Maʼamar ha-ishut

Samuel Holdheim

Holdheim (1806- 860) was a "leader of Reform Judaism in Germany. Born in Kempno near Poznan, Holdheim received a talmudic education, but began to study German and secular subjects after marrying a woman with a modern education, daughter of a Poznan rabbi. The marriage was unsuccessful and after his divorce he moved to Prague where he began to study philosophy at the university. Holdheim principal thesis was the separation of the religious and ethical content of Judaism (which should be binding) from the political-national content (which should not be binding), since Jews are citizens of the countries in which they are living. In Ma mar ha-Ishut al Tekhunat ha-Rabbanim ve-ha-Kara m (1861), a historical work written in Hebrew and published posthumously, Holdheim attempts, inter alia, to refute Geiger's opinion on the nature of the controversy between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and defends the traditional thesis that the principle in dispute was whether interpretation of the Scripture should be based on the primary meaning (Sadducees) as opposed to midrashic exegesis (Pharisees)." (Levinger in EJ 2011).