Márkus Horovitz

Rabbi Markus Horovitz
Rabbi Márkus Horovitz
Title	Rabbi
Personal
Born	5 March 1844 Ladány (Tiszaladány), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Kaisertum Österreich
Died	27 March 1910 Frankfurt am Main, German Empire
Nationality	Hungarian
Children	Josef Horovitz
Notable work(s)	Zur Geschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde in Eisenstadt, Frankfurter Rabbinen, Jüdische Ärzte in Frankfurt a. M., Matteh Lewi, Die Wohlthätigkeitspflege bei den Juden im alten Frankfurt, Die Frankfurter Rabbinerversammlung vom Jahre 1603, Die Inschriften des alten Friedhofes der israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt a. M.
Alma mater	University of Tübingen
Known for	Promoting coexistence between Orthodox and Reform factions in Frankfurt
Occupation	Rabbi, Historian
Senior posting
Post	Rabbi of Lauenburg (1871–1874) Rabbi of Gnesen (1874–1878) Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main (1878–1910)

Markus Horovitz (Hungarian: Horovitz Márkus, 5 March 1844 – 27 March 1910)^[1] was a Hungarian rabbi and historian.

He was born at Ladány (Tiszaladány), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Kaisertum Österreich. The descendant of a family of scholars, he pursued his rabbinical studies at the yeshivot of Ujhely, Verbé, and Eisenstadt (the latter under the direction of Israel Hildesheimer).^[1] He studied (1868–71) philosophy and Orientalia at the universities of Vienna, Budapest, and Berlin, taking his PhD degree at Tübingen. In December 1871, he was called as rabbi to Lauenburg in Pomerania; in 1874, to Gnesen, Prussian Posen; and in September 1878, to Frankfurt am Main. At Frankfurt he organized two model religious schools. Horovitz was a director of the Deutsche Rabbinerverband and president of the German Jewish orphanage at Jerusalem. He was the father of Josef Horovitz and the ancestor of the journalist David Horovitz.

Horovitz was rabbi in Frankfurt at a time when the disagreements between the Orthodox and Reform factions were reaching their peak. Horovitz was appointed to chair a committee on ritual to placate the Orthodox followers of Samson Raphael Hirsch, who were threatening to found a separate community, the Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft ("Religious Society of Israelites"). He was given authority over the entire community's religious institution, and promoted the construction of a new Orthodox synagogue on the Börneplatz, which was dedicated on 10 September 1882. Horovitz promoted coexistence between the different factions, maintaining that it was possible for a unified community to exist while both sides exercised autonomy over their own institutions.

Horovitz died in Frankfurt in 1910. He was buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery, Frankfurt.

Besides numerous sermons, and essays on the origin of the Hungarian Jews (in Izraelita Közlöny, 1869), Horovitz published the following works:

• Zur Geschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde in Eisenstadt [On the history of the Jewish community in Eisenstadt], 1869
• "Jose ben Jose," in Jüdische Presse, 1873
• Frankfurter Rabbinen [Frankfurt rabbis], 4 parts, Frankfurt am Main, 1882–1885
• Jüdische Ärzte in Frankfurt a. M. [Jewish doctors in Frankfurt am Main], 1886
• Matteh Lewi [Levi's Guide], a work in Hebrew on letters of divorce, Frankfurt am Main, 1891
• Matteh Lewi [Levi's Guide], a work in Hebrew containing rabbinic responsa, Frankfurt am Main, 1933
• Matteh Lewi [Levi's Guide], a reprint of work in Hebrew containing rabbinic responsa, Jerusalem, 1972
• Die Wohlthätigkeitspflege bei den Juden im alten Frankfurt [On charity work among the Jews in old Frankfurt], 1896
• Zur Statistik der jüdischen Bevölkerung im alten Frankfurt [On statistics of the Jewish population in old Frankfurt], 1896
• Die Frankfurter Rabbinerversammlung vom Jahre 1603, 1897
• Die Inschriften des alten Friedhofes der israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt a. M. [Inscriptions at the Old Cemetery of the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main], 1901
  The last work depicts gravestones and inscriptions at the old Battonstraße cemetery, and has, since the destruction of the cemetery by the Nazis, become a vital historical document.

• "Horovitz, Markus", by Aron Freimann and Isidore Singer, Jewish Encyclopedia (Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906)
• "Horovitz, Markus Archived 2021-05-14 at the Wayback Machine", Infobank Judengasse, website of the Museum Judengasse, branch of the Jewish Museum Frankfurt
• Digitized works by Markus Horovitz at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York