Samuel Hirsch
Samuel Hirsch, born in Thalfang, Germany, was a major figure in Reform Judaism. In 1838, he served as a rabbi in Dessau, Germany, but was forced to resign in 1841 because of his radical stances. In 1843, he was appointed as Luxembourg’s chief rabbi, a position he resigned in 1866 to become rabbi of Congregation Keneseth Israel in Philadelphia; there he advocated observing the Jewish day of rest on Sundays. He served as president of the first Conference of American Reform Rabbis; in that capacity he influenced the movement’s famous Pittsburgh Platform of 1885.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
The Religious Philosophy of the Jews
Related Guide
Rabbinic Scholarship, 1750–1880
Despite the challenges of the early modern period, rabbinic scholarship flourished in Central and Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century.