Leffmann Behrends

Leffmann Behrends

Leffmann Behrends (or Liepmann Cohen, c. 1630 - January 1, 1714, Hanover) was the German financial agent of the dukes and princes of Hanover.

His honorable position is lauded by Mannasseh ben Israel in his "Hope of Israel". Behrends frequently used his influence in favor of his coreligionists. His father, Issachar Bärmann by name (died August 23, 1675), was the son of the Talmudic scholar Isaac Cohen of Borkum; and the name "Behrends" was adopted by "Liepmann" in honor of his father. His first wife, Jente (died 1695), was a daughter of Joseph Hameln, president of the congregation; his second, Feile (died 1727), a daughter of Judah Selkele Dilmann. Liepmann had the following children by his first marriage: Naphtali Hirz (died 1709), who became president of the congregation; Moses Jacob (died 1697), praised as a Talmudic scholar and philanthropist; Gumpert and Isaac, who, in 1721, were accused of an attempt at fraudulent bankruptcy, in consequence of which they were compelled to leave Hanover (1726). Behrend's daughter Genendel became the wife of the chief rabbi of Prague, David Oppenheimer. She died at Hanover June 13, 1712.

Behrend's services as president of the congregation, in his endeavors to preserve the congregational cemetery, and to secure a special rabbinate and other privileges for Hanover, were valuable in the extreme. In 1683 Duke Rudolph August appointed him chief supervisor of the bleacheries of his community in the Harz. He stood in close relation to a number of princes, assisted Talmudic scholars, and established a "bet ha-midrash" in his own house. The library of his son-in-law David Oppenheimer, which he had himself enlarged, and which his son-in-law, owing to the censorship and other reasons, did not wish to keep at Prague, was removed by Behrendsto Hanover, thus enabling the pastor Johann Christian Wolf of Hamburg to avail himself of it in preparing the "Bibliotheca Hebræa". Together with his son Naphtali Hirz, Liepmann in 1703 had a new synagogue erected upon the site of the old one, which, constructed by order of the duke of Hanover in 1609, had been torn down four years after its erection. The fate of Liepmann's two sons Gumbert and Isaac is related in a family "megillah", published by Jost in the second volume of the "Jahrbuch für die Geschichte der Juden".

References

*Wiener, "Liepmann und Seine Söhne, in Monatsschrift, xiii". 161 et seq.;
*idem, in "Hannoversches Magazin", 1863, i.-ii.;
*idem, in "Berliner's Magazin", 1879, pp. 48-63.

Article references

* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=544&letter=B JewishEncyclopedia]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • BEHRENDS (Behrens), LEFFMANN — (1634–1714), Hanover Court Jew. Behrends, who began as a small merchant supplying luxuries to the court, gradually established himself as moneylender, diplomatic mediator, and coin minter. His position was strengthened under Duke Ernest Augustus… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Court Jew — Part of a series of articles on Jews and Judaism …   Wikipedia

  • Behrens — is a surname and may refer to:* Heidi Behrens Benedict * Herbert Behrens * Hildegard Behrens (b. 1941), opera singer * Isidor Behrens * Paul Behrens (1893 ndash; 1984), German clockmaker * Peter Behrens (1868 ndash; 1940), German architect * Sam… …   Wikipedia

  • Cohen (surname) — Contents 1 People 1.1 Scientists 1.2 Educators 1.3 Writers …   Wikipedia

  • BANKING AND BANKERS — Antiquity There is little likelihood that financial transactions played a prominent role in the pre Exilic epoch in Ereẓ Israel; according to the ethos of Jewish society, then founded on a pronounced agrarian structure, lending was part of the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • COURT JEWS — (Court contractors and suppliers). Medieval princes used the commercial and financial services of individual Jews. However, as an institution, the Court Jew is a feature of the absolutist state, especially in Central Europe, from the end of the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GELDERN, VAN — GELDERN, VAN, Duesseldorf family of court jews . The prefix in the surname indicates the family s origin from the Dutch province or from the village near Duesseldorf where JOSEPH JACOB (Juspa) VAN GELDERN (1653–1727) established himself as… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GOMPERZ — GOMPERZ, name of a family widely dispersed throughout Central Europe. In records of the 14th century the old German form of the name Gundbert began appearing as a surname for persons with the name Ephraim or Mordecai. Occurring in variant… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LEHMANN, BEHREND — (1661–1730), court jew of saxony . Born in Essen, Issachar Bermann, as he was known to his coreligionists, caught the eye of the ambitious and flamboyant elector of Saxony Augustus II, the Strong (1670–1733), who had designs on the elective crown …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LUENEBURG — LUENEBURG, city in Germany. The mention of a Judenstrasse in 1288 indicates that Jews were living there earlier. They maintained a synagogue and mikveh in the 14th century. The Jews dealt in moneylending and were under the protection of the dukes …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”