JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

Bibliography: R. Heinefling, in: Universal Jewish Encyclopedia,
vol. II (1940), 133–34; W. Roeder and H.A. Strauss (eds.), International
Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945,
vol. II (1983), 69; H. Schmuck (ed.), Jewish Biographical Archive (1995),
F. 124, 165–71; Series II (2003), F. II/47, 124–34; S. Blumesberger et al.
(eds.), Handbuch oesterreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren juedischer
Herkunft, vol. I, no. 660 (2002), 86.
[Johannes Valentin Schwarz (2nd ed.)]
BEER, MICHAEL (1800–1833), German poet and playwright;
brother of the composer Giacomo *Meyerbeer and of
the astronomer Wilhelm *Beer. In one of his earliest works,
the classical tragedy Klytemnestra (1823), he attempted to gain
sympathy for a heroine who murders her husband. Beer’s play
was successfully performed in 1819 at the Berlin Hoftheater
and later in Vienna. In 1825, he achieved a triumph with the
poetic drama Der Paria, a disguised plea for Jewish emancipation,
which won high praise from Goethe. Beer moved to
Paris in 1824, and in 1827 settled in Munich, where he enjoyed
the goodwill of King Ludwig of Bavaria and the friendship of
Eduard von Schenk, the minister of interior. Struensee, generally
regarded as his best play, was produced by the Bavarian
Royal Theater in 1828, when it was favorably reviewed by Heine.
The incidental music for Struensee was composed by his
brother Meyerbeer. Beer’s narrative poems include only one
with a Jewish theme, a legend entitled Der fromme Rabbi. His
collected plays and poems appeared in 1835, with an introductury
biographical sketch by Eduard von Schenk and verse
tributes by Schenk and M.G. *Saphir. Two years later, Schenk
published Beer’s collected letters.
Bibliography: KAHN, IN: YLBI, 12 (1967), 149–60. Add.
Bibliography: J. Stenzel, in: Jahrbuch des freien deutschen Hochstifts
(1987), 314–35; R. Heuer (ed.), Lexikon deutsch-juedischer Autoren,
1 (1992), 442–44, bibl.; H. Olbrich, in: A. Kilcher (ed.), Metzler
Lexikon der deutsch-juedischen Literatur (2000), 39–41.
[Sol Liptzin / Marcus Pyka (2nd ed.)
BEER, PETER (Perez; pen name: Theophil Nikodem; 1758
(or 1764)–1838), Austrian educator and author, representative
of radical *Haskalah in the Habsburg Empire. Beer, who had a
traditional Jewish education, also learned Latin and German.
He attended the Prague and Pressburg (Bratislava) yeshivot,
and from 1780 studied pedagogy at Vienna University, being
one of the first Jews to train as a teacher within the educational
reform program introduced by Emperor *Joseph II. From 1784
he taught at *Mattersdorf, then at his native Nový *Bydžov, and
from 1811 until his death at the new Prague “Normalschule.”
Beer was also appointed “teacher of morals” to the Jewish
pupils at Prague high schools in 1813, being probably the first
Jew appointed to hold a government appointment and entitled
to wear a government employee’s uniform. In 1796 Beer
published his Toledot Yisrael, a history of the Jews, omitting
chapters likely to be unpalatable to enlightened circles, such
as the slaying of the prophets of Baal by Elijah, as well as the
entire talmudic period. It became the blueprint of biblical his-
beer, rachel
tory textbooks used by teachers of the Enlightenment school
in Europe for many years, both in the original and in translation
(the last Russian translation was published in 1905). In
1809 Beer published Dat Yisrael and in 1810 Emet ve-Emunah,
religious manuals in German. His two-volume Geschichte,
Lehren und Meinungen aller religioesen Sekten der Juden und
der Geheimlehre oder Kabbala (1822–23) is even now interesting
for the material on the *Frankists and *Ḥasidism. In them,
he developed an ideology of “Mosaism,” which, parallel to
“Christianity” that embraces Catholicism, Protestantism, etc.,
covers all different Jewish sects. Beer wrote several appeals,
some anonymously, to the authorities on matters of public interest,
including the question of military service and the establishment
of a rabbinical seminary in Prague. He contributed
to the periodicals *Sulamith, Ha-Me’assef (see *Me’assefim),
and *Bikkurei ha-Ittim, and published a prayer book for “educated
women” (1815). He was instrumental in opening the
Reform synagogue in Prague and in inviting Leopold *Zunz
to serve as preacher. He published a commentary on Genesis
intended for readers of all creeds, drawing heavily on contemporary
Protestant commentators. Only one installment of his
translation of Maimonides’ Guide was published (1834). It was
sharply criticized by Joseph *Derenbourg. Beer was highly esteemed
by the Austrian authorities and was awarded a decoration.
However, his educational activities were viewed with
suspicion by the majority of Jews. His autobiography, edited
by Moritz Hermann, was published in 1839.
Bibliography: Z. Scharfstein, Toledot ha-Ḥinnukh, 1 (1945),
135–6; R. Kestenberg-Gladstein, Neuere Geschichte der Juden in den
boehmischen Laendern, 1 (1969), index; 39 (1963/64), 128; R. Mahler,
Ha-Ḥasidut ve-ha-Haskalah (1961), index; G. Wolf, in: ZGJD, 5 (1892),
40–43; G. Scholem, in: YLBI, 7 (1962), 248–9; F. Roubík, in: JGGJč, 5
(1933), 313–37;9 (1938), 411–47. Add. Bibliography: M. Brenner,
“Between Kabbala and Haskala: Peter Beer’s History of Jewish Sects,”
in: E. Carlebach and D.N. Myers (eds.), History and Memory: Jewish
Perspectives (1998), 389–404; I. Schorsch, From Text to Context:
The Turn to History in Modern Judaism (1995), index; V. Sadek and
J. Šedinová, “Peter Beer (1758-1838): Penseur éclairé de la vieille ville
juive de Prague,” in: Judaica Bohemiae, 13 (1977), 7–28; R. Michael,
Ha-Ketivah ha-Historit ha-Yehudit me-ha-Renesans ad ha-Et ha-
Ḥadashah (1993), 155–67. L. Hecht, “How the Power of Thought Can
Develop within a Human Mind – Salomon Maimon, Peter Beer, Lazarus
Bendavid: Autobiographies of Maskilim Written in German,” in:
LBI-Year Book, 48 (2002), 21–38; idem, “The Clash of Maskilim in
Prague in the Early 19th Century: Herz Homberg Versus Peter Beer,”
in: Proceedings of the 12th World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem
2000), Division B (History of the Jewish People), 165–74.
BEER, RACHEL (Richa; 1858–1927), owner and editor of
the Sunday Times, London, 1893–1904. Rachel Beer was born
in Bombay, the daughter of Sasson David *Sassoon and Flora
(Farḥa) Reuben of Baghdad. She was an infant when the family
settled in England. In an age which afforded women little
scope, she displayed both character and talent. For two years
she worked as an unpaid hospital nurse, and in 1887 married
Frederick Arthur Beer, owner of the Observer. She became
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 253