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Introduction to The Collected Writings of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein
(1824-1909)
Jorge Quiñónez
LCJE.net
INTRODUCTION
Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein was among the most well known
Jewish believers in Jesus (JBJs) in the late 19th century through the
very beginning of the 20th century. In the Jewish missions circles of
the time, he is equal or perhaps second only to Joseph Rabinowitz in
notoriety. Practically any history of JBJs which has appeared in recent
times makes reference to him and his work. David Baron states “What
Joseph Rabinovich [sic] was to the Jews of Russia, that, and even more,
Rabbi Lichtenstein was to the more cultured Jews of Austria, Hungary,
Germany, etc.” That he was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and his
unwillingness to be baptized had much to do with his fame. Baron said of
his writings “…Rabbi Lichtenstein… produce[d] [a] remarkable series of
pamphlets… [of] great importance and value…” This is the first time that
most of the writings of this Orthodox Hungarian rabbi have appeared
together in print. In this introduction, I provide a brief biographical
sketch of Lichtenstein.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF
LICHTENSTEIN’S LIFE
Isaac Lichtenstein was born in an Orthodox Jewish
home in northern Hungary in 1824. He had a yeshiva education and was
ordained as a rabbi by the age of 20. He married around the age of 30.
He eventually became the district rabbi for the Hungarian city of
Tapioszele. He served in his post for over 35 years and through reading
the New Testament became a JBJ in 1883. For several years, he kept his
new belief secret. However, he eventually made his belief that Jesus was
the Messiah of Israel public during one of his Sabbath sermons. He
voluntarily resigned from his position as rabbi at the beginning of
1892. In his remaining years, he traveled and preached throughout Europe
and continued to write. He died at 8 a.m. on Friday, October 16, 1908,
at the age of 85.
When Lichtenstein became a JBJ, he was about 60 years
of age, a bit too old to start an independent congregation for JBJs. He
often told David Baron: “Oh, if there were only a Hebrew Christian
Church, how gladly would I join it! If I were twenty years younger, I
would endeavor myself to form one.” Compare this to Joseph Rabinowitz,
who was 48 years old when he began his Hebrew Christian congregation in
Kishinev in 1885.
Lichtenstein never took the step to get publicly
baptized which after his death allowed him to be buried in the Jewish
cemetery despite him being a JBJ. For this reason and because of his
desire to keep strong connections with the Jewish community he was
criticized by his peers including Baron and Rabinowitz. In a letter to
Baron in 1898, Lichtenstein writes:
“…my friends… do not
understand me. It is a riddle to them that I do not cut my
connection with my people, that I still visit synagogues and
frequent Jewish circles, in spite of continual insult and
humiliation. They do not see that it is in this very way I obtain
the opportunity that I wish for, and am able to distribute hundreds
of New Testaments and other missionary literature, and thus to sow
the holy seed –‘They who sow in tears shall reap in joy.’ [Psalms
126:5]”
Two workers with
the Norwegian Israel Mission in 1892 made an insightful observation
about another important JBJ, namely Yechiel Lichtenstein (se below)
which could just as well apply to Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein. They
commented that “He is one of these peculiar proselytes from our time in
whom the Christian belief in Jesus of Nazareth in an independent and
original way has merged with Jewish thought and culture – which, apart
from him, is also true of Rabinowitz, Lucky and others, who each has his
own opinion of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.”
WHY A COLLECTION OF
LICHTENSTEIN’S WRITINGS?
There are several simple reasons for doing a book on
Isaac Lichtenstein’s writings. They have been out-of-print since the
1920s and they have never before been collected in one collection.
Lichtenstein’s pamphlets in English were published through the Hebrew
Christian Testimony to Israel based in England as well as many others
which only appeared in obscure German journals or published only in
Hungary. In recent decades, people who have discussed and quoted
Lichtenstein have depended on secondary sources such as testimonies
written by people other than Lichtenstein. In other words, one needs to
seriously question how accurate is a second or third generation
quotation from a work which Lichtenstein wrote? This alone is reason
enough for compiling this anthology of Rabbi Isaac (Ignatz)
Lichtenstein’s writings.
The average readers (and researchers as well) need to
have access to this individual who is now so important in the recent
history of modern Messianic Jews. Most of the writings were written as
brief religious tracts. They are thus more like chapters in a book. To
our knowledge, he wrote only in German. He has been translated into
English, Yiddish, French, Italian, Hebrew, and other languages. I do not
claim that I have found every tract that was translated into English
that Lichtenstein ever wrote (in German). However, if anyone finds or
knows of another tract by Lichtenstein in English or German not included
in my collection: please contact me.
THE TWO TROUBLESOME
LICHTENSTEINS
Isaac
Lichtenstein’s name is commonly confused with another Lichtenstein, who
was also a JBJ and probably a rabbi as well, Yehiel Tsvi
Herschensohn-Lichtenstein, a Romanian Hassid and prolific writer. In
many of their publications, they abbreviated their first names as “J. [Jechiel
(Tsvi)] Lichtenstein” and “I. [Isaac/Ignatz] Lichtenstein”. The
confusion between them is due to the nature of the writing system in
which their names were printed. Most German books of this time were
printed in Fraktur, a gothic style alphabet (a variation of the Old
Latin alphabet; it appears somewhat similar to the Old English font
today on most computers). The appearance of the capital letters “I” and
“J” are identical in Fraktur: hence the source of confusion.
I conclude by quoting a thoughtful prayer that Rabbi
Isaac Lichtenstein wrote to open an address he gave 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.
Special thanks and credit to
Jorge Quiñónez
and
LCJE.net
Jorge Quiñónez, San Diego,
has a remarkable interest in – and ability to dig up – old publications
written by significant persons who were involved in Jewish evangelism in
the 19th and 20th centuries. Here is a brief introduction to Isaac
Lictenstein and a list of his writings. Notes to the article have been
left out but may be obtained from the author:
jorgequinonez@yahoo.com
German and English
Bibliography for Isaac Lichtenstein
[Note: This bibliography is not precisely
in chronological order, mainly, because I could not find exact
publication dates of Lichtenstein’s original German writings. Thus,
sometimes a particular German work will have a later publication date
than the English translation. I have tried to match the original German
works with their English translations.]
I. Lichtenstein. An Appeal
to the Jewish People. (Translated by Mrs. Baron). [London]:
The Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel [H. C. T. I.]
(1894).
I. Lichtenstein. Eine Bitte an die geehrten Leser. Budapest
(1880).
I. Lichtenstein. Der Talmud auf der Anklagebank durch einen
begeisterten Berehrer des Judenthums. Heft I. Budapest
(1886).
I. Lichtenstein. Mein Zeugnis. Heft II. Budapest:
Hornyánszky (1886).
I. Lichtenstein. Die Liebe und die Bekehrung. Heft III.
Budapest (1886).
J. Lichtenstein. Judaism and Christianity. (Translated from
the German by Margaret M. Alison). Elliot (1893).
Isaac Lichtenstein. Judenthum und Christenthum. Hamburg: A.
Scheibenhuber [1891].
I. Lichtenstein. Two Letter, or, What I Really Wish.
(Translated by Mrs. Baron). London: H. C. T. I. (1887).
I. Lichtenstein. “Zwei Briefe oder was ich eigentlich will”
in Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 9-36. [Reprinted London: H.
C. T. I. (1902)].
I. Lichtenstein. The Blood of Christ. H. C. T. I. (1903).
I. Lichtenstein. “Das Blut Christi, ein Nachklang aus dem
Midrasch Echa” in Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 229-232.
I. Lichtenstein. “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).
[Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in Leipzig, No. 44-46.]
I. Lichtenstein. “Letter from Rabbi Lichtenstein” in The
Scattered Nation 7 (July 1896), 175-176.
I. Lichtenstein. “How to Approach the Jews” in The Scattered
Nation 8 (October 1896), 193-195.
I. Lichtenstein. The Jewish Mirror. London: H. C. T. I.
[1897].
I. Lichtenstein. Judenspiegel. [Vienna: L. Scnberger
(1896)].
I. Lichtenstein. 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).
I. Lichtenstein. Begegnungspunkte zwischen Juden und
Christen: Gesetz und Evangelium. London (1902).
I. Lichtenstein. “Ein Weihnachts: und Neujahrsgrutz an alle
Neugeborenen im Herrn” in Saat auf Hoffnung 36 (1899), 5-9.
I. Lichtenstein. “Ein Weihnachts: und Neujahrsgrutz für die
auserwählten Kinder des Lichtes” in Saat auf Hoffnung 37
(1900), 35-40.
I. Lichtenstein. Ein Geheimniss aus dem Talmud. [Vienna, L.
Scnberger, (1900)].
I. Lichtenstein. “Ein Neujahrsgrutz für die Neugebornen im
Herrn zum Heilsjahre 1902” in Saat auf Hoffnung 39 (1902),
5-8.
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