Reform Judaism In the 19th Century
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The most extreme precursor to the Reform movement was a man by
the name of Samuel Holdheim. He was born in 1806 in Kempo in the
province of Posen. At a young age he studied at a yeshiva and received
a Talmudic education. He began to study German and secular subjects
after his marriage to a woman with a modern education. After their
divorce several years later, he began studying at the University of
Prague and Berlin and received a doctorate from the University of
Leipzig. Following service in Frankfurt -Am-Oder he became a
Landesrabbiner or chief Rabbi of Mecklenberg-Schewerin. In the year
1847 he became the rabbinate of a reform congregation in Berlin . At
this point he already disapproved of most liberal Rabbis and came to
be known as the most exemplar of reform Rabbis in all of Europe ( 241)
The question comes to mind as to what exactly triggered this
different belief in Judaism which differed significantly from previous
tenents. It started during the time of the French revolution, a time
when European Jews were (for the first time) recognized as citizens of
the countries in which they lived in. Ghettos were being abolished,
special badges were no longer required and Jews could dress the way
they wanted, settle were they pleased and work the occupations they
desired...