism is a force destined to live forever. 
 
 Misconception only increased his sincere efforts, obstruc- 
 tion strengthened his ready forces, complicated struggle 
 fanned him into fiery enthusiasm, inimical attacks welded him 
 the more closely to the cause. 
 
 The invective of onslaughts and the anonymous letters are 
 to day but relics, memorable relics of his bravery. 
 
 VII. The seventh is the prophet Semayaha, of whom, the 
 scriptures have kept alive the information that his 
 mission consisted only in one message. This is that one 
 message : " do not war with your brothers, with the children 
 of Israel." 
 
 Leopold Loew was the champion of the cause of emancipa- 
 tion. According to his motto: "Open thy lips in behalf of 
 the mutes," he entered the arena against prejudice. His 
 weapons are the evidences of intellect and learning. 
 
 Of his own vocation he says: "Let us stand steadfast for
 
 82 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord 
 do as in His wisdom He thinks for the best!" All his work 
 and all his discussions are guided by this one thought. 
 
 During the ten years of the publication of the "Ben 
 Chananja," it was this struggle which stood at the forefront. 
 
 In 1861, he said: "The press, even the great newspapers, 
 are using petty excuses in the fight for emancipation." 
 Opposing them, he referred to the patience of the Magyar 
 heathens and most appropriately to the persecution of the 
 Magyar heathens. Readily, persistently, with steadfast loy- 
 alty, bravely, fearlessly and with dauntless tenacity he served 
 the cause of Magyar Judaism. 
 
 The Jews of the neighboring semi-Asiatic countries, Servia 
 and Roumania, appealed to him for his help when in Servia 
 and Roumania the fanaticism of the mediaeval ages broke 
 forth. 
 
 He lifted from us the shameful separate oath. He de- 
 fended Judaism against those last extraordinary ghetto taxes 
 wherewith the absolute government intended to pester it. 
 
 He raised his voice against the infamous measures in the 
 matter of the school superintendents and in that of the right 
 of marriage. For his articles on these subjects he had been 
 cited before the military tribunals, charged with insurrec- 
 tion against the authorities, and was sentenced to imprison- 
 ment. The chivalrous military commander, Count Erbach, 
 it being at the time of the birthday of His Majesty, pardoned 
 him. 
 
 When the dawn of constitutional life had come and the 
 Magyar nation discharged its debt, when, touched to the core 
 of his heart, he could speak, he said : ' ' Deeply grateful to the 
 ruler of men's fate, we greet the victory of justice, of 
 national self-consciousness, of political character and of the 
 dauntless patience of morality." 
 
 VIII. The eighth is Amos, whose son Isaiah had inherited 
 the father's powerful eloquence and the charm of the written 
 language.
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 83 
 
 "When Leopold Loew wrote in the ancient Hebrew language, 
 his words held a magic effect. A noble simplicity dwelt in 
 his prose; the purified taste of the Arab school, a highly de- 
 veloped sense of beauty of form evidenced itself in his poetry. 
 His Hebrew epitaphs are free from exaggeration and from 
 commonplaceness. The dedicatory lines of the "Ben Chan- 
 anja," here and there a fiery, cutting epigram, the clos- 
 ing poetic lines of one or the other obituary, are veritable 
 gems of the poetry of the ancient language. 
 
 He was a master of German prose. In all the Judaism of 
 great Germany there was no one who equaled the artistic 
 style of him who wrote here on the shore of the Tisza. 
 It is universally recognized that he created the style of Jew- 
 ish jurisprudence and archaeology ; the brilliancy and the 
 mastery of his style have been pointed out by a famous Ger- 
 man writer. 
 
 His greatest successes were achieved on the field of jour- 
 nalism. Being ever ready with his broad, comprehensive 
 learning, his positive convictions on matters of public life, 
 the sharpness of his pen, though feared, made him a great 
 journalist. His journalistic tilt with Kossuth and Szekacs 
 (1844) and two decades later with Trefort, were glorious 
 triumphs. 
 
 His newspaper was the mirror of the epoch and the leader 
 of its struggles. He was a power in public life. The many 
 articles written by him on the divers subjects connected with 
 his high-set task, proclaim the many sidedness of its editor. 
 
 He entered the arena for the rights of the Jew in the 
 state, for the rights of the congregation for self-government, 
 for the rights of the single member of the congregation, for 
 the rights of the past by a deeper understanding of its ex- 
 periences, and for the rights of the present by urging the 
 solution of new difficulties with moderation to save the con- 
 gregations from dismemberment or injustice. Over and above 
 these, he urged advancement of civilization, improvements in 
 popular education, the ennobling of the divine service, the
 
 84 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 logical explanation of the literature of tradition and higher 
 qualifications of the rabbis. 
 
 He was conscientious in that which he proclaimed, namely: 
 that the periodical press of Judaism had a twofold task; 
 with one hand to fight against prejudice and stubborn hatred, 
 with the other to build up the bulwarks of science, just as 
 the laborers of Nehemia's did twofold work in the holy 
 capital. 
 
 IX. The ninth of whom the scriptures speak is Iddo, the 
 prophet, the first of whom it is written that he wrote an 
 historical work, setting forth therein the doings of his epoch. 
 
 It was Leopold Loew's conviction that learning is the most 
 important Jewish common possession; and the idea of his- 
 torical development, the motive power of his practical ac- 
 tivity, was ever the guide of his scientific aims. 
 
 This hidden motive makes us understand his scientific ac- 
 tivity from beginning to end. 
 
 The Jewish religion is the inspiring, holy, imperishable 
 heirloom of the whole of the rich past of Israel. 
 
 This entire past must be explored, laid bare and viewed 
 calmly without prejudice and without bias. 
 
 To the friends of progress be recommended objectivity and 
 a deeper insight of the spirit of the epochs, because prog- 
 ress is not worthy if it cannot justify itself by historical 
 methods. 
 
 From this line of thought grew a new science; Jewish 
 archaeology, which gives an account of the ancient heirloom, 
 of the assimilation of foreign elements and of the origin of 
 present conditions. 
 
 From his library which though gathered with painful sac- 
 rifices was nevertheless but limited, from his marvelous ex- 
 ploration of sources, from his brilliant memory and extensive 
 reading, he displayed an inexhaustible readiness in the field 
 of science. 
 
 This immense learning of his made him an authority of 
 the highest rank. Governments, synods, congregations
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 85 
 
 turned to him with their inquiries. He responded readily. 
 Not with the decisions or dicta of the ancient world, but 
 with his reasons based upon historical facts, rebuilt with 
 modern methods and on the results of his archaeological re- 
 searches. 
 
 This method of his studies created the Jewish archaeology 
 and as far as his literary activity was concerned it forced his 
 journalistic and historical labors to the rear. 
 
 In this field, as well as in the field of Magyar Jewish 
 historical writing, he was the pioneer. 
 
 X. The last whom the scripture calls the man of God 
 is Moses, the prophet of the idea of securing a fatherland. 
 
 Magyar constitutional life was for Leopold Loew the prom- 
 ised land of liberty. Already in the 40 's this was his con- 
 viction. Zoltan Beothy expressed it very aptly by saying: 
 "Progress and the thought of the unity of Magyarism had 
 grown to be part and parcel of our very souls." This had 
 created in Leopold Loew, ever since he had come into this 
 country, the conviction, that the most important Jewish public 
 affair in Hungary was the ascendency, the importance and the 
 necessity for final triumph of Magyarism. This conviction 
 inspired his enthusiasm for the Magyar language, the de- 
 livery of his sermons in the national idiom and his studies 
 of the Jews and Judaism in Hungary. 
 
 For this early patriotism his pulpit assumed mourning 
 when the nation mourned, for Szechenyi, Teleki, Klauzal, 
 Eotvos and Zay. This led him into the camp of the de- 
 fenders of the country. Because of his conviction he spoke 
 thus: "We know well the past and the present of our father- 
 land and well do we know that relationship which exists in 
 our country between civilization and the developments of the 
 constitution and the Magyar element. The exclusion of the 
 Jews from civil and political rights is the sorrowful inheri- 
 tance of the fanaticism of the past, so the public may under- 
 stand how very foreign to the spirit of the age and to the 
 liberal institutions which the Magyar nation has been steadily
 
 86 LEOPOLD LOEW 
 
 striving to establish is this exclusion born of fanaticism." 
 
 It seems as if these words spoken in 1861 are heard now 
 as a reproach, unreasonable, but honest, blind zeal and cal- 
 culating demonstrativeness united at the time to perpetuate 
 the prejudices and the misconceptions of the past. This is 
 what he wrote a half century ago. 
 
 What at that time did not succeed, unfortunately succeeds 
 now, in our days, in the deplorable epoch of the fading away 
 of the great Magyar traditions ; for now not blind and honest 
 zeal, but calculating selfishness has become a dangerous power 
 and without concealment, and relentlessly is demolishing the 
 liberal ideas of the old Magyar life. 
 
 The happy current toward liberty, which under the guid- 
 ance of the wise man of the fatherland built up New 
 Hungary, Leopold Loew helped to create. 
 
 His activity in Magyar public life left deep traces and 
 prescribed the way for Magyar Judaism. 
 
 The diversity of the interests which attracted his mind and 
 the manifoldness of his practical activity make him a peer- 
 less man. Upon the gem of his soul thriveth the spirit of 
 the holy past, of the prophets, of the messengers of the 
 Lord. 
 
 One ray of each of the ten men of God shines from the 
 face and the edge of this crystal. 
 
 Judaism in the 19th century was rich with men of great in- 
 tellectual force. The constantly rising sunrays awaked its 
 hidden strength, which were again and again cast into dark- 
 ness. At the dawn of this century was born Leopold Loew, 
 one of its pathfinders. 
 
 In his brain there were united the civilization and the 
 learning of his century. Enthusiastic love for his ancient 
 faith filled his heart. The charm of speech flowed from his 
 lips. The noble heartedness of wise men gilded his enchant- 
 ing individuality. 
 
 He was a person far above the usual caliber of men. He 
 was not one of the thousands pressed into a form like bricks
 
 LEOPOLD LOEW 87 
 
 used in building up humanity, but a carefully hewed, 
 measured groundstone, exactly fitting into its place. If it be 
 lost the very structure cannot be completed. 
 
 Time did not replace him, because when once a great in- 
 dividuality and its charm are lost, nothing can fill its place. 
 
 Nobody filled his place with his boundless enthusiasm, his 
 inexhaustible learning, his never ebbing industry. 
 
 We, his children and his disciples, put aside our sandals in 
 following his footsteps and with blissful prayer do we en- 
 twine his name. Amen.
 
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