The book I'll be using and some more on Hirsch

Hi everyone,

First, a note about the edition of Hirsch's commentary from which I'll be studying.

The original commentary was published between 1867 and 1878 in 5 volumes.  The edition I will be using is a modern English translation of Hirsch's German translation and commentary by Daniel Haberman.  This translation is copyrighted 2002 and reprinted 2010 by Feldheim Publishers.

A link to this edition can be found here.

Next, some more on Hirsch's style and philosophy toward Torah and commentary.

Torah im Derech Eretz as used by our Jewish sages, means the realization of the Torah in harmonious unity with  all the conditions under which its laws will have to be observed amidst the developments of changing times. Collected Writings Vol. VII p. 294

This quote represents a clear definition of the philosophy behind Hirsch's approach to Torah, Jewish Law and Modernity.  Hirsch neither eschews the changing times nor Jewish Law, nor does he bemoan progress.  Rather, he strives to find a harmonious unity between the two.  Unlike post-modernism, which strives to allow both aspects to exist simultaneously yet independently  Hirsch strives to unify two elements of Jewish life in his day and age which some, on both the Traditionalist and Modernist sides, saw as mutually exclusive.

Rabbi Hirsch believed that Judaism must be studied and understood out of itself and therefore we must "derive explanation of the text from out of itself." Editor's Foreword p. vii.

Let's hope that over the coming year, I am able to derive explanation and understanding out of both the text of the Torah and the commentary of Rabbi Hirsch.

Onward to the Beginning!