Editing Moritz Lazarus (section)

== Communal activity ==
Lazarus took an active part in the public and spiritual life of the Prussian Jews. From 1867 to 1892 he was a member of the [[Repräsentanten-Versammlung]] of the Jewish congregation of Berlin; from 1882 to 1894, vice-president of the [[Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund]]; from 1867 to 1874, president of the Berlin branch of the [[Alliance Israélite Universelle]]; in 1869, president of the Jewish Synod of Leipzig, and in 1871 of that of Augsburg. He was also vice-president of the Russian Auxiliary Committee and of the Romanian Committee (1869–94). Lazarus was furthermore one of the founders of the [[Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums]] of Berlin, and for many years president of its board of curators. He was a very effective and popular public speaker. His most important lectures on Jews and Judaism were collected and published in his "Treu und Frei," Leipzig, 1887 (containing his speeches at the meetings of the two synods; "Was Heiss National?"; "Unser Standpunkt"; "An die Deutschen Juden"; "Auf [[Moses Mendelssohn]]"; "Auf [[Michael Sachs (rabbi)|Michael Sachs]]"; "Aus einer Jüdischen Gemeinde vor Fünfzig Jahren").

Lazarus devoted much time and energy to combating that antisemitism which took its rise in Germany about 1878. He was one of the most prominent Jewish apologists of his time. Like many of his contemporaries, he believed (erroneously) that antisemitism was merely a passing fancy, a phenomenon engendered by reactionary times, which could be explained away in writings or addresses. He maintained that the Jews were united only by means of their religious history ("Treu und Frei," p.&nbsp;77). In this case as in many others, when considering Jewish matters, Lazarus follows the dictates of his desires rather than the interests of the [[common good|commonweal]] ("Gemeingeist"). Much cited for apologetic purposes is his definition of the concept "nation," as the essential and only objective characteristic of which he takes not the similarity of customs and morals, of territory, religion, and race, but the bond of language.