Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch | |
---|---|
Title | Rabbi |
Personal | |
Born | June 20, 1808 (25 Sivan 5568) |
Died | December 31, 1888 (27 Tevet 5649) (aged 80) |
Religion | Judaism |
Nationality | German |
Spouse | Hannah Jüdel |
Parents |
|
Denomination | Orthodox Judaism |
Jewish leader | |
Successor | Solomon Breuer |
Position | Rabbi |
Synagogue | Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft (IRG), Khal Adath Jeshurun |
Buried | Frankfurt am Main |
Semikhah | Jacob Ettlinger[1] |
Samson Raphael Hirsch (Hebrew: שמשון רפאל הירש; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed neo-Orthodoxy, his philosophy, together with that of Azriel Hildesheimer, has had a considerable influence on the development of Orthodox Judaism.[2]
Hirsch was rabbi in Oldenburg, Emden, and was subsequently appointed chief rabbi of Moravia. From 1851 until his death, Hirsch 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, Zionism, and similarly opposed early forms of Conservative Judaism.[2][3]