Rabbi Samuel Hirsch (Thalfang 1815 - Chicago 1889) was instrumental in the development of
Reform Judaism in Europe and the USA. This volume is the first lengthy publication devoted to
this striking personality whose significance was no less than that of his contemporaries
Abraham Geiger and David Einhorn. En route from Thalfang via Dessau and Luxembourg to
Philadelphia Hirsch left his mark on societal religious and philosophical developments in
manifold ways. By the time he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Luxembourg
in 1843 he had already written many of his most important works on the philosophy of religion.
In them he engaged in debate with the Young Hegelians on the importance of Judaism the
religion that more than any other enabled the human actualization of freedom so central to
Hegel's philosophy. Over time Hirsch took an increasingly radical stance on issues such as
Jewish rituals and mixed marriage. The goal of his reforms was not assimilation. He strove to
strengthen Judaism to meet the demands of modernity and enable its survival in the modern era.
Hirsch's story is key to understanding the transnational history of Reform Judaism and the
struggle of Jews to secure a place in history and society.
