Sulamith

SULAMITH, first German-language periodical for Jews. Founded in 1806 by David Fraenkel (1779–1856), the Dessau educator, and Joseph Wolf (1762–1826), and edited by the former, it carried the masthead, "A periodical for the advancement of culture and humanism among the Jewish nation"; by 1810, however, the word "Israelites" had replaced the words "Jewish nation." Fraenkel viewed his creation as a continuation of the *Koenigsberg Me'assef and fully supported *Mendelssohn and his program as interpreted by his radical followers. Through poems and edifying discourses, the paper advocated a return to a purified and tolerant Judaism. It endorsed the modern education of rabbis, emphasized preaching and sermons in the service, and supported the modern educational efforts made in *Seesen, *Frankfurt, and *Dessau, and the religious innovations introduced there. The list of subscribers (not confined to Germany alone) was relatively small, but it included financiers, manufacturers, and court advisers who were generally also leaders of their respective communities and advocates of the reforms proposed by Sulamith.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.