1839 — FT) Clothbound. 8vo. XX, 208 pages. 21 cm. First edition. In German. Three volumes in one. Half leather and cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Title translates as: Words of God, or liturgical presentation; Sermons and lectures in the synagogue at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. Samuel Holdheim (1806-1860) , a renowned extreme reform Rabbi, starting his Rabbinical career in 1936 at the synagogue at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where these sermons were conducted. The Jewish Encylopedia relates his career and ideas during this period of writing thus: Here he remained until 1840, encountering many difficulties, due both to the distrust of those within the congregation who suspected the piety of a rabbi able to speak grammatical German, and who was a graduate of a German university, and to the peculiar legislation which in Prussia under Frederick William III. Regulated the status of the Jewish congregations. To bring about a change in this state of affairs was the purpose of Holdheim. In the preface to his "Gottesdienstliche Vorträge" (Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1839) he appealed both to the government to accord the modern rabbinate the dignity due to it, and to the congregations to cease regarding the rabbi as an expert in Jewish casuistics mainly charged with the duty of answering "she'elot" (ritual questions) and inquiries concerning dietary laws. He insisted upon the recognition of the rabbi as preacher and teacher, who at the same time gives attention to the practical requirements of his office as the expert in Talmudical law. While in Frankfort, Holdheim scrupulously decided every question according to the Halakah. In his pulpit discourses belonging to this period the intention is plain to steer clear of mere rationalistic moralizing, on the one hand, and dry legalizing and unscientific speculation (in the style of the old "derashah") , on the other. Holdheim thus deserves to be remembered as one of the pioneers in the field of modern Jewish Homiletics, who showed what use should be made of the Midrashim and other Jewish writings. He also repeatedly took pains to arouse his congregation to help carry out Geiger's and Philippson's project of founding a Jewish theological faculty. Judaism even then had ceased for Holdheim to be an end unto itself. He had begun to view it as a force in the larger life of humanity. Subjects: Jewish sermons, German. Jews -- Poland -- Slubice. OCLC lists 12 copies worldwide. Covers soiled, leather rubbed. Pages wavy, foxed throughout, but clean, and pages firm. Very good condition. (GER-36-39)
