Moses Schorr, Polish: Mojżesz Schorr (May 10, 1874 – July 8, 1941) was a rabbi, Polish historian, politician, Bible scholar, assyriologist and orientalist. Schorr was an expert on the history of the Jews in Poland. He was the first Jewish researcher of Polish archives, historical sources, and pinkasim. The president of the 13th district B'nai B'rith Poland, he was a humanist and modern rabbi who ministered the central synagogue of Poland during its last years before the Holocaust.
Schorr was the first historian to undertake the systematic study of Jewish history in Poland, and Galicia in particular. He made discoveries after finding and translating Babylonian, Assyrian, and Hittite legislative annals. As a scholar of the jurisprudence and civilizations of the Ancient Middle East, Schorr was a legal philosopher and sociologist of Ancient Middle Eastern societies. Schorr was appointed to the Polish Senate by Polish president Ignacy Mościcki (1926–1939). Schorr did not belong to any political party, although he was inclined to Zionism. He was active in the social, public, and religious life of Polish Jews, and was often chosen by them to head public organisations and represent Polish Jewry to Polish and international powers, though he never sought the role for himself.
Moses Schorr was born on May 10, 1874, in the town of Przemyśl in the province of Galicia, then a kreis town within Austro-Hungarian empire. Moses was the oldest son of Osjasz Schorr, the director of the Jewish cooperative bank in Przemyśl, and of Esther Schorr (née Friedman). He had two brothers, Adolf and Samuel, who both became lawyers in Lwów and Jarosław, respectively. Moses started his education at the Przemyśl gymnasium where he completed his studies in 1893. At gymnasium, and from his father and private teachers, he acquired the basics of Judaic lore. Among his teachers was the grandfather of a Slavist, Moshe Altbauer, who instructed Moses in the Bible and Talmud.
Rabbinical and philosophical studies
Schorr moved to Vienna, where he embarked upon the study of theology at the Israelitisch-Theologische Lehranstalt (Jewish Theological Institute) from 1893 to 1900. The institute, founded in October 1893 with the assistance of Albert von Rothschild, was modeled in part after the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. At that time it had 11 teachers and 26 students preparing for the rabbinate. Among Schorr's teachers were Adolf Schwarz in Talmud and religious-ritual codes, David Heinrich Müller in Biblical exegesis and Semitic linguistics, Adolf Bücher in Jewish history and Meir Friedman in Midrash studies. Schorr studied philosophy at University of Vienna and Lwów University between 1893 and 1898. During his studies in Vienna, Schorr learned Hebrew and other oriental languages, showing particular interest in Egyptian mythology and psychology.
In 1898 Schorr attained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Medieval Studies at Lwów University. In spring 1900 he received the diploma of rabbi in Vienna, being among the first dozen graduates of Rothschild's seminary.
Soon after graduation he became a lecturer at the Jewish Teachers Seminary and the Teachers Gymnasium in Lwów (now Lviv), working there until 1923, while he also engaged in educational and social work. Of his time teaching in Lwów he wrote to a Polish sociologist Ludwik Gumplowicz:
... For a long time I have not written to you of my old intentions to continue studying aiming at a dozent position. Besides, that "spirit" of semitology ... has not left me for a moment, haunting me as a shadow at every step. I have not lost contact with orientalistics, not for a bit. I have used every free minute to get acquainted with the ever growing literature, but unfortunately these free moments are quite rare. Professional work takes a lot of my time and causes a painful conflict between a forced, often mechanical work which I lack internal vocation for, and the results of my [oriental] studies ... On one hand, I do not want to be a charlatan in the profession, I even know that I have a certain mission as the religion teacher in Galicia and could even attain the "laurels" of the reformer in this subject. But I lack this specific ambition or enthusiasm. On the other hand, I am becoming convinced that I would have to study at least a year at the university (Berlin or Leipzig) so that I could independently work with Assyriology here. I have to admit for a moment that I have become a personality here, and everywhere they try to involve me in a friendly, humanitarian and scientific life ... and every day the circle of my "social virtues" widens itself — popular meetings, ceremonial speeches, committees, collectives etc., etc., — all this distracts me from my work, as I see myself suddenly thrown into the whirl of life when I would like to remain still unknown among my co-confessors. As an unripened apple I am plucked from the tree and I still miss my tree — knowledge. As for the altruistic impulses, I think that I still have enough time to realize them ... Lviv, January, 1901
Schorr corresponded with a number of intellectuals of that time, including Ludwig Gumplowicz, to whom he wrote at least 46 letters, and Simon Dubnow in Odessa. His correspondence with Dubnow has not been studied yet. Schorr's letters to Gumplowicz were published by R. Żebrowski.
Schorr received a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Education. He went to Berlin for two years where he studied Semitic languages, Assyriology, and the history of the ancient Orient under the guidance of famous scholars. In 1905–1906, he studied Arabic philology in Vienna under the guidance of semitologist David Heinrich Müller, who exerted a strong influence on Schorr. Müller taught Schorr Biblical criticism and Semitology at the Seminary, and a decade later, Arabic linguistics. Müller advanced a theory on the structure and form of the Biblical Psalms, which Schorr later developed in a series of articles.
In 1904 Schorr was appointed a lecturer as privatdozent, and in March 1910, associate professor of Semitic languages and history of the Ancient Orient at Lwów University, a chair which he later held in Warsaw.
In 1904–1905 he headed the Toynbeehali, the Society for the promotion of education among Jews in Lwów. He was one of the founders and long-term members of Opieka ("Care"), a society to support Jewish Youth in the secondary schools. During his stay in Lwów, Schorr was one of the founders and the first head of the "Society of the teachers of Moses religion of the people's secondary schools of Galicia". He led the first teachers' congress in 1904 in Lwów. He was a member of the board of the Jewish Community Library in Lwów from its inception, and later was its head.
Schorr took part in the 7th Zionist Congress of 1910 in Basel. The Congress and his stay in Switzerland made an impression on Schorr, as he writes to Gumplowicz:
There is no need to stress how strong an impression I got from the wonderful views of Swiss nature. I will stay here in Basel for 14 days for the whole duration of the 7th Zionist Congress, which is going to start on Thursday. Already today there are several hundred guests, most from Russia, among them the outstanding Jewish figures, and many ladies, as well. Already today, the Congress seems to me to be the most powerful manifestation of Jewish solidarity around the world. During the entire course of Jewish history, there was no such movement that would so deeply enter the consciousness of all the Jews with such an enthusiasm. But already nowadays various groups with different tendencies are being formed, away from the main fundamental idea.
Schorr took part in the conference but did not make any public speeches. Regarding the Zionist movement, he wrote:
As for the Zionist movement ... I am noting in advance, that in my opinion the historical proofs can not be decisive for the present. After all, Professor Winkler proved that the Jews had never been to Egypt but does this mean that the Jewish religion, that is based on the fact of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and its consequences, should disappear from history?