# Joseph Breuer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Breuer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Breuer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Breuer > Source revision: 1338273651 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article is about the rabbi. For the early psychoanalyst, see [Josef Breuer](/source/Josef_Breuer). Joseph Breuer Born (1882-03-20)March 20, 1882 Pápa, Kingdom of Hungary Died April 19, 1980(1980-04-19) (aged 98) New York City, U.S. Spouse Rika Eisenmann ​ (m. 1911)​ Children Marc Breuer [fr] (b. 1912) Parent(s) Solomon Breuer and Sophie Hirsch **Joseph Breuer**, also known as **Yosef Breuer** (March 20, 1882 – April 19, 1980) was a [rabbi](/source/Rabbi) and community leader in [Germany](/source/Germany) and the [United States](/source/United_States). He was [rabbi](/source/Rabbi) of one of the large Jewish synagogues founded by German-Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi oppression that had settled in [Washington Heights](/source/Washington_Heights%2C_Manhattan), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)).[1] ## Life and career Part of a series on Judaism Movements Orthodox Haredi Hasidic Modern Conservative Reform Karaite Reconstructionist Renewal Humanistic Philosophy Principles of faith Kabbalah Messiah Ethics Chosenness God Names Musar movement Texts Tanakh Torah Nevi'im Ketuvim Ḥumash Siddur Piyutim Zohar Rabbinic Mishnah Talmud Midrash Tosefta Law Mishneh Torah Tur Shulchan Aruch Mishnah Berurah Aruch HaShulchan Kashrut Tzniut Tzedakah Niddah Noahide laws Holy cities/places Jerusalem Safed Hebron Tiberias Synagogue Beth midrash Mikveh Sukkah Chevra kadisha Holy Temple Tabernacle Important figures Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses Aaron David Solomon Sarah Rebecca Rachel Leah Rabbinic sages Chazal Tannaim Amoraim Savoraim Geonim Rishonim Acharonim Religious roles Rabbi Rebbe Posek Hazzan Dayan Rosh yeshiva Mohel Kohen Culture and education Brit milah Zeved habat Pidyon haben Hebrew calendar Shabbat Bar and bat mitzvah Marriage Bereavement Yeshiva Kollel Cheder Ritual objects Sefer Torah Tallit Tefillin Tzitzit Kippah Mezuzah Menorah Shofar Four species Etrog Lulav Hadass Arava Kittel Gartel Prayers Shema Amidah Aleinu Kaddish Minyan Birkat Hamazon Shehecheyanu Hallel Havdalah Tachanun Kol Nidre Selichot (S'lichot) Major holidays Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Sukkot Pesach Shavuot Purim Hanukkah Other religions Christianity Hinduism Islam Mormonism Samaritanism Abrahamic religions Judeo-Christian Pluralism Related topics Jews Zionism Israel Criticism Antisemitism Anti-Judaism Holocaust theology Music Jesus Muhammad Judaism portal v t e Joseph Breuer was born in 1882 in [Pápa](/source/P%C3%A1pa), [Hungary](/source/Kingdom_of_Hungary), to the local [rabbi](/source/Rabbi) [Solomon Breuer](/source/Solomon_Breuer) and Sophie Breuer *née* Hirsch, who was the youngest daughter of Rabbi [Samson Raphael Hirsch](/source/Samson_Raphael_Hirsch) of [Frankfurt am Main](/source/Frankfurt_am_Main), [Germany](/source/Germany). After the passing of Hirsch in 1888, Solomon Breuer was elected his successor as rabbi of the *Austrittsgemeinde* (seceded community) of Orthodox Jews known as [Khal Adath Jeshurun](/source/Khal_Adath_Jeshurun). Here, Breuer Sr. founded a [yeshiva](/source/Yeshiva) called the [Torah Lehranstalt](/source/Torah_Lehranstalt) and became its first [Rosh Yeshiva](/source/Rosh_Yeshiva).[1] Joseph studied at the Torah Lehranstalt until 1903, when he was awarded [semicha](/source/Semicha), and in 1905 he completed university studies at the [University of Strasbourg](/source/University_of_Strasbourg) with a PhD on the work of legal scholar [Anselm von Feuerbach](/source/Paul_Johann_Anselm_Ritter_von_Feuerbach). He became a teacher at the Realschule (secondary school) and lecturer at the Torah Lehranstalt. He married Rika Eisenmann of [Antwerp](/source/Antwerp), granddaughter of [Eliezer Liepman Philip Prins](/source/Eliezer_Liepman_Philip_Prins) in 1911. In 1919 he was also appointed rabbi of the Klaus synagogue of Frankfurt.[1] Following Solomon Breuer's death, in 1926, Joseph Breuer succeeded him as [Rosh Yeshiva](/source/Rosh_Yeshiva) which he practically had already been before his father's death. Joseph Jonah Horowitz succeeded Solomon Breuer as rabbi. In 1933, with the rise of Nazism, he briefly moved the yeshiva to [Fiume](/source/Fiume), [Italy](/source/Italy), where he had assumed the rabbinate, but this arrangement lasted only until the next year and the family and the yeshiva returned to Frankfurt. It was formally dissolved by the Nazis in 1935, but continued to function unofficially. On the day after [Kristallnacht](/source/Kristallnacht), Breuer was arrested but subsequently released. The family left Germany, initially to Antwerp. A former pupil was then, with the assistance of [Bernard Revel](/source/Bernard_Revel), able to procure an affidavit of support, which enabled Breuer and his family to relocate to New York in 1939.[1] [Bernard Revel](/source/Bernard_Revel) offered Joseph Breuer a teaching position in his institution, which he brusquely turned down. He reportedly said that he would rather "clean the streets".[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In New York, Breuer took the initiative to start a congregation with the numerous German refugees in [Washington Heights](/source/Washington_Heights%2C_Manhattan), which would closely follow the morale and customs of its "spiritual ancestor" in Frankfurt. The congregation came to be called [Khal Adath Yeshurun](/source/Khal_Adath_Yeshurun) (KAJ), but is colloquially called "Breuer's" after its founder. In addition, he founded [Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch](/source/Yeshiva_Rabbi_Samson_Raphael_Hirsch), a yeshiva elementary school and high school named after his illustrious grandfather. It was the first such school in the area that used the vernacular. He also founded a [teachers' seminary](/source/Seminaria) for women that would be renamed the [Rika Breuer Teachers' Seminary](/source/Yeshiva_Rabbi_Samson_Raphael_Hirsch) after his wife's death. All institutions purported to follow the teachings and ideology of Breuer's grandfather Hirsch. In 1958, the community invited Frankfurt-born [Shimon Schwab](/source/Shimon_Schwab), then of [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore), to assist with rabbinical duties.[1] Towards the end of his life, the name Levi was added to his own name as a blessing to recover from an illness. He died in 1980, survived by his children [Marc](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marc_Breuer&action=edit&redlink=1) [[fr](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Breuer)], Jacob, Samson, Rosy Bondi, Edith Silverman, Sophie Gutmann, Hanna Schwalbe and Meta Bechhofer.[1] ## Views and philosophy Breuer was well known for his involvement in setting up an [Orthodox Jewish](/source/Orthodox_Judaism) infrastructure in post-[World War II](/source/World_War_II) [America](/source/United_States). He wrote several books, including translations of and commentaries on the Biblical books of [Jeremiah](/source/Book_of_Jeremiah) and [Ezekiel](/source/Book_of_Ezekiel); English translations of these appeared after his death.[1][2][3] Breuer can be considered the main post-war representative of the *[Torah im Derech Eretz](/source/Torah_im_Derech_Eretz)* movement in the United States. Apart from the above-mentioned books, he limited his written work to contributions to the community organ (*Mitteilungen*); some appeared in book form after his death.[4] His influence was mainly due to his public speeches and his indefatigable work on the community's services. A number of important ideas can be distinguished:[1] - Independent [Orthodoxy](/source/Orthodox_Judaism): Breuer drew on his grandfather's work of *Austritt* - the principle that Jewish communities can only truly claim to be Jewish if they are ideologically and otherwise independent from organizations that represent ideals contrary to [halakha](/source/Halakha). In America, where the community organization was not enforced by local law, this became in Breuer's mind an even stronger issue than in Europe. This stance also led to his involvement with [Agudath Israel of America](/source/Agudath_Israel_of_America). He was stridently opposed to a Zionist state, and refrained from visiting Israel.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] - *[Torah im Derech Eretz](/source/Torah_im_Derech_Eretz)*: Breuer saw the risk of misinterpretation of his grandfather's ideas on how Judaism could be harmonised within limits with general culture of the outside world. He repeatedly stated that compromising on Jewishness and *halakha* was at variance with *Torah im Derech Eretz*. With the rise of the yeshiva movement, he also remarked that *Torah im Derech Eretz* was by no means a unique temporary measure - as was often claimed by protagonists of the "Torah only" view. - *[Kosher](/source/Kosher) ve-Yosher*: Although one of the phenomena of post-World War II Orthodoxy has become the (re)introduction of stringencies in halakha, Breuer held that these should not be limited to the ceremonial sphere but also to the many financial and social laws of Judaism. He would, for example, refuse a [hechsher](/source/Hechsher) to companies with bad financial records. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Landesman_1-7) Dovid Landesman, David Kranzler (1998). *Rav Breuer: His Life and His Legacy*. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-58330-163-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58330-163-1). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Joseph Breuer (translation by Gertrude Hirschler) (1988). *The book of Jeremiah*. Jerusalem: P. Feldheim. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87306-983-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87306-983-8). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Joseph Breuer (translation by Gertrude Hirschler) (1993). *The book of Yechezkel*. Jerusalem: P. Feldheim. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87306-956-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87306-956-0). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Breuer, Joseph (1995). *'Et li-venot = A time to build*. New York: Published for the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Publications Society by Philipp Feldheim, Inc. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87306-734-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87306-734-7).. His Talmudic novellae and related writings appeared as *Divrei Yosef* (the Words of Joseph) in 1990, edited by his sons. Full additional bibliography in Landesman & Kranzler. ## External links - Bodenheimer, Ernst *[Rabbi Joseph Breuer: The Rav of Frankfurt, U.S.A.](https://web.archive.org/web/20051109103642/http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/jo/tworld/rbreuer.html)*, Jewish Observer - Frankel, Pinchas *[On the Breuer Kehilla](https://web.archive.org/web/20061025150307/http://www.ou.org/torah/frankel/5761/vayakpek61.htm)*, ou.org - [Hirsch / Breuer genealogy](https://web.archive.org/web/20050918222757/http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/breuer.gif) (GIF file) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Italy Czech Republic Netherlands Israel Catalonia People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Open Library Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Breuer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Breuer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Breuer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.