Igrot Tzafon by Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch (Nineteen letters on Judaism), Altona, 1st ed., 1836, German
Neunzehn Briefe über Judenthum, [Nineteen letters on Judaism], J. F. Hammerich,
1836. Altona, German, 113 pp.
Title page written by hand. With blessing in Hebrew, written by rabbi.
Inscription of ex-owner on endpaper, also ex-library; Exlibris – donation to Israel culture, signed in the plate by the artist.
Orig. hard cover, 21 x 13 cm.
Condition: cover rubbedrubbed to edges, corners bumped; spine is missing but binding still tight;
Moderate foxing, soiling and damping stains throughout the book.
First edition of the well-known book by Rabbi Hirsch, published under the pen name "Ben Uziel". The book is written in German and consists of an exchange of letters between Benjamin, a young Jew who is debating about his religious lifestyle and Naftali, a young rabbi who follows the ways of tradition. The book was later translated into Hebrew several times, by different translators.
Samson Raphael Hirsch (Hebrew: שמשון רפ×ל 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.