Horeb

Horeb is Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's masterful presentation of Jewish laws and observances, with particular emphasis on their underlying ideas. It has proven in many ways to be Hirsch's most decisive work, representing a milestone in the return to halacha (Jewish law) as the pivot of Jewish life.

Hirsch won back the Jewish youth of his day by introducing them to the underlying ideas of Torah laws. He showed them that the Torah's religious commandments, or mitzvoth, are not mere "ceremonies" to be discarded at will, but Divine rules of life for the people of G-d, eternal and inviolable, that they are religious power-stations which create a spirit of holiness among the people of Israel.

Hirsch's words still ring true today. Horeb