Eliezer Zweifel

Eleizer Zweifel was born in Mogilev, Russia (now Belarus). After his first marriage failed, he spent many years wandered, primarily in Odessa, earning a living as a rabbi, Talmud teacher, and private tutor. During this period, he was reading and stydying Hebrew and German works.

In 1853, Zweifel took a teaching position at the Beth Midrash L'Rabbanim rabbinical seminary in Zhytomyr, Russia (now the Ukraine). That same year, he published his first book, Minnim V'Ugav, which was critical of Haskalah, the movement toward creating more modern rabbis by adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies. These were the values upon which the Beth Midrash L'Rabbanim seminary had been founded.

In 1868, Zweifel published the first volume of Shalom 'al Yisra'el (Peace to Israel) (parts 2-4 were published between 1869 and 1873), in which he defended Hasidism, a movement of Judaism which, in contrast to Haskalah, promoted Jewish mysticism and valued emotion above reason and rites, and religious exaltation above knowledge. Zweifel felt that Hasidism, through its emphasis on traditional Judaism, could unite Jews, while Haskalah would lead to erosion of faith and a rise in immorality, and the ultimate destruction of the Jewish national identity.

Zweifel's work was poorly received by his colleagues in Zhytomyr, who viewed his defence of Hasidism as a betrayal of the Haskalah. They urged him to retract his thesis, and when he would not, they censured his book. This book was controversial outside the seminary as well, especially among maskilim in Eastern Europe, most of whom considered Hasidism an evil cult that had prevented Judaism from modernizing. In fact, Zweifel advocated a more moderate stance, believing that the best approach is one that seeks a harmonious and pluralistic accommodation of all denominations of Judaism.

In 1873 the seminary closed, leaving Zweifel without an income. Over the next 15 years, he struggled to earn a livelihood and to see his works published. In the 1880s he declined invitations to join the Hibat Tzion movement which intended to settle Jews in Palestine.

In 1885 Zwiefel published his last book, Sanegor (In Defence), which he considered his crowning achievement. It is primarily an apologetic work and includes a defence of the role of women in Judaism, and a defence of certain biblical and Talmudic sources' attitude toward gentiles.