Süßkind, Samuel

City and district rabbi

Born: 22.12.1811 in Kirchheimbolanden

died: 29.01.1894 in Frankfurt am Main

Süßkind attended grammar schools in Frankfurt am Main and Speyer, studied in Munich, obtained his doctorate and received Talmudic training in Mainz. His first position as a religious teacher, preacher and rabbi took him to Weilburg in 1843.

In 1844, he was appointed district and city rabbi of Wiesbaden by the state government - a difficult task in a time of upheaval. During his long period in office, the legal and social situation of the Jews in Wiesbaden changed fundamentally. The mostly poor protected Jews became economically successful and legally equal citizens of the Jewish faith.

Süßkind tried with great commitment to reform the Jewish community of Wiesbaden and also to gradually persuade the rather conservative rural Jews to reform. In the 1840s and 1850s, he had to fight numerous disputes with the rural communities in his district, which resisted his instructions. Süßkind strove for a moderate modernization of Judaism in order to consolidate the Jewish faith in a secular world on the one hand and to increase the acceptance of Jews in the struggle for legal equality on the other. According to his ideas, traditional Jewish charity in particular could be transformed into an important element of a modern Jewish existence - very much in the spirit of Abraham Geiger, who had previously worked as a rabbi in Wiesbaden.

Süßkind was particularly committed to improving general education. In 1855, he published a guide for confirmation classes, followed in 1858-60 - together with the Frankfurt rabbi Leopold Stein - by the publication of the magazine "Der israelitische Volkslehrer", which dealt with scientific issues and contemporary topics. The state government was impressed by Süßkind's conscientiousness and devotion to duty. His exemplary and tolerant attitude was particularly evident when he was the first to donate to the reconstruction of the Protestant Mauritius Church after it burned down.

The highlight of his time in office was the inauguration of the new synagogue on Michelsberg, which he carried out together with Abraham Geiger in 1869; this reflected the flourishing of the Jewish community and its economic rise. However, Süßkind was unable to prevent orthodox members of the faith, who were outraged by the organ in the synagogue, from leaving the community a short time later and founding their own "Old Israelite Community".

After his retirement in 1884, he moved to Frankfurt am Main. No other rabbi influenced the fortunes of the Wiesbaden community as strongly as Süßkind during his forty years of work.