Descripción
In Hebrew. XIV, 60, 90, 92, XVI, 94, XVI, IX, 118, VII, (1 to 4,) 10 to 131 pages. With 6 title pages. 186 x 117 mm. Re-backed. Naphtali(-)Herz (Hartwig) Wessely, aka Naphtali(-)Hirz Wessely, also Wesel, ? Vezel; (1725, Hamburg - February 28, 1805, Hamburg), was an 18th century German Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Wessely passed his childhood at Copenhagen, where his father was purveyor to the king. In addition to rabbinical studies under Jonathan Eybeschütz, he studied modern languages. As the representative of the banker Feitel, he later visited Amsterdam, where he published (1765-1766) his Lebanon, or Gan Na'ul, a philological investigation of Hebrew roots and synonyms. Although prolix in style, and lacking scientific method, this work established his reputation. After his marriage in Copenhagen, he represented Feitel at Berlin, and there became associated with Mendelssohn. Wessely encouraged Mendelssohn in his labors by publishing Alim li-Terufah, a work advocating the "bi'ur" and the translation of the Bible into German. To this work Wessely himself contributed a commentary on Leviticus (Berlin, 1782), having published, two years previously, a Hebrew edition of the Book of Wisdom, together with a commentary. Wessely was an advocate of the educational and social reforms outlined in Emperor Joseph II's Toleranzedict (Patent of toleration). He even risked his reputation for piety by publishing a manifesto in eight chapters, entitled Divrei Shalom ve-Emet (Words of Peace and Truth), in which he emphasized the necessity for secular instruction, as well as for other reforms, even from the points of view of the Mosaic law and the Talmud. This work has been translated into French as Instructions Salutaires Addressées aux Communautés Juives de l'Empire de Joseph II, into Italian by Elia Morpurgo, and into German by David Friedländer under the title Worte der Wahrheit und des Friedens. By thus espousing the cause of reform, as well as by his support of M. Mendelssohn, Wessely incurred the displeasure of the rabbinical authorities of Germany and Poland, who threatened him with excommunication. His enemies, however, were finally pacified through the energetic intervention of the Italian rabbis, as well as by Wessely's pamphlets Mekor Hen, in which he gave evidence of his sincere piety. In 1788 Wessely published in Berlin his ethical treatise Sefer ha-Middot (The Book of Virtues), a work of Musar literature. He also published several odes; elegies, and other poems; but his masterwork is his Shire Tif'eret, describing in rhetorical style the exodus from Egypt. This work, through which he earned the admiration of his contemporaries, was translated into German, and partly into French. His commentaries on the Bible were published by the society Mekize Nirdamim under the title Imre Shefer. Wessely influenced his contemporaries in various directions. As a scholar he contributed, by his profound philological researches, to the reconstruction of the language of the Bible, though his work is marred by prolixity and by his refusal to admit shades of meaning in synonyms. As a poet he possessed perfection of style, but lacked feeling and artistic imagination. No one exerted a greater influence than he on the dissemination of modern Hebrew, and no one, on the other hand, did more to retard the development of pure art and of poetic intuition. Because of his energetic commitment to the cause of Jewish emancipation, Wessely may be regarded as a leader of the Maskilim. Wessely also wrote a commentary on Pirkei Avot entitled Yein Levanon, which was highly regarded in Musar Yeshivas. N° de ref. del artículo 016137
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