Lazarus Josef Löwenberg (Levi)

http://www.jm-hohenems.at/en/jewish-quarter/geschichte/lazarus-jose...

Held the office of Hohenems Jewish community head from 1785 until his death in 1806.

His father had been a successful merchant, and Lazarus Josef Levi continued in his path.

Aron Tänzer writes about Lazarus Josef Levi extolling him as “great, noble, broad-minded, charitable: that is, truly Jewish in everything he undertook” (Tänzer, p. 326). And he describes him as a devout and profound Talmud scholar and owner of an extensive and thematically varied library, sponsor of charitable institutions (such as the foundation for the poor, which he established in 1803), and as a man held in high esteem by the political authorities. In 1795, he was awarded title and privileges of a court Jew, which provided him with numerous advantages not only in his capacity as merchant, but also as community head: ease of travel and sojourn in the entire monarchy and access to the circle of leading Jewish families in the German-speaking areas. He himself was married to Judith Daniel of Frankfurt am Main; they had ten children.

Together with his older brother Hirsch, he managed the trading company “Hirsch and Lazarus Levi Brothers” and was soon among the leading merchants in the Alpine area. They traded in Swiss and southern German textiles as well as in silks, raw products, and colonial goods originating in Italy. Frequently, these were barter deals such as, for instance, the exchange of German and Swiss linen weaves and linen for orris roots (1780) or else textiles for wine from Cyprus (1783). Repeatedly, the Bolzano mercantile court had to rule in disputes when Lazarus Levi had to file suits against suppliers of defective goods or when, as creditor, he had to worry about the impending escape of his debtors. He was able, time and again, to assert his claims in court rather successfully. Repeatedly, he also had to stand by relatives in distress, such as the husband of his sister Susanna, the Bolzano merchant Heinrich Hendle. At the peak of his career, Lazarus Josef Levi passed away on October 4, 1806 in Hohenems aged 62.