Crisis of Rabbinical Authority : Nehemias Trebitsch as Moravian Chief Rabbi, 1832-1842

This article will examine Nehemias Trebitsch’s tenure as Moravian Chief Rabbi (1832–1842), placing particular emphasis on the string of bitter and protracted conflicts that “made him many enemies” among the Jewish population in Moravia. For the most part, these conflicts were initiated by Nehemias Trebitsch, who sought to use his authority as Chief Rabbi to keep reform-minded rabbis out of the fifty-two Moravian Jewish communities under his purview. From the beginning of his tenure as Chief Rabbi, he continuously tried to shore up his authority over the religious and educational affairs of Moravian Jewry, but his attempts repeatedly backfired. As it turned out, his diplomatic skills did not even approach the level of his Talmudic erudition.