berlin, congress of

Bibliography: J. Meisl (ed.), Pinkas Kehillat Berlin 1723

1854 Protokollbuch der juedischen Gemeinde Berlin (Heb. and Ger.,
1962); idem, in: Arim ve-Immahot be-Yisrael, 1 (1946), 80140; H.G.
Sellenthin, Geschichte der Juden in Berlin (1959); Germ Jud, 2 (1968),
6873; E.L. Landshuth, Toledot Anshei Shem (1884); P. von Gebhardt
(ed.), Das aelteste Buergerbuch 14531700 (1927); L. Geiger, Geschichte
der Juden in Berlin (1871); D. Kaufmann, Die letzte Vertreibung der
Juden aus Wien (1889), 20621; L. Davidsohn, Beitraege zur Sozialund Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Berliner Juden vor der Emanzipation
(1920); M. Stern, Beitraege zur Geschichte der juedischen Gemeinde
zu Berlin, 6 vols. (192634); Gemeindeblatt der juedischen Gemeinde
zu Berlin (191138); Juedisches Jahrbuch fuer Gross-Berlin (192628)
and Juedisches Jahrbuch (192933); D. Friedlaender, Akten-Stuecke,
die Reform der juedischen Kolonien in den Preussischen Staaten betreffend (1793); I. Freund, Die Emanzipation der Juden in Preussen,
2 vols. (1912); S. Stern, Der preussische Staat und die Juden, 2 vols.
(1925, repr. 1962); W. Heise, Die Juden in der Mark Brandenburg bis
zum Jahre 1571 (1932); H. Rachel, Das Berliner Wirtschaftsleben im
Zeitalter des Fruehkapitalismus (1931); H. Rachel et al., Berliner Grosskaufleute und Kapitalisten, 3 vols. (193439); J. Jacobsohn (ed.), Die
Judenbuergerbuecher der Stadt Berlin, 18091851 (1962); M. Sinasohn
(ed.), Adas Jisroel, Berlin (1966); H. Seeliger, in: YLBI, 3 (1958), 15968;
I. Eisenstein-Barzilay, in: PAAJR, 25 (1956), 137; 29 (196061), 1754;
idem, in: Essays on Jewish Life and Thought (1959), 18397; Barzilay,
in: PAAJR, 29 (196061), 1754; idem, in: JSOS, 21 (1959), 16592; E.
Hurwicz, in: YLBI, 12 (1967), 85102. HOLOCAUST PERIOD: P. Littauer, My Experiences During the Persecution of the Jews in Berlin and
Brussels, 193944 (1945); Irgun Olej Merkas Europa, Die letzten Tage
des deutschen, Judentums (1943); Ball-Kaduri, in: Yad Vashem Studies, 3 (1959), 26181; 5 (1963), 271316; H. Gaertner, in: YLBI, 1 (1956),
12342; F. Friedlaender, ibid., 3 (1958), 187201; S. Shiratzki, ibid., 5
(1960), 299307. Add. Bibliography: Nachtrichtenblatt der juedischen Gemeinde von Gross-Berlin D.D.R. (1961); A. Brass, Aufbau
(March 12, 1971); idem, Geschehnisse auf dem Friedhof Berlin-Weissensee in den Jahren 193645; B. Scheiger, in: S. Jersch-Wenzel (ed.),
Von Zuwanderern zu Einheimischen (1990), 153488; W. Gruner,
Judenverfolgung in Berlin (1992); B. Meyer, in: H. Simon (ed.), Juden
in Berlin 19381945 (2000); A. Nachama (ed.), Juden in Berlin (2001).
HEBREW PRINTING: H.D. Friedberg, Toledot ha-Defus ha-Ivri beArim Augsburg (1935), 87ff.; R.N. Rabinowitz, Maamar al Hadpasat ha-Talmud (1952), 108f., 152f.; Steinschneider, in: ZGJD, 1 (1887),
377ff.; 2 (1888), 200ff.; 3 (1889), 84ff., 262ff.; A.M. Habermann, HaSefer ha-Ivri be-Hitpatteh uto (1968), index.

BERLIN, ARYEH LOEB BEN ABRAHAM MEIR (1738

1814), German rabbi. Berlin, the younger brother of Noah
H ayyim Z evi Hirsch *Berlin, was born in Fuerth where his
father, a well-to-do merchant, was communal leader of Franconian Jewry. Like his brother, he was appointed dayyan in
Fuerth but Aryeh Loeb was at the same time rabbi of Baiersdorf in Bavaria. From 1789 he was rabbi of Bamberg, where
his duties included that of civil judge. While there he was involved in an unpleasant lawsuit when the heirs of a large estate
of which he was appointed executor accused him of abusing
his office, exacting illegal fees, and not accounting for certain expenditure. He was acquitted of dishonesty, but made
to pay a fine. The publication of the relevant documents by
Eckstein (see bibl.) shows that the charges were groundless.
In 1794 Berlin was appointed chief rabbi of Hesse-Kassel, but
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3

owing to the opposition of his detractors in Bamberg he was

unable to leave and did not assume his post until the following year. When the kingdom of Westphalia, with Kassel as its
capital, was created by Napoleon in 1807 and given to Jerome
Bonaparte, Berlin delivered a sermon in Hebrew welcoming
the new king and composed a hymn of praise in Hebrew (published under the title Davar be-Itto Mah Tov, with a German
translation, Kassel, 1807). In 1808, when the Jewish *consistory was organized on the basis of the French consistories he
was appointed chief rabbi of the kingdom. The president of
the consistory was Israel *Jacobsohn, and Berlin, despite the
protests of the more extreme rabbis, agreed to certain relaxations of the strict laws of Passover, in particular permitting
the eating of peas and beans on Passover.
Berlins annotations to the Talmud appear in the three
volumes of the Fuerth edition (182932) which were published,
and his annotations to the tractate Shevuot are in the RommVilna edition. Some of his novellae appear as an appendix to
his brothers Az ei Almuggim (Sulzbach, 1779).
Bibliography: A. Eckstein, Geschichte des Juden im ehemaligen Fuerstbistum Bamberg (1898), 1769, and Nachtraege (1899),
344; E. Kohn, Kinat Soferim (1892), 896f.

BERLIN, CONGRESS OF, gathering of the great European

powers in 1878 to settle problems concerning the Balkans and
Near East arising after the war between Russia and Turkey in
1877. Held between June 13 and July 13, 1878, it was attended by
representatives of Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, and Turkey, with some participation of representatives of the Balkan states (Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and
Serbia). Among its most influential members was the head of
the British delegation, Benjamin *Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield).
The position of the Jews in the Balkan countries (Romania,
Serbia, and Bulgaria) was also placed on the agenda on the initiative of the Zion society in Bucharest, led by Adolf Weinberg and Adolf *Stern; these joined with the *Alliance Isralite
Universelle in Paris and the Council for the Defense of Romanian Jews in Berlin, led by Moritz *Lazarus. The Jewish community of Berlin petitioned the chairman of the congress and
head of the German delegation, Count *Bismarck, on Feb. 28,
1878, to raise the question of equal rights for Romanian Jews
at the congress. As a result, the German representatives were
instructed to demand equal civil rights for the members of all
religions in the Balkan countries and the inclusion in the peace
treaty of special paragraphs to this effect explicitly providing
for their implementation. The question of equal rights for the
Jews in these countries was also discussed in the parliaments
of France, Italy, Austria, and Hungary, and the representatives
of these countries at the congress were requested by special
resolutions to ensure an appropriate settlement.
To deal with the Jewish questions a special council was
established in Berlin consisting of the representatives of the
Committee for Jewish Affairs in Berlin (Gerson von *Bleichroeder, M. Lazarus, Jacob *Bernays, and Berthold *Auerbach),
representatives of the Alliance (Sacki Kann, Charles *Netter,

453

berlin, david ben loeb

and Emanuel *Veneziani), the delegation of Romanian Jews

(Adolf Stern, Marco Brociner, Taussig, and Hermann *Hirsch),
and representatives of the Alliance in Berlin (Salomon Neumann, the banker Julius Platho, and Hermann Goldschmidt).
This committee formulated a memorandum which was submitted to the entire congress, followed by a second memorandum to Bismarck. The memoranda contained a description
of the plight of the Jews in the Balkan countries accompanied
by a request that the members of all creeds and races should
be guaranteed equal civil rights in the peace treaty (stipulated
in special clauses). Special steps were also taken to submit
the Jewish requests to the representatives of the different
governments. To this end Baron Maurice de *Hirsch and Sir
Moses *Montefiore began negotiations with the representatives of England and France, and Bleichroeder turned his attentions to Bismarck and the Russian representative, Count
Shuvalov.
The members of the united committee also visited the
representatives of the Balkan countries (Romania, Serbia,
Bulgaria), who were not officially represented at the congress
but were working behind the scenes. The Romanian representative, Kogalniceanu, endeavored to persuade the Jewish
representatives not to appeal to the congress since the question of equal civil rights for Jews was an internal affair of the
Romanian government. Threats against the Jews of Romania
appeared in Romanian newspapers which also attempted to
influence the Western Jews to withdraw their demands. These
tactics, however, were vehemently condemned and rejected
by the representatives of the Alliance.
On June 24, 1878, the Jewish problem came up for discussion as part of the general consideration of Bulgarian affairs. The French representative, Waddington, proposed that
a clause be inserted in the peace treaty recognizing the independence of Bulgaria on condition that it granted equal civil
rights to members of all races and religions. The proposal was
accepted. On June 28, during the discussions on Serbia, the
Turkish representative, Karatheodori (Caratheodory) Pasha,
and the English representative, Lord Salisbury, demanded that
a similar clause be inserted in the peace treaty as a condition
for the recognition of Serbian independence. The Russian
representative, Prince Gorchakov, opposed this resolution
on the ground that the Jews of Serbia, Romania, and Russia
could not be put in the same category with the Jews of Paris,
London, Berlin, and Vienna. Despite his opposition it was
decided to insert in the peace treaty a clause (par. 35) guaranteeing equal rights.
Also during the discussions on Romania it was proposed by Waddington that recognition of that countrys independence should be made contingent on her granting equal
rights to the members of all religions within her borders.
The proposal received the full support of Beaconsfield, Count
Andrssy of Austria-Hungary, and Bismarck, and even the
agreement of Shuvalov. By a separate resolution, introduced
into paragraph 44 of the peace treaty, equal rights were
granted to the members of all religions in Romania. This

454

principle was also to be binding, according to a resolution

introduced by Salisbury, on Turkey, Greece, and Montenegro.
The question of the future of Palestine was also touched
upon by the congress indirectly. In June 1878 a group of
Jews submitted a memorandum to the congress (addressed to
Bismarck and Beaconsfield) requesting that the Jews in Palestine should be given their independence (in the same manner
as had been restored to the Balkan peoples) and permitted to
establish a constitutional Jewish monarchy in that country.
This memorandum was listed in the protocol of documents
submitted to the congress but was not discussed on the floor.
Before the congress assembled, there were discussions in the
English press concerning the political resurgence of the Jews
in Palestine. After the congress was concluded, Serbia and
Bulgaria complied with the clauses of the peace treaty obliging them to grant equal rights to their minorities, and even
incorporated these clauses in their constitutions. Romania refused to meet her obligation, and the struggle to implement
paragraph 44 of the peace treaty in this country extended
over decades.
Bibliography: Kohler and Wolf, in: AJHSP, 24 (1916), ix; 1ff.;
40; J. Brociner, Die Judenfrage in Rumaenien und ihre Loesung (1879);
B. Segel, Rumaenien und seine Juden (1918); L. Wolf, Notes on the Diplomatic History of the Jewish Question (1919), 2326, 52; Gelber, in:
HJ, 2 (1940), 3948; idem, in: YLBI, 5 (1960), 22148; idem, in: Sefer
Yovel S. Federbush (1960), 11764; idem, in: Sefer Yugoslavyah (Tel
Aviv, 1962); J. Meisl, Die Durchfuehrung des Artikels 44 des Berliner
Vertrages in Rumaenien und die europaeische Diplomatie (1925); N.
Leven, Cinquante ans dhistoire, 1 (1911).
[Nathan Michael Gelber]

BERLIN, DAVID BEN (Judah) LOEB (d. 1771), German

rabbi and talmudic authority. The brother of Isaiah *Berlin,
he was probably born in Eisenstadt (Hungary). After serving as rabbi of Dessau and Marktbreit (Bavaria) and as chief
rabbi of Schwarzburg, Berlin was appointed rabbi of the three
united congregations of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck.
In 1769 when the Danish government, at the instance of the
Hamburg Town Council, sought to separate the Altona Jewish community from that of Hamburg, Berlin was elected a
member of the delegation whose successful intercession with
the Danish king resulted in the continuation of the status quo.
His learned correspondence with his brother-in-law, Joseph
Steinhardt, was published in the latters work, Zikhron Yosef
(EH 4:11; h M 1:2); a number of his responsa have been published in Or Yisrael of Israel b. Eliezer *Lipschuetz (Cleves,
1770) and in Beit Evel u-Veit Mishteh of Samuel Palaggi (Altona, 1770). Some of his talmudic novellae and homilies are
in manuscript at the Bodleian Library.
Bibliography: A. Berliner, Rabbi Jesaja Berlin (Ger., 1879),
8; Fuenn, Keneset, 227f., s.v. David b. Aryeh Leib Berlin; E. Duckesz,
Ivah le-Moshav, 5963; Neubauer, Cat, no. 526; L. Loewenstein, Index
Approbationum (1923), 47, no. 825.
[Joseph Elijah Heller]

ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3