Samson Raphael Hirsch - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz is a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch , which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world...

school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

. Occasionally termed neo-Orthodoxy, his philosophy, together with that of Azriel Hildesheimer

Azriel Hildesheimer

Esriel Hildesheimer was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering modernizer of Orthodox Judaism in Germany and as a founder of Modern Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...

, has had a considerable influence on the development of Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

.

Hirsch was rabbi in Oldenburg

Oldenburg

Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...

, Emden

Emden

Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...

, was subsequently appointed chief rabbi of Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, and from 1851 until his death led the secessionist Orthodox community in Frankfurt am Main. He wrote a number of influential books, and for a number of years published the monthly journal Jeschurun, in which he outlined his philosophy of Judaism. He was a vocal opponent of Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

and similarly opposed early forms of Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

Early years and education

Rav

Rav is the Hebrew word for rabbi. For a more nuanced discussion see semicha. The term is also frequently used by Orthodox Jews to refer to one's own rabbi....

Hirsch was born in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

. His father, though a merchant, devoted much of his time to Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

studies; his grandfather, Mendel Frankfurter, was the founder of the Talmud Torah

Talmud Torah

Talmud Torah schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of public primary school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew, the Scriptures , and the Talmud...

in Hamburg and unsalaried assistant rabbi of the neighboring congregation of Altona

Altona, Hamburg

Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...

; and his granduncle, Löb Frankfurter, was the author of several Hebrew works, including Harechasim le-Bik'ah (הרכסים לבקעה), a Torah

Torah

commentary. Hirsch was a pupil of Chacham

Hakham

Hakham is a term from Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. The word is generally used to designate a cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise thing is called a wise man ["hakham"], even if he be not a Jew"...

Isaac Bernays

thumbIsaac Bernays was chief rabbi in Hamburg.-Life:Bernays was born in Mainz. He was the son of Jacob Gera, a boarding house keeper at Mainz, and an elder brother of Adolphus Bernays...

, and the Biblical

Tanakh

The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...

and Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ical education which he received, combined with his teacher's influence, led him to determine not to become a merchant, as his parents had desired, but to choose the rabbinical vocation. In furtherance of this plan he studied Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

from 1823 to 1829 in Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

under Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger

Jacob Ettlinger

Jacob Ettlinger was a German rabbi and author, and one of the leaders of Orthodox Judaism.He was born at Karlsruhe and died at Altona...

. He then entered the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

, where he studied at the same time as his future antagonist, Abraham Geiger

Abraham Geiger

Abraham Geiger was a German rabbi and scholar who led the founding of Reform Judaism...

Oldenburg

In 1830 Hirsch was elected chief rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

(Landesrabbiner) of the principality

Principality

A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....

of Oldenburg

Oldenburg

. During this period he wrote his Neunzehn Briefe über Judenthum, (Nineteen Letters on Judaism) which were published, under the pseudonym of "Ben Usiel" (or "Uziel"), at Altona in 1836. This work made a profound impression in German Jewish circles because it was something new — a brilliant, intellectual presentation of Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

in classic German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, and a fearless, uncompromising defense of all its institutions and ordinances.

In 1838 Hirsch published, as a necessary concomitant of the Letters, his Horeb, oder Versuche über Jissroel's Pflichten in der Zerstreuung, which is a text-book on Judaism for educated Jewish youth. In fact, he wrote Horeb first, but his publishers doubted that a work defending traditional Judaism would find a market in those times, when reform was in vogue.

In 1839 he published Erste Mittheilungen aus Naphtali's Briefwechsel, a polemical essay against the reforms in Judaism

Reform Judaism

proposed by Holdheim and others; and in 1844 he published Zweite Mittheilungen aus einem Briefwechsel über die Neueste Jüdische Literatur, also polemical in tendency.

Emden

Hirsch remained in Oldenburg until 1841, when he was elected chief rabbi of the Hanoverian districts of Aurich

Aurich

Aurich is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich.-History:The history of Aurich dates back to the 13th century, when the settlement of Aurechove was mentioned in a Frisian document called the Brokmerbrief in 1276. In 1517, Count Edzard from the house of...

and Osnabrück

Osnabrück

Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...

, with his residence in Emden

Emden

Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...

. During this five-year post, he was taken up almost completely by communal work, and had little time for writing. He did, however, found a secondary school with a curriculum featuring both Jewish studies

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

and a secular programme, for the first time employing his motto Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz is a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch , which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world...

("The Torah is maximalised in partnership with worldly involvement").

In 1843, Hirsch applied for the post of Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

. Out of 13 candidates, mostly from Germany

Germany

, he reached the short list of four: Nathan Marcus Adler

Nathan Marcus Adler

Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler was the Orthodox Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1845 until his death, probably the most prominent 19th century rabbi in the English-speaking world.-Life:...

, Hirsch Hirschfeld, Benjamin Hirsch Auerbach

Benjamin Hirsch Auerbach

Benjamin Hirsch Auerbach was a German rabbi and one of the most prominent leaders of modern Orthodox Judaism....

and Hirsch. Adler won the position on December 1, 1844. With 135 communities having one vote each, Adler received 121 votes, Hirschfeld 12, and Hirsch 2.

Nikolsburg

In 1846 Hirsch was called to the rabbinate of Nikolsburg

Mikulov

Mikulov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 7,608 . It is located directly on the border with Lower Austria. Mikulov is located at the edge of a hilly area and the three Nové Mlýny reservoirs...

in Moravia

Moravia

, and in 1847 he became chief rabbi of Moravia

Moravia

and Austrian Silesia. In Austria he passed five years in the reorganization of the Jewish congregations and the instruction of numerous disciples; he was also, in his official capacity as chief rabbi, a member of the Moravian Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...

, where he campaigned for more civil rights for Jews in Moravia.

In Moravia Hirsch had a difficult time, on the one side receiving criticism from the Reform-minded, and on the other side from a deeply traditional Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

element, which found some of his reforms too radical. Hirsch placed a much stronger emphasis on deep study of the entire Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

, rather than just the Torah

Torah

and selected Bible readings, in addition to Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

, as had been the custom of religious Jews up until then.

Frankfurt am Main

In 1851 he accepted a call as rabbi of an Orthodox separatist group in Frankfurt am Main, a part of the Jewish community of which had otherwise largely accepted classical Reform Judaism. This group, known as the "Israelite Religious Society" ("Israelitische Religions-Gesellschaft" or IRG), became under his administration a great congregation, numbering about 500 families. Hirsch was to remain Rabbi of this congregation the rest of his life.

Hirsch organized the Realschule and the Bürgerschule, in which thorough Jewish training was provided along with those aspects of secular training deemed true according to the Torah

Torah

(Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz is a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch , which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world...

). He also founded and edited the monthly magazine Jeschurun (1855–70; new series, 1882 et seq); most of the pages of the Jeschurun were filled by himself.

In 1876, Edward Lasker (a Jewish parliamentarian in the Prussian Landtag) introduced the "Secession Bill" (Austrittsgesetz), which would enable Jews to secede from a religious congregation without having to relinquish their religious status. The law was passed on July 28, 1876. Despite the new legislation, a conflict arose whether "Austritt" (secession) was required by Jewish law

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

. Hirsch held this was mandatory, even though it involved a court appearance and visible disapproval of the Reform-dominated "Main Community" (Grossgemeinde). His contemporary Isaac Dov Bamberger

Seligman Baer Bamberger

Seligman Baer Bamberger was a Talmudist and a leader of Orthodox Judaism in Germany...

, Rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

of Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

, argued that as long as the Grossgemeinde made appropriate arrangements for the Orthodox element, secession was unnecessary. The schism caused a terrible rift and many hurt feelings, and its aftershocks could be felt until the ultimate destruction of the Frankfurt community by the Nazis.

Final years

During the final years of his life, Hirsch put his efforts in the founding of the "Freie Vereinigung für die Interessen des Orthodoxen Judentums", an association of independent Jewish communities. During the 30 years after his death this organization would be used as a model for the formation of the international orthodox Agudas Yisrael movement. Hirsch had a great love for the Land of Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

, which is apparent from his writings, but was opposed to the proto-Zionist

Zionism

Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

activities of Zvi Hirsch Kalischer

Zvi Hirsch Kalischer

Zvi Hirsch Kalischer was an Orthodox German rabbi and one of Zionism's early pioneers in Germany.-Life:...

.

From reports of his family members, it seems likely that Hirsch contracted malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

while in Emden, which continued to plague him during the rest of life with febrile episodes.

Hirsch died in 1888 in Frankfurt am Main and is buried there.

Hirsch's son Mendel Hirsch (1833–1900) was a scholar and writer; his granddaughter Rahel Hirsch (1870–1953) became the first female professor of medicine in Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

Works and activism

Other works (besides the ones mentioned above) were:

Pamphlet: "Jüdische Anmerkungen zu den Bemerkungen eines Protestanten" (anon.), Emden, 1841 (response to a provocative pamphlet by an anonymous Protestant);
Pamphlet: "Die Religion im Bunde mit dem Fortschritt (anon.), Frankfurt am Main, 1854 (response to provocations from the side of the Reform-dominated "Main Community");
"Uebersetzung und Erklärung des Pentateuchs,", 5 volumes 1867-78 (Hirsch's innovative and influential Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

commentary, see below);
Pamphlets during the Secession Debate:
- "Das Princip der Gewissensfreiheit," 1874;
- "Der Austritt aus der Gemeinde," 1876
"Uebersetzung und Erklärung der Psalmen", 1882 (Hirsch's commentary on the book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

);
"Ueber die Beziehungen des Talmuds zum Judenthum", 1884 (a defense of Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ic literature against anti-Semitic slanders in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

)

He left in manuscript at the time of his death a translation and explanation of the prayer-book

Siddur

A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...

which was subsequently published. The publication, in several volumes, of his collected writings (Gesammelte Schriften or Nachalath Zwi) was begun in 1902.

Most of Hirsch's writings have been translated into English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

and Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

by his descendants, starting with "Horeb" in the 1950s (by Dayan Isidore Grunfeld of London) and his Torah

Torah

commentary in the 1960s (by his grandson Isaac Levi, also of London). The bulk of his Collected Writings, that had previously been published in German

German language

in 1902-12 under the title Nachalath Zwi, were translated during the 1980s and 1990s in memory of his grandson Joseph Breuer

Joseph Breuer

Joseph Breuer was a rabbi and community leader in Germany and the United States. He was a Rabbi of one of the large Jewish synagogues founded by German-Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi oppression that had settled in Washington Heights, New York....

Themes in his work

Hirsch lived in the post-Napoleonic era, an epoch when Jews had been granted civil rights in a large number of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries, leading to assimilation and a call for reform

Reform Judaism

. A large segment of his work focusses on the possibilities for Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

in such an era, when freedom of religion

Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...

also meant the freedom to practice Torah

Torah

precepts without persecution and ridicule.

The principle of "Austritt", an independent Orthodoxy

Orthodox Judaism

, flows naturally from his view on the place of Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

in his epoch: if Judaism is to gain from these civil liberties, it has to be able to develop independently - without having to lend implicit or explicit approval to efforts at reformation

Reform Judaism

.

His other major work involves the symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

ic meaning of many Torah

Torah

commandments and passages. Indeed, his work "Horeb" (1837) focuses to a large degree on the possible meanings and symbols in religious precepts. This work was continued in his Torah

Torah

commentary and his articles in the Jeschurun journal (Collected Writings, vol. III, is a collation of these articles).

A final area of his work, which has only recently been rediscovered, was his etymological analysis of the Hebrew language

Hebrew language

. Most of this work is contained in his Torah

Torah

commentary, where he analyses and compares the shorashim (three-letter root forms) of a large number of Hebrew words and develops an etymological system of the Hebrew language. This approach is based on the idea that letters that share a phonetic similarity, have similar meaning. For example the words Zohar (light), Tzohar (translucent window), and Tahor (purity) are related words because the letters Zayin, Tzadie, and Tet are phonetically similar. This is an approach used in many places by the renewed biblical commentator Rashi as well. Although this effort was, in his own words, "totally unscientific", it has led to the recent publication of an "etymological dictionary of the Hebrew language".

Although Hirsch does not mention his influences (apart from traditional Jewish sources), later authors have identified ideas from the Kuzari

Kuzari

The Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...

(Yehuda Halevi

Yehuda Halevi

Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...

) and the Maharal of Prague in his works. Nevertheless, most of his ideas are original.

In a 1995 edition of Hirsch' Nineteen Letters, commentator Rabbi Joseph Elias makes an extensive effort to show Hirsch' sources in Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...

, parallels in his other works and those of other post-Talmudic Jewish thinkers. Elias also attempts to refute particular interpretations of his philosophy, such as the notion that much of his thinking was rooted in Kantian

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....

secular philosophy.

While the Zionist

Zionism

movement was not founded during his lifetime, it is clear from his responses to Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer

Zvi Hirsch Kalischer

Zvi Hirsch Kalischer was an Orthodox German rabbi and one of Zionism's early pioneers in Germany.-Life:...

, and in several places in his commentary to the Bible and Siddur, that although he had a deep love for the land of Israel, he opposed a movement to wrest political independence for the land of Israel before the Messianic Era. In later works, he makes it clear that Jewish sovereignty is dependent only on Divine Providence.

Influence and controversy

See also the discussion on this point, in the article on Torah im Derech Eretz.

There is considerable controversy over Hirsch's legacy; this is a matter of debate between three parties: Haredi

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....

(sometimes called Ultra-Orthodox), Modern Orthodox

Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....

, and Hirsch's descendants. While it is undisputed that his Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz
Torah im Derech Eretz is a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch , which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world...

was his real innovation, the exact implementation has been greatly debated.

Those on Orthodoxy's right wing hold that Hirsch himself only approved of secular studies as a "Horaas Sha'ah", or temporary dispensation, in order to save Orthodox Jewry of the 1800s from the threat posed by assimilation. While a yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

student in Eastern Europe, Rabbi Shimon Schwab obtained the opinion's of various Poskim (authorities in Jewish law) to this effect (see Selected Writings "These and Those" where Schwab himself disagrees).

To the other extreme, some Modern Orthodox Jews understand Hirsch in the sense of Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda is a philosophy of Modern Orthodox Judaism, concerning the interrelationship between the secular world and Judaism, and in particular between secular knowledge and Jewish knowledge...

, meaning a synthesis of Torah knowledge and secular knowledge - each for its own sake (this view is propagated in several articles in Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Thought, published by the Rabbinical Council of America). In this view, Hirsch thought that it was permissible, and even productive, for Jews to learn gentile philosophy, music, art, literature and ethics for their own sake.

In contrast, a third middle opinion held by Hirsch's descendants (his son-in-law and successor Rabbi Solomon Breuer

Solomon Breuer

Shlomo Zalman Breuer was a Rabbi, initially in Pápa, Hungary and from the early 1890s in Frankfurt as a successor of his father-in-law Samson Raphael Hirsch....

, his grandson Rabbi Joseph Breuer

Joseph Breuer

and the latter's successor Rabbi Shimon Schwab

Shimon Schwab

Shimon Schwab was an Orthodox rabbi and communal leader in Germany and the United States. Educated in Frankfurt am Main and in the yeshivot of Lithuania, he was rabbi in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, after immigration to the United States in Baltimore, and from 1958 until his death at Khal Adath Jeshurun...

), Rabbi Joseph Elias in his commentary to the Nineteen Letters (Feldheim 1995) and some Jewish historians, says that both of these understandings of Hirsch's philosophy are misguided; they refer to these readings of Hirsch as improper historical revisionism. In response to the "temporary dispensation" theory, they point to Hirsch in Collected Writings as continually stressing the philosophical and religious imperative of Torah im Derech Eretz for all times (Note that Hirsch himself addressed this contention: "Torah im Derech Eretz ... is not part of troubled, time bound notions; it represents the ancient, traditional wisdom of our sages that has stood the test everywhere and at all times." (Gesammelte Schriften vi p. 221); see further Rabbi Shimon Schwab in Selected Writings- "These and Those"). In response to the "Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda

Torah Umadda is a philosophy of Modern Orthodox Judaism, concerning the interrelationship between the secular world and Judaism, and in particular between secular knowledge and Jewish knowledge...

" theory they say that Hirschian philosophy demands the domination of Torah over secular knowledge, not a separate synthesis. On this basis, many adherents of Hirsch's philosophy have preferred the natural sciences over the humanities as a subject of secular study, seemingly because they are easier to judge through the prism of Torah thought than the more abstract humanities.

External links

Religion Allied to Progress in Collected Writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch ISBN 0-87306-786-X
Hirsch, Samson Raphael, jewishencyclopedia.com
Hirsch / Breuer genealogy (GIF file)
A variety of articles and resources, including two biographies of Rabbi Hirsch, a review of Rabbi Elias's commentary to 19 Letters, and many more materials.
Horeb Text

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.