Ignatz Lichtenstein

Ignatz Lichtenstein (Hungarian: Lichtenstein Ignác)^[2] (1824 – October 16, 1909), sometimes mistakenly called Isaac due to his pen name I. Lichtenstein, was a Hungarian Orthodox rabbi who wrote "pamphlets advocating conversion to Christianity while still officiating as a Rabbi."^[3] Though he refused to be baptized into the Christian faith his whole life,^[4] he ultimately resigned his rabbinate in 1892.^[5] A biography of him appeared in the Methodist Episcopal missionary magazine The Gospel in All Lands in 1894.^[5] The Jewish historian Gotthard Deutsch, an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia, in an essay 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.^[3] Followers of Messianic Judaism, considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity, later mention him as an example of a turn of the 19th century "Jewish believer in Jesus." Speaking of his first contact with the gospel, he said: "I looked for thorns and gathered roses."^[4]

Bibliography (German and English)

Catalogues of works authored by the Rabbi may make dubious attributions. Deutsch, for example, notes he is confused with a Rabbi Jehiel Lichtenstein (1831–1912) who worked for a missionary institute in Leipsic.^[3]

Original German Works:^[6]

• Der Talmud auf der Anklagebank durch einen begeisterten Verehrer des Judenthums [“The Talmud on the Dock by an Inspired Worshipper of Judaism”], Heft I (Budapest, 1886).
• Mein Zeugnis [“My Testimony”], Heft II (Budapest: Hornyánszky, 1886).
• Die Liebe und die Bekehrung [“Love and Conversion”], Heft III (Budapest, 1886).
• Judenthum und Christenthum [“Judaism and Christianity”], (Hamburg: A. Scheibenhuber, 1891?).
• Eine Bitte an die geehrten Leser [“An Appeal to Honored Readers”], (Budapest, 1893 or 1894).
• “‘Zwei Briefe’ oder ‘was ich eigentlich will’” [“‘Two Letters’ or ‘What I Really Wish’”], Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 9-36.
• “Das Blut Christi, ein Nachklang aus dem Midrasch Echa” [“The Blood of Christ, an Echo of Midrash Ekhah”], Saat auf Hoffnung 30 (1893), 229-32.
• Judenspiegel [“The Jewish Mirror”] (Vienna: L. Schoenberger, 1896).
• “Welche Anknüpfungspunkte findet die evangelische Verkündigung bei den Juden?” [“Which Connecting Factors do Protestant Doctrines find with Jewish Doctrines?”] in Gustaf Dalman (ed.), Die allgemeine Konferenz für Judenmission in Leipzig, abgehalten vom 6. bis 8. Juni 1895, (Leipzig,1896), 40-55. [Series: Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in Leipzig, No. 44-46]; later reprinted by “The Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel” in London as Begegnungspunkte zwischen Juden und Christen: Gesetz und Evangelium [“Points of Meeting between Jewish and Christian Doctrine: the Law and the Gospel”.] (London: H.C.T.I., 1902).
• “Ein Weihnachts- und Neujahrsgruß an alle Neugeborenen im Herrn” [“A Christmas and New Year Greeting to all the Born Again in the Lord”], Saat auf Hoffnung 36 (1899), 5-9.
• Ein Geheimniss aus dem Talmud [“A Secret from the Talmud”], (Vienna: L. Scnberger, 1900).
• “Ein Weihnachts- und Neujahrsgruß für die auserwählten Kinder des Lichtes” [“A Christmas and New Year Greeting for the Elect Children of the Light”], Saat auf Hoffnung 37 (1900), 35-40.
• “Ein Neujahrsgruß für die Neugebornen im Herrn zum Heilsjahre 1902” [“A New Year Greeting for the Born Again in the Lord in the Year, 1902”], Saat auf Hoffnung 39 (1902), 5-8.

Translations into English:^[6]

• J. Lichtenstein. Judaism and Christianity (translated from the German by Margaret M. Alison) (Edinburgh: Morrison & Gibb, 1893). [Translation of 4.]
• An Appeal to the Jewish People (Translated by Mrs. [?] Baron). [London]: The Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel (H. C. T. I., 1894). [Translation of 5.]
• “Letter from Rabbi Lichtenstein,” The Jewish Era 4:4 (Oct. 1895), 76.
• ‘Two Letters’ or ‘What I Really Wish,’ (translated by Mrs. [?] Baron) (London: The Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel (H. C. T. I., 189?). [Translation of 6.]
• “What Connecting Links Does the Proclamation of the Gospel Find with the Jew?” [translated by Mrs. E. R. Kinglinger] The Jewish Era 5:1 (Jan. 1896), 1-3; 5:2 (April 1896), 37-42. [Translation of 9.]
• The Jewish Mirror (London: H. C. T. I., 1897). [Translation of 8.]
• The Points of Contact between Evangelical and Jewish Doctrine: An Address, Delivered at Leipsic [sic] (Translated from the German by Mrs. [David] Baron) (Northfield, England: H. C. T. I., 1897). [Translation of 9.]
• “A New Year’s Greeting to the Elect Children of Light,” The Jewish Era 7:2 (April 1898), 37-39.
• The Blood of Christ. H. C. T. I. (1903). [Translation of 7.]
• “A New Year’s Greeting from Rabbi Lichtenstein,” The Jewish Era 12:1 (Jan. 15, 1903), 1-3.

Notes

1. ^ Two Letters; or, What I really Wish. (Translated by Mrs. Baron) Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel. 1887
2. ^ This is the way his name is spelled in the Magyar Zsidó Lexikon (Hungarian Jewish Lexicon) from 1929, in the entry Tápiószele
3. ^ ^{a b c} Deutsch, Gotthard (2005). Scrolls: Essays on Jewish History and Literature and Kindred Subjects V1 and V2. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 118–119. ISBN 1417952172. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Gillet, Lev (2002). Communion in the Messiah: Studies in the Relationship Between Judaism and Christianity. James Clarke & Co.. p. 206. ISBN 0227172256. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Smith, Eugene R. (1894). The Gospel in All Lands. New York: Hunt & Nation. pp. 507–508. 
6. ^ ^{a b} “Introduction to Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein: Selected Writings” Jorge Quiñónez, (editor) Daniel Lancaster (co-editor). Keren Ahvah Meshihit 2008.

External links

• Online biography
• Introduction to The Collected Writings of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein
• English and German works (11) as PDF in the Remnant Repository of Vine of David
• The biography of Isaac Lichtenstien on Messianic Judaism Wiki.