Rabin Mór (Móritz) Löwy

October 14, 1849, Mosdós, Austrian Empire - April 22, 1908, Opatija, buried in the Jewish cemetery in Timisoara

Rabbi, biblical interpreter, historian

He was born in Mosdós, near Kaposvár. He studied Hebrew and the Talmud in an yeshiva in Oradea, in parallel with school. In Berlin he was an auditor at the "Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums" (University of Judaism) and a student at the Faculty of Languages and Literature. He graduated in Arabic language and philosophy from Würzburg in 1879.


On October 19, 1879, Dr. Mór (Móritz) Löwy was elected first rabbi of the Jewish community in the Citadel, Timisoara. Interest in his inauguration ceremony was so great in the city that Baron Pulz, deputy marshal and military commander, ordered the off-duty officers to attend the festivity.


He had the reputation of an erudite rabbi, penetrated by his mission, with a dignified and noble character. He also held various positions in the communities of Fabric and Josephine, although the latter were independent communities. He introduced a divine youth service with sermons in Hungarian. He was knowledgeable in Eastern philosophy, the history of religions, and Tamud. He was the correspondent of several specialized publications and published several works on history and biblical exegesis. He was the first to write and publish a history of the Jews of Timişoara: Skizzen zur Geschichte der Juden in Temesvár (Short History of the Jews of Timişoara).


He died in Opatija, but was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Timisoara.

He was the first owner of the building, built in 1897, boulevard 3 August 1919 no. 19, Fabric neighborhood.

Publications

  • Skizzen zur Geschichte der Juden in Temesvár, Szegedin 1890
  • The digitized book in the Harvard University library can be accessed online: https://archive.org/details/skizzenzurgesch00lwgoog
  • Über das Buch Jona. Exegetisch-Kritischer Versuch, Szegedin 1892
  • Messiaszeit  u. zukünftige Welt. Dogmengeschichtliche Studie, 1897 ş. a.

Source

  • Dr. Singer Jakab, Temesvári Rabbik a XVIII és XIX-ik században. Wieder Jakab Könyvnyomdája 1928