Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888) was one of those personalities without whom any presentation of the development of German Jewry would remain fragmentary. His name is inseparable with that of the secession movement, a new organizational form which severed all ties to the Jewish “Main Community” (Großgemeinde). Hirsch was so eloquent in expressing his ideas, which once again placed festivals and rituals at the center of Jewish life, that he not only influenced the young Gerschom Scholem, but also Franz Rosenzweig’s work Star of Redemption.

Roland Tasch, Hilversum, Niederlande.