Geiger, Abraham

Geiger, Abraham (gī`gər), 1810–74, German rabbi, Semitic scholar and Orientalist, theologian, and foremost exponent of the Reform movement in Judaism. When he received his doctorate (1833) from the Univ. of Bonn, he was already a rabbi in Wiesbaden. He sought to remove all nationalistic elements from Judaism (particularly the "Chosen People" doctrine) and to emphasize the Jewish "mission" to spread monotheism and moral law. He shortened the prayerbook, permitted instrumental music in the synagogue, abolished the second days of holidays, and advocated prayer in the vernacular. However, he opposed Sunday worship and refused to serve any congregation that broke with the established Jewish community. In 1870 he became chief rabbi of the Berlin congregations and director of the newly established seminary for the scientific study of Judaism. He was a prolific writer. His great work is Urschrift und übersetzungen der Bibel [text and translations of the Bible] (1857).

Bibliography

See J. L. Blau, Modern Varieties of Judaism (1966).

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Geiger, Abraham

(born May 24, 1810, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—died Oct. 23, 1874, Berlin) German Jewish theologian. He served as rabbi in Wiesbaden from 1832 and in Breslau 1838–63. He helped found a theological journal in 1835 and served as its editor. Geiger urged the need for simplified ritual, liturgy in one's native language, and emphasis on the prophetic writings as the core of Judaism, and he stressed the process of change and growth in Jewish religious consciousness, a basic idea in Reform Judaism.