The Jewish Encyclopedias
The Jewish Encyclopedias
Towards the end of the eighteenth century two encyclopedias written in Hebrew appeared in Europe, and each contained an analysis of the Copernican model. Reshit Limmudim was written by Barukh Lindau as an introductory textbook for schoolchildren – although it reached a far wider audience. Lindau’s book accepted the heliocentric model, and was widely praised by members of the Berlin Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). The second encyclopedia was called Sefer Haberit, and was an attempt to categorize and explain natural phenomena and geography. It remains in print to this day. Written by Pinhas Hurwtiz, it rejected the Copernican model while stating that it was still possible to be a righteous Jew if it was accepted. For historical perspective, we review the position taken by Solomon Maimon in his 1791, pro?Copernican Hebrew language work Givat Hamoreh.
Keywords: Barukh Lindau, Pinhas Hurwitz, Solomon Maimon, Reshit Limmudim, Sefer Haberit, Givat Mamoreh, Berlin Haskalah, Copernicus
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
