2/3s of Berlin Jews converted to Lutheranism. In the 1800s baptism was their ticket to European culture.
Dr. Henry Abramson describes European society and what led the German Jews to step away from their Jewish practices and into secular society. Against this background Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch was the first Jewish thinker to articulate a strategy for modernity as he fought and struggled to maintain Orthodox standards. The fight against the enlightenment movement continues today and the writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch continue to inspire and motivate the Jewish people.
