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Ignatz Lichtenstein

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Isaac Lichtenstein
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Isaac Lichtenstein (1824 - October 16, 1909), also called Ignatz Lichtenstein, was formerly a Hungarian Orthodox rabbi who abandoned Judaism and became a Christian. A biography appeared in the Christian Methodist Episcopal missionary magazine The Gospel in All Lands in 1894; the Jewish historian Gotthard Deutsch, an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia, in an essay titled Die Minimis Curat Historicus, published 3 February 1916, mentions him in the course of refuting a claim by the Chief Rabbi of London that no rabbi had ever become a convert to Christianity. Messianic Jews later mention him as an example of a turn of the 19th century "Jewish believer in Jesus."

Normal Jews consider him, like other Jews who abandon Judaism and become Christians, to be subject to the death penalty for betraying Judaism by joining another religion. However, since Judaism does not execute the death penalty or any other physical punishments nowadays, this is merely a figurative expression. Jews customarily say (in Hebrew) "may his name and memory be erased" after mentioning his name.

Life

Ordained as a rabbi at the age of 20, he eventually became the district rabbi for the Hungarian city of Tapioszele and served in this post for over 35 years. In 1883, after reading the New Testament, he became to believe that Jesus was the awaited Messiah of Israel. He kept his belief secret, but eventually made it known in a Sabbath sermon. In 1892, he voluntarily resigned his position and, until his death on October 16, 1908 at the age of 85, he traveled throughout Europe and continued to write. Lichtenstein was a friend of another important name in early Messianic Judaism, David Baron.

Quotes

Near his death he said:

Dear Jewish brethren, I have been young, and now am old. I have attained the age of 80 years, which the Psalmist speaks of as the utmost period of human life on earth. When others of my age are reaping with joy the fruit of their labours, I am alone, almost forsaken, because I have lifted up my voice in warning, '0 Israel, turn to the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take these words and turn thee to the Lord thy God.' 'Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way.'

"I, an honoured Rabbi for the space of 40 years, am now, in my old age, treated by my friends as one possessed by an evil spirit, and by my enemies as an outcast. I am become a butt of mockers who point the finger at me. But while I live I win stand on my watchtower, though I may stand there all alone. I will listen to the words of God, and look for the time when He will return to Zion in mercy, and Israel shall fill the world with his joyous cry, 'Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest"

During an address at a conference on Jewish missions in 1895:

Almighty Heavenly Father, Eheyeh asher Eheyeh, Sovereign Ruler of past, present and future; we bless You for our past, and thank You, that in Your inscrutable wisdom, You have chosen us out of all peoples of the earth, to give us knowledge of the truth, and to make us witnesses of Your Covenant of everlasting life. Our present is dark, gloomy and desolate; but we trust Your word, O Father, that to all eternity You will not forsake Your people Israel, and we hasten forward full of hope to a glorious future, for You have sent Your heralds in the Name of Your beloved Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to comfort the mourning Daughter of Zion.

Turn us again to Yourself, O Eternal, renew our days as in the former years.

Amen.

Bibliography (German and English)

  • An Appeal to the Jewish People. (Translated by Mrs. Baron). : The Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel (1894).
  • Eine Bitte an die geehrten Leser. Budapest (1880).
  • Der Talmud auf der Anklagebank durch einen begeisterten Berehrer des Judenthums. Heft I. Budapest (1886).
  • Mein Zeugnis. Heft II. Budapest: Hornyánszky (1886).
  • Die Liebe und die Bekehrung. Heft III. Budapest (1886).
  • Judaism and Christianity. (Translated from the German by Margaret M. Alison). Elliot (1893).
  • Judenthum und Christenthum. Hamburg: A. Scheibenhuber .
  • Two Letter, or, What I Really Wish. (Translated by Mrs. Baron). London: H. C. T. I. (1887).
  • “Zwei Briefe oder was ich eigentlich will” in Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 9-36. .
  • The Blood of Christ. H. C. T. I. (1903).
  • “Das Blut Christi, ein Nachklang aus dem Midrasch Echa” in Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 229-232.
  • “Welche Anknüpfungspunkte findet die evangelische Berkündigung bei den Juden?” in Gustaf Dalman (editor). Die allgemeine Konferenz für Judenmission in Leipzig, abgehalten vom 6. bis 8. Juni 1895. Leipzig (1896).
  • “Letter from Rabbi Lichtenstein” in The Scattered Nation 7 (July 1896), 175-176.
  • “How to Approach the Jews” in The Scattered Nation 8 (October 1896), 193-195.
  • The Jewish Mirror. London: H. C. T. I. .
  • Judenspiegel. .
  • The Points of Contact between Evangelical and Jewish Doctrine: An Address, Delivered at Leipsic. (Translated from the German by Mrs. Baron). Northfield, England: H. C. T. I. (1897).
  • Begegnungspunkte zwischen Juden und Christen: Gesetz und Evangelium. London (1902).
  • “Ein Weihnachts: und Neujahrsgrutz an alle Neugeborenen im Herrn” in Saat auf Hoffnung 36 (1899), 5-9.
  • “Ein Weihnachts: und Neujahrsgrutz für die auserwählten Kinder des Lichtes” in Saat auf Hoffnung 37 (1900), 35-40.
  • Ein Geheimniss aus dem Talmud. .
  • “Ein Neujahrsgrutz für die Neugebornen im Herrn zum Heilsjahre 1902” in Saat auf Hoffnung 39 (1902), 5-8.

Notes

  1. ^ Smith, Eugene R. (1894). The Gospel in All Lands. New York: Hunt & Nation. pp. 507–508.
  2. http://www.lcje.net/bulletins/2003/71/71_03.html
  3. ^ Deutsch, Gotthard (2005). Scrolls: Essays on Jewish History and Literature and Kindred Subjects V1 and V2. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 118–119. ISBN 1417952172.
  4. http://www.messiahnj.org/bio-lichtenstein.htm
  5. http://www.lcje.net/bulletins/2003/71/71_03.html

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