Emil Gustav Hirsch (May 22, 1851 – January 7, 1923) was a Luxembourgish-born

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

to numerous articles of ''

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' (1906), an
founding member of the NAACP

Biography

Emil Gustav Hirsch was born in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, a son of the rabbi and philosopher

Samuel Hirsch Samuel Hirsch, (June 8, 1815 – May 14, 1889) was a major Reform Judaism philosopher and rabbi who mainly worked and resided in present-day Germany in his earlier years. He promoted the radical German Reform Judaism movement and published several ...

on May 22, 1851. He later married the daughter of Rabbi David Einhorn. He studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, and in 1872 went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for post-graduate work. He was rabbi at

Har Sinai Congregation Har or HAR may refer to: People * Har Bilas Sarda (1867-1955), Indian academic, judge and politician * Har Sharma (1922–1992), Indian cricket umpire Mythology * Hár and Hárr, among the many names of Odin in Norse mythology * Horus, an E ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

(1877–78), and in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

(1878–80). But he did his greatest work in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. For forty-two years (1880–1923), Hirsch served as the rabbi of Chicago Sinai Congregation, one of the oldest synagogues in the Midwest. At this post, he became well known for an emphasis on social justice. From Chicago Sinai's pulpit, he delivered rousing sermons on the social ills of the day and many Chicagoans, Jews and Gentiles alike, were in attendance. Appointed professor of

rabbinical literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic w ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1892, Hirsch also served on the

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the Chicago, City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, three regional libraries, and branches distributed thr ...

board from 1885 to 1897. He took some part in politics as a member of the Republican Party. He was an influential exponent of advanced thought and

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

. He edited ''Der Zeitgeist'' (Milwaukee, 1880–82) and the ''Reform Advocate'' (1891–1923). He also edited the Department of the Bible of the ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' and contributed feminist articles to '' The American Jewess''. He also wrote studies of the historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity, including appreciations of its founding figures

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

. In addition, he published a number of articles for the Reform Advocate, a weekly journal which he edited for thirty years. From 1872 to 1876, he studied at the Universities of Berlin and Leipzig. Returning to America, he married Mathilda Einhorn in Louisville, Kentucky. Here, he remained until his death on January 7, 1923. Hirsch left a legacy as a renowned preacher in American Jewry. Many scholarly articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia were contributed by him. His social and philanthropic pursuits were a valuable contribution. Hirsch is the namesake of the Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School of Communications, located in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago. In keeping with his interest in education, Hirsch advised a wealthy congregant,

Julius Rosenwald Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions i ...

of Sears, Roebuck & Co., to use part of his wealth to help build public schools for black students in the segregated South; their facilities were consistently underfunded. The rural school building program, based on the use of matching funds from local communities, was one of the largest programs, but not the only, administered by the Rosenwald Fund. He was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

in the 1896 presidential election. He was the maternal grandfather of U.S. Attorney General Edward Hirsch Levi.

References

Sources

''Chicago Portraits''
* * * http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/1952_04_02_00_martin.pdf

External links

*
JewishEncyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Emil 1851 births 1923 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American rabbis 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American rabbis 1896 United States presidential electors American male non-fiction writers American people of Luxembourgian-Jewish descent American Reform rabbis Contributors to the Jewish Encyclopedia Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish encyclopedists Luxembourgian emigrants to the United States Luxembourgian Jews Rabbis from Chicago

Biography

See also

References

Sources

External links