Max Lilienthal

Max Lilienthal (November 6, 1815 – April 6, 1882) was a German-born adviser for the reform of Jewish schools in Russia and later a rabbi and proponent of Reform Judaism in the United States. Life and religion Work for Russian Government Lilienthal held a doctorate from the University of Munich when Ludwig Philippson recommended him to head a school inspired by the Enlightenment in Riga, then a part of the Russian Empire. He arrived in Riga in 1840. He made a greater impact with the Minister of National Education, Sergey Uvarov, than he did with the school. The next year, Uvarov summoned Lilienthal to serve as the Ministry of National Education's "learned Jew." Lilienthal's most important task was to convince the Jews of the importance of enlightened education. Lilienthal summoned committees from the various Jewish communities in the Pale of Settlement to provide recommendations on the reform of the schools, but the notion of reform was so controversial that many boycotted. Nonetheless, Lillienthal embarked on ambitious plans for the creation of Haskalah-inspired schools in Russia. He invited his peers in Central Europe to come and teach at Russian schools. Lilienthal did not understand the degree to which the Russian Jews resented having a foreign-inspired education imposed upon them. They saw Lilienthal as an agent of the tsarist government, which they believed wanted to convert them to Russian Orthodox Christianity.