Samuel Hirsch
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- Not to be confused with his contemporary Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888)
Samuel Hirsch, (born June 8th, 1815 in Thalfingen (Trier), Prussia died May 14th, 1889, Chicago, USA) was a major Reform Judaism religious philosopher and rabbi.
He received his rabbinical training at Metz. He attended: the University of Bonn, University of Berlin, and the University of Leipzig.
He first became rabbi at Dessau in 1838 but was forced to resign in 1841 because of his radical Reformist views. He was appointed chief rabbi of Luxemburg in 1843, and in 1866 came to Philadelphia to serve as rabbi.
He was a leading advocate of radical Reform Judaism: The first to propose holding Jewish services on Sunday instead of the traditional Jewish Sabbath Shabbat. He was been an active promoter of radical reform among American Jews, and took a leading role in major Reform Judaism rabbinical conferences.
He contributed to the early volumes of The Jewish Times (1869-1878). His principal works were first issued in Germany, among them What is Judaism? (1838), sermons (1841), and Religious Philosophy of the Jews (1843).