Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ
FRIEDLANDER, Benjamin, born 1773, the son of David Friedländer, the
friend of Mendelssohn, embraced Christianity at the age of 61, together
with his wife. They, in this respect, followed the example of their
children. The whole family were decided Christians, and one of them, Dr.
Julius Friedländer, wrote a history of the Reformation, and a history of
Numismatics, and other historical works.
FRIEDLANDER, Ludwig, born in Königsberg, 1824. As a Christian he became
Professor of classical Philology and Archæology. He wrote
"Wörterverzeichniss zu Homer," Leipzig, 1860; "Homerische Kritik von
Wolf bis Grote," Berlin, 1853; "Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte
Roms," 3 vols., 1862-71, in which his Christian principles especially
appear.
FRIEDLANDER, Rev. Zebi Herman, a native of the Archduchy of Posen, was
baptized by Dr. Ewald, in London, about 1862. By his piety and
affectionate gentle disposition he exercised a salutary influence over
the enquirers, whom, under Dr. Ewald, he also instructed. In 1870 he was
sent by the L.J.S. to Tunis, after having laboured for a short time at
Manchester. In 1873 he was transferred to Jerusalem, where he was
ordained by Bishop Gobat. The Jerusalem Jews revered him more than any
missionary before, because he had manifested to them practical love by
being very charitable to the poor refugees from Russia, in 1885. He was
chiefly instrumental in founding the Jewish agricultural colony at
Artouf. He edited at that time a paper entitled, "Tidings from Zion." He
went later on to New York, where he edited "The Peculiar People." He
died there whilst engaged in prayer on his knees.
FRIEDMAN, Rev. George, a convert of Pastor Faltin, in Kischineff, became
his assistant there about 1885. He then translated the Lutheran
Catechism into Hebrew. Having afterwards sojourned for a time in
Jerusalem, he went from there to London, and was after a while appointed
by the British Society as missionary at Wilna, and he has since been
doing faithful work for the Master in various towns in Russia. In 1895,
the year of the great and horrible pogroms, he rendered great and
immortal service by consoling and supporting the poor suffering Jews.
FRIEDMANN, Paul, born at Berlin about the middle of the nineteenth
century. Although the son of a Jewish convert, he may exceptionally be
mentioned here, as he is a very suitable illustration of the fact that
Christians of Jewish origin cherish in their hearts warm affection to
the people from whom they have sprung. Moved by a feeling of compassion
towards the Jews, who suffered persecution in Russia between 1880-90, he
visited the land of Midian in 1890, with the intention of founding a
colony there. He, after due negotiation with the Egyptian Government,
actually founded one in 1901, on the east side of the Gulf of Akabah,
but the new colony did not last more than two months. Internal
dissensions broke out between the leaders, who were Christians, and the
Jews. Friedmann, who had sunk 170,000 marks in the project, brought a
suit against the Egyptian Government for £25,000. The Russian Consul in
Cairo also opened an investigation, and violent denunciatory articles
appeared in the Egyptian press, especially in connexion with the death
of one of the settlers, who had been forced to leave the encampment
because of insubordination. In connexion with the venture Friedmann
privately published "Das Land Madian," Berlin, 1891.
FRIEDMANN, Rev. Ben Zion, a native of Russia educated in the strictest
school of the Pharisees, emigrated to Palestine between 1870-80, took up
his abode in Safed, where he studied the Talmud with the other disciples
of the Hahamim in the Beit-hamedrash. Whilst there he found Jesus Christ
as his Saviour. In the same place he has been working as a missionary
among his former friends and companions for many years, and is certainly
regarded by them as one who has not, by embracing Christianity,
forfeited a share in the world to come. Mr. Friedmann has been to a
great extent the means of establishing a hospital for the Jews in Safed
and a school for their children. He is the author of a tract, "Or
Haolam" ("The Light of the World"), and he translated "Gideon and the
Angel of the Lord" into Hebrew.
FRIEDRICH, J. C., wrote several works, among which are these--"Die Söhne
Jacobs," "Weissagungs parallelen mit Virgil," Breslau, 1841, "De
Christologia Samaritanum," Leipzig, 1881.
FROHLING, Carline, a Swedish converted Jewess, laboured as assistant
missionary at Stockholm, in 1880-82, by conducting an industrial school
in which poor Jewish children were taught useful work, and by visits
among the resident families, and spreading the Gospel.
FROMMAN, Dr. Heinrich Christian Immanuel, physician and author, was one
of the most distinguished converts in the first half of the eighteenth
century in Germany. He had been studying in Dessau, under rabbi David
Fränkel, when one day he visited a tailor who, on seeing him, began to
weep. Asking for the cause, the tailor said that he was grieved by the
thought that such a nice young man should be lost. Fromman thereupon
rebuked him sharply--but the tailor did not mind it--and offered him a
New Testament, urging him to read it. He went away, but came again
another time and asked for the same Book, but when he saw it was written
in German, which he could not read, he threw it on the table and left
the house. He then went to a bookseller, wishing to buy a Bible, who
demanded a thaler for it, which he could not afford to pay. However, the
tears of the tailor gave him no rest, and at last he bought the German
Old Testament, and spent whole nights in learning to read. Having
acquired this knowledge, he was glad to receive the New Testament and to
study it diligently. He then went to Gotha and confessed his faith in
Christ, and was baptized about 1722 or 1723. During his study of
medicine, he translated the Gospel of St. Luke into Judæo-German, in
1730. Later he translated other parts of the New Testament. Having
written the tract, "Das Licht am Abend" ("Light at Eventide"), which is
still circulated and appreciated among the Jews, he managed to acquire
the art of setting up type and of printing when he was an inmate of the
Callenberg Institute, and produced the work with his own hands as well
as mind. He also wrote and translated other Christian books, and
composed the fundamental part of the rabbinic commentary on St. Luke,
which Dr. Biesenthal perfected and brought to light.
FUERST, Dr. A., a native of Pommern, Germany, when only fourteen years
old, heard the L.J.S. missionary Moritz discussing Christianity with the
Jews in his native town, and received from him a Bible. Another time he
received a tract from the L.J.S. missionary Hartmann, which made a
strong impression upon him. After studying in a seminary for teachers,
in Schneidemuhl (Posen), he went to England, and was instructed and
baptized by the Rev. Ridley Herschell in 1856. Subsequently he was
appointed by the British Society as a missionary in England. From 1867
to 1871 Dr. Fürst laboured among the Jews in Stettin. He then entered
the service of the Free Church of Scotland, and was stationed at Prague,
Amsterdam, and Strasburg, and latterly he retired to Stuttgart, where he
still bore testimony to the Jews of the assured hope of salvation,
through his Master whom he so long and faithfully served. Dr. Fürst was
a fine scholar, and he wrote a book entitled, "Christen und Juden Licht
und Schattenbilder aus Kirche und Synagoge," Strasburg, 1892.
GANS, Eduard, born in Berlin, 1798, studied, and through the influence
of the philosopher Hegel, embraced Christianity in 1825, and in 1828
became professor in the Berlin University. He wrote, among other works,
"Das Erbrecht in Weltgeschichtlicher Entwickelung" (4 vols.), Stuttgart,
1834, which was translated into French by Leoménie, Paris, 1845; "Ein
System des römischen Civil Rechts," Berlin, 1827. He edited Hegel's
"Geschichte der Philosophie," and "Jahrbücher für wissenschaftliche
Kritik." He died as professor in 1839.
GELBFLAUM, Rev. Isidor, was born in the city of Warsaw, in Russian
Poland, in the year 1865, of orthodox Jewish parents. We cull the
following from his autobiography:--"My father was a corn merchant in
very comfortable circumstances. His desire from the day of my birth was
to bring me up in strict adherence with Rabbinical traditions, and I, on
my part, followed dutifully and cheerfully the guidance of my dear
father. But very early in my career, God graciously intervened, and in
1877 I came into contact with a colporteur of the British and Foreign
Bible Society, who sold me a copy of the Hebrew New Testament. Though I
was only then in my thirteenth year, I nevertheless read the
newly-acquired treasure with intense longing to find out whether Jesus
of Nazareth was the Messiah. I used diligently to read the New Testament
whenever the opportunity presented itself. One day my father suddenly
came into the room where I was reading the Acts of the Apostles. He
immediately demanded the production of the book, and I instantly gave it
to him. A few weeks later on I had occasion to be in the market-place,
and I purchased another copy of the same colporteur, which I read with
greater caution. Although I thus read the Book again and again, I could
not understand it, much less could I apply its contents. I was like the
Ethiopian eunuch, and needed some one to explain to me the meaning of
the revelation of God's purpose to mankind. Soon after an event occurred
which contributed greatly to determining my spiritual future. My
parents, noticing the abatement of my zeal for rabbinical Judaism,
decided to send me to a _Yeshiba_, and they determined on Pressburg, in
Hungary. I had not been in Pressburg more than a week, when I was
brought into contact with a Hebrew Christian missionary from Vienna, who
was visiting the place at the time for missionary work. He spent over an
hour with me explaining the things of God, and directing my attention
to the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus. I remained in Pressburg till the
spring of 1881, after which I returned to Warsaw. In 1885 a Protestant
Christian lady in Warsaw became interested in me, and by her advice, and
with a letter of introduction to the late Rev. Dr. Stern, I came to
England in June of that year, only to find that my would-be instructor
had been called home to his rest. I waited till the arrival of the Rev.
J. M. Eppstein, who instructed me and subsequently baptized me in 1886.
I then entered the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, and passed
the following two years there in happy association with other converts
to Christ. In 1888 I offered my services to and was accepted by the
London City Mission, and worked among my brethren in the East End of
London till March, 1893, when I was appointed by the British Society,
and ultimately sent to Leeds. Since coming to that city, I have been the
humble instrument, in God's hand, of leading many of my brethren to
Christ, two of whom have become Christian ministers, one in the west of
England and the other in the United States of America. A third convert
given to me is an earnest Sunday school teacher, and a fourth a local
preacher."
GELLERT, Alexander, was a missionary of the L.J.S., first in England and
then, in 1861, in Roumania, where he had some fruits of his labours, and
died in 1870.
GELLING, Michael, was born 1597, and baptized 1616. He translated in
Hamburg R. Isaac Troki's "Chizzuk Emunah," 1633, into German. Dr. John
Müller made use of this MS. in his "Judaismus detectus," 1694, and it
came into possession of M. Chr. Ziegra. Wolff in his "Bibliotheca
Hebraica," iv. p. 639, gives detailed information about this MS. and a
specimen of Gelling's translation. Bishop Kidder wrote a refutation of