Horeb. The source for each and every mitzvah in the Torah, the reasons for the mitzvahs, and how the reason for the mitzvah can be found in each detail of the mitzvah, through the latest halachic authorities. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. Altona, 1837. First edition.
780 out of 800, XVI pp, 20 cm. German
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This is the author’s first work. It was prepared in 1835, when the author was only 27 years old, and still the rabbi of Oldenburg. There was no Jewish publisher willing to take the risk of publishing this great work, given the grim condition of the Jews in Germany. He therefore turned to a non-Jewish publisher in Altona who was unfamiliar with the Jewish market. He too was concerned about his finances, so he asked Rabbi Hirsch to first publish a small compilation as a trial. Therefore, Rabbi Hirsch published his famous book Nineteen Letters on Judaism in Altona in 1836, and given its success, the publisher agreed to publish this work, Horeb, in 1837.
The goal of the book was not to adjudicate practical halachah, but to draw youth to Torah and Jewish tradition, but over time, the book became German Jewry’s "Shulchan Aruch." The book was written in German at a high literary level, with many quotes in Hebrew. Rabbi Hirsch called his book "an attempt to explain Jewish doctrine." The book was translated over the years into many languages and editions.
This first edition is extraordinarily rare.
Original cardboard binding, minimally rubbed. Minimal aging stains. Fine-very fine condition.
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