22 October 1873 – 1 Heshvan 5634
Rabbi Dr. Azriel Hildesheimer founded the rabbinical seminary in Berlin, which reflected the views of the Torah with Derech Eretz movement. Founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch, the movement advocated the integration of strict Jewish observance with modern life. Hildesheimer’s students held academic degrees on the one hand, but were nevertheless steeped in traditional Jewish learning. There was a shift of emphasis however; the curriculum excluded the Talmudic tractates devoted to the study of torts and damages, since after the emancipation of German Jews independent Jewish courts became almost irrelevant in Jewish communal life in Germany. Instead, the Bible and especially the Pentateuch were studied closely, combining academic research methods with traditional textual analysis. The rabbinical seminary remained active until the Nazis closed it down on Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) in November 1938.