WESSELY, NAPHTALI HERZ (HARTWIG)

FIRST HEBREW WORK ON JEWISH EDUCATION IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HASKALAH. The Act of Tolerance of 1782 required Jews to establish Trade-schools with German as the language of instruction. Wessely felt this innovation would greatly benefit the Jews. In Divrei Shalom Ve’emeth, he argues that Jewish education should include studies in “human knowledge” incorporating the totality of secular culture, especially the moral, mathematical and physical sciences. According to Wessely, such general education necessarily proceeds religious instruction as it is impossible to understand Divine teachings without secular acculturation. Wessely concludes that he who studies the Torah without acquiring common secular knowledge is a burden upon society. Wessley’s pamphlet met with opposition among traditionalist Rabbis. They regarded the Act of Tolerance with scepticism, fearing its implementation would promote assimilation. They considered it outrageous that at such a critical juncture, a fellow Jew would not only urge the unqualified application of the Acts' measures but additionally assail the prevalent system of Jewish religious education. Among Rabbis who opposed Wessely were the Gaon of Vilna, Ezekiel Landau of Prague, (who pronounced a ban on Wessely’s writings), Tevele Katz Schiff of London, David Tevele of Lissa, Solomon Dov Baer of Glogau and Joseph ben Pinchas of Posen. Indeed, Chief Rabbi Hirschel Levin, sought to evict Wessely from Berlin, but for Moses Mendelsohn intervention. Wessely responded to his opponents from Poland in the epistle Eyn Mishpat in which he collected the opinions of the Italian rabbis who endorsed his views on Jewish education. In Rav Tov Le’beith Yisrael, he responded to the questions put to him by the rabbis of Trieste. Wessely restated his arguements and defended the new education program he had proposed in Divrei Shalom Ve’emeth in his Rechovoth. See M. Carmilly-Weinberger, Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Jewish History (1977) pp. 111-3 and A. Altmann, Moses Mendelssohn, A Biographical Study(1973) pp. 476-86