Selig Newman
Born1788 (1788)
Posen, Poznań Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Died(1871-02-20)20 February 1871 (aged 83)
Williamsburg, New York City, United States
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
Notable studentsArchibald Campbell Tait, Morris Jacob Raphall, David Woolf Marks
Writing career
Notable worksThe Challenge Accepted (1850)

Selig Newman (1788, Posen – 20 February 1871, Williamsburg, Brooklyn) was a Polish-born Hebraist and educator.

Biography

Selig Newman was born and educated at Posen. He devoted himself to Biblical studies, and at an early age he was given an office in the chief synagogue of Berlin. Newman moved to England in 1814, and was soon afterwards appointed minister to the Jewish community of Plymouth by Chief Rabbi Solomon Hirschell. While in London, Newman took part in spirited public debates at the Freemasons' Tavern with Christian missionaries.[1] Having challenged any Jewish convert or learned Christian to dispute with him on Old Testament messianic prophecies, he held a well-attended public disputation with Joseph Wolff on 8 March 1827.[2] Newman also delivered regular Shabbat sermons at the Jews' Free School, the building being always crowded by anxious listeners.[3]

At the same time, Newman taught Hebrew at the University of Oxford. As a Jew, Newman was debarred from a professorship, but among his pupils were many distinguished Christian and Jewish scholars, including Morris Jacob Raphall, David Woolf Marks, and future Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait.[3] Newman left for the United States in about 1849 and settled in New York City, gaining a livelihood as teacher and writer.[4] He died there in February 1871, and was buried in the Beth Olam Cemetery.

Work

In 1850 he published a polemical tract in answer to Christian missionaries, entitled The Challenge Accepted, consisting of a series of dialogues between a Jew and a Christian respecting the fulfilment of the prophecies on the advent of the Messiah. The work explained crucial biblical passages, mostly in the Books of Genesis and Isaiah, and then moved on to question the authenticity of the gospel literature based on inner contradictions.[5][6]

Other publications of Newman include Emendations of the English Version of the Old Testament (1839); a Hebrew and English Lexicon (1841); and a Hebrew grammar, which was much used for elementary instruction among English Jews. Manuscripts of a condensed translation of the Bible were found after his death.[1]

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jacobs, Joseph; Lipkind, Goodman (1905). "Newman, Selig". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 294.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Fairchild, J. H. (1877). "Newman, Selig". In Strong, James; McClintock, John (eds.). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. Vol. 7. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 18–19.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Morais, Henry Samuel (1880). Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century: A Series of Biographical Sketches. Philadelphia: E. Stern & Company. p. 252–255.
  2. ↑ "Philo-Judæn Society". The Times. No. 13222. London. 9 March 1827. p. 3.
  3. 1 2 Fairchild, J. H. (1877). "Newman, Selig". In Strong, James; McClintock, John (eds.). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. Vol. 7. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 18–19.
  4. ↑ Goldman, Israel M. (1967). "Henry W. Schneeberger: His Rôle in American Judaism". American Jewish Historical Quarterly. Johns Hopkins University Press. 57 (2): 152–190. ISSN 0002-9068. JSTOR 23876073.
  5. ↑ Sarna, Jonathan D. (1981). "The American Jewish Response to Nineteenth-Century Christian Missions". The Journal of American History. Oxford University Press. 68 (1): 35–51. doi:10.2307/1890901. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 1890901.
  6. ↑ Sarna, Jonathan D. (1980). "The Freethinker, the Jews, and the Missionaries: George Houston and the Mystery of 'Israel Vindicated'". AJS Review. Cambridge University Press. 5: 101–114. doi:10.1017/S036400940000009X. ISSN 0364-0094. JSTOR 1486455. S2CID 162556147.
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