Hirsch,_Samson_Raphael

Hirsch, Samson Raphael (1808-1888), Jewish theologian, was born in Hamburg in 1808 and died at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1888. He opposed the reform tendency of Geiger (q.v.), and presented Jewish orthodoxy in a new and attractive light. His philosophical conception of tradition, associated as it was with conservatism in ritual practice, created what is often known as the Frankfort “Neo-Orthodoxy.” Hirsch exercised a profound influence on the Synagogue and undoubtedly stemmed the tide of liberalism. His famous Nineteen Letters (1836), with which the Neo-Orthodoxy began, were translated into English by Drachmann (New York, 1899). Other works by Hirsch were Horeb, and commentaries on the Pentateuch and Psalms. These are marked by much originality, but their exegesis is fanciful. Three volumes of his essays have been published (1902-1908); these were collected as Gesammelte Schriften from his periodical Jeschurun.

For Hirsch’s religious philosophy see S. A. Hirsch, A Book of Essays (London, 1905).

(I. A.)

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