10 Facts About Chaim Hirschensohn

Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn was a prolific author, rabbi, thinker, and early proponent of Religious Zionism.

Chaim Hirschensohn was born on August 31,1857 in Safed, in the Galilee to Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai Hirschensohn, who had emigrated there from Pinsk in 1848.

In 1878, Hirschensohn spent two years travelling to centers of Torah study in Russia, meeting with esteemed rabbinic scholars.

Chaim Hirschensohn returned to Palestine with rabbinical ordination from several prominent European rabbis.

Chaim Hirschensohn served as principal of a Hebrew school in Constantinople.

Chaim Hirschensohn remained in Hoboken until his death in 1935.

Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn wrote on many subjects, including the relationship between Judaism and democracy, the status of women, and conflicts between traditional Judaism and modern scholarship and science.

Chaim Hirschensohn is probably best known for Malki Ba-Kodesh, a 6-volume work he published between 1919 and 1928, in which he explores the halakhot that might govern a future Jewish state.

Chaim Hirschensohn opposed this approach on an ideological level, supporting conscious subjectivity when discussing halachic questions.

Chaim Hirschensohn's grandchildren included Stanford University pediatrician Ruth T Gross and MIT political scientist Ithiel de Sola Pool.