Breuer, Raphael

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BREUER, RAPHAEL

BREUER, RAPHAEL (1881–1932), district rabbi at Aschaffenburg, Bavaria; son of Solomon *Breuer. His candidacy for the succession to his father's office led to a bitter struggle in the Frankfurt congregation in which the majority, the Israelische Religionsgesellschaft (under Jacob *Rosenheim's leadership), opposed the narrow Orthodoxy with which the name of Breuer had become associated. Raphael Breuer's published works include translations and commentaries (in German) on the Five Scrolls (1908–12; 19242); on the Former Prophets (2 vols., 1915–22); and on Ezra and Nehemiah (2 vols., 1933–38). The literalist interpretation of his commentary on the Song of Songs (1912) caused some scandal among the Orthodox; in the second edition (1923), he gave a more traditional rendering. An appreciation of the ideas of his grandfather S.R. *Hirsch was contained in Breuer's Unter seinem Banner (1908). His strong anti-Zionist views were aired in Nationaljudenthum ein Wahnjudenthum (1903) and other polemics.

bibliography:

H. Schwab, Chachme Ashkenaz (Eng., 1964), 36.

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