Abraham Eliezer Eliyahu Ha-Levi Igel

Abraham Eliezer Eliyahu Ha-Levi Igel (Hebrew: אברהם אליעזר אליהו הלוי איגל; German: Lazar Elias Igel; Italian: Lazaro Elia Igel;^[1] 28 February 1825, Lemberg – 26 March 1892, Czernowitz) was an Austrian modern Orthodox (sometimes described as Reformist) rabbi, born in Galicia (now Ukraine). A disciple of Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal), he served as rabbi and preacher of the “Enlightened Congregation” (Adat ha-Ne’orim, the Maskilim) and was Chief Rabbi of Czernowitz (1854–1892) and of the entire Bukovina region (1854–1878) under Austrian rule.

Igel was born in Lemberg (now Lviv, Ukraine) into a family of antiquarian book traders. His father, Samuel Zanwil Igel, was an expert in Polish bibliography, and his bookshop was well known among Austrian and Polish scholarly circles. Together with his brother Mendel Izik, who continued the family business, Eliezer Eliyahu received both a strict religious education and a broad secular education.

After completing secondary studies at the Lemberg Gymnasium, at the age of 15 Igel went to study at the Collegio Rabbinico di Padova (Rabbinical College of Padua), under the supervision of scholars such as Samuel David Luzzatto, Lelio Hillel Della Torre, and Mordechai Samuel Ghirondi.^[2] At the same time, he studied philosophy and languages at the University of Padua.^[2]

After completing his doctoral dissertation in theology in 1849, he returned to his native city. There he was appointed lecturer in Semitic languages at the local university. In 1851, he became the first teacher of Jewish religion at the Lemberg secondary school.

Based on his book Syrischer Wegweiser ("The Syrian Guide"), he received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Lemberg. Igel unsuccessfully sought to succeed Rabbi Dr. Moritz Löwenthal in Lemberg and was unable to obtain a professorship at the university.

In 1853, at the recommendation of Adolf Jellinek, Igel applied for the position of Chief Rabbi of Czernowitz. The city's reformist community leaders (the so-called “progressives”) were impressed by his extensive Talmudic knowledge and moral integrity and elected him Chief Rabbi of Czernowitz and of Bukovina.^[2]

However, he faced strong opposition from traditionalist Orthodox groups (the “conservatives”), who supported the candidacy of Rabbi Horowitz-Meisels. As Igel himself reported on 6 March 1854 in the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, many defamatory letters were sent against him to Austrian officials and even to the Emperor.

Due to this controversy, the Austrian authorities delayed his appointment until tensions subsided. By government order, the community leaders annulled the previous vote and held new elections on 10 May 1854.^[3] This time, Dr. Igel received 147 votes in favor and 34 against, marking a decisive victory for the Maskilim in Czernowitz.^[3] In 1878, the Austrian authorities abolished the regional position of Kreisrabbiner (district rabbi).^[3]

Rabbi Dr. Igel was an active member of the modernist, enlightened community organized around the “Temple” Society, founded in 1857 to build a grand synagogue in Czernowitz. The synagogue, known as the Czernowitz Coral Temple, was inaugurated in 1877.^[3]

In his German-language sermons, Rabbi Igel promoted Jewish ethical life and defended Judaism against antisemitic attacks. He continued to teach and write books, maintaining close ties with local figures of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment), such as his nephew Rabbi Mattityahu Simcha Rabner (1826–1888), whom he invited to teach in Czernowitz, and with Mordechai Strelisker, Hillel Kahana, and others.

As rabbi and educator, Igel also directed the Jewish school founded in Czernowitz in 1853, which had 30 pupils, teaching Judaism four hours per week. He also established a local branch of the Alliance Israélite Universelle.^[3]

Tensions between the factions in the Czernowitz Jewish community persisted. Between 1849 and 1872, the community and its institutions were led by “enlightened” academics and modern Orthodox rabbis.

In the 1860s, a split seemed inevitable. Rabbi Horowitz-Meisels, defeated in the 1854 elections, left Czernowitz and returned to Galicia. In 1872, the so-called “Orthodox” Jews founded a separate congregation and appointed as their rabbi Benjamin Aryeh Weiss (1841–1912), also educated in Lemberg.

In December 1872, the authorities dissolved both rival congregations and called for elections for a unified Jewish community. The reunification was achieved only in 1875 through cooperation between Rabbi Igel and Rabbi Weiss: Igel remained Chief Rabbi of Czernowitz, while Weiss served as head of the rabbinical court (Av Beit Din), overseeing ritual slaughter, the Talmud Torah, the Great Synagogue, mikvaot, and other religious institutions.

Rabbi Igel died in Czernowitz in 1892. He was married into the Rabner family and had four children (three sons and one daughter). After his death, Rabbi Dr. Josef Rosenfeld succeeded him as Chief Rabbi.

• Yovel shi me’achi ha-tza’ir: Teshuvot ve-she’elot (1849, Lemberg; first published in Padua, 1849)
• Mikhtavim shonim seu variae interpretationes criticae et grammaticales de Biblia veteris testamenti et de Onkelosi (Leopolis, 1850)
• Syrischer Wegweiser (“The Syrian Guide”), 1851
• German translation of Shadal's Yesodei Torah: Israelitische Moraltheologie (Breslau, 1870)

• History of the Jews in Chernivtsi
• History of the Jews in Bukovina
• Jewish Enlightenment
• History of the Jews in Romania
• History of the Jews in Ukraine

• Baruch Tercatin & Lucian-Zeev Herşcovici, Encyclopedia of Romanian Jewry from the 16th to the 21st Centuries, Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, 2012.