Eisenbaum, Antoni

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EISENBAUM, ANTONI

EISENBAUM, ANTONI (1791–1852), author and educator, one of the first advocates of *assimilation in Poland. In 1823 he submitted a memorandum to Czar *Alexander i, conceived from the standpoint of an assimilationist, urging measures to improve the condition of the Jews. At the end of that year he began the publication of *Der Beobachter an der Weichsel, subsidized by the government. Eisenbaum wrote articles for other Warsaw papers, urging emancipation for the Jews. In 1826 he was appointed supervisor, and in 1835 director, of the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw. The seminary aroused vehement opposition among traditionally minded Jews. Eisenbaum also acted as censor of Hebrew books in Poland (see *Censorship).

bibliography:

Linberg, in: Perezhitoye, 4 (1913), 119–48; J. Shatzky, Geshikhte fun Yidn in Varshe, 3 vols. (1947–53), index; S. Lastik, Z dziejów Os´wiecenia Żydowskiego (1961), 176–8; R. Mahler, Ha-Ḥasidut ve-ha-Haskalah (1961), 263; eg, Varsha, 1 (1961), 240–6.

[Nathan Michael Gelber]