HIRSCH, MARKUS

HIRSCH, MARKUS (Mordecai Amram; 1833–1909), rabbi. Born in Tiszabö, Hungary, Hirsch studied at the yeshivot of Pressburg (Bratislava) and Miskolc-Csaba. From 1853 he studied at the yeshivah of S.J. *Rapoport in Prague, and also attended lectures at the university there, served as rabbi of Karcag, and of Tiszabö, and between 1861 and 1880 of Obuda (Alt-Ofen, now part of Budapest). Under Hirsch's leadership this community began to flourish again. He founded a yeshivah and undertook various civic functions. He was appointed to the government commission charged with the arbitration of conflicts within the Jewish communities of Hungary. In 1864, with Rabbi S. Brill of Pest and J. Steinhardt of Arad, Hirsch was entrusted with the task of reorganizing the Jewish elementary school system, as well as with preparing a curriculum for the new rabbinical seminary. He endeavored to mediate between the progressive and Orthodox trends in Judaism, and played the role of conciliator at the General Jewish Congress of Hungary in 1868–69. From 1880 he served the community of Prague and in 1889 became chief rabbi of Hamburg, where he was known as a leader of the enlightened Orthodox movement. His works published in Hebrew, German, and Hungarian include Divrei Shalom ve-Emet, and sermons.

bibliography:

I. Reich, Beth-El; Ehrentempel verdienter ungarischer Israeliten, 3 (n.d.), 30–50; Hagyomány, vol. 5, 245–7; E. Duckesz, Iwoh Lemoschaw (1903), 130–2 (Heb. pt.), xxxii (Ger. pt.).

[Jeno Zsoldos]