Heinemann Vogelstein


Heinemann Vogelstein was a German rabbi and leader of Reform Judaism in Germany.

Biography

Heinemann Vogelstein was born in Lippe on February 13, 1841, the son of Julie and Israel Vogelstein. In 1859, he began his studies at University of Wroclaw and then at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau where he received his PhD in 1865. In 1861, he became a member of the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums.
He was rabbi in Pilsen and Stettin, founder and chairman of the Vereinigung der liberalen Rabbiner and Deputy Chairman of the Vereinigung für das Liberale Judentum in Deutschland. From 1894 to 1896 he published a book of prayers in two volumes in which all references to Jewish nationalism had been eliminated.
As an opponent of Zionism he joined the protest movement in 1897 and published a pamphlet in 1906 entitled Der Zionismus, eine Gefahr für die gedeihliche Entwickelung des Judentums. In 1889, he wrote Kampf zwischen Priestern und Leviten seit den Tagen Ezechiels.
In 1928, a street was named after him in Szczecin.

Personal life

Vogelstein was the father of Hermann Vogelstein, Ludwig Vogelstein, Theodor Vogelstein, and Julie Braun-Vogelstein. He died on August 4, 1911 in St. Moritz.