Author of Machne Levy

Hirsch Zwi Ben Pinchas Halevi Horowitz held the office of chief rabbi in Frankfurt from 1805 to 1817. Hirsch Levy Horowitz, as he was familiarly known, was born in Poland in 1754. He was the son of Frankfurt chief rabbi Pinchas Halevy Horowitz, whom he succeeded. His rabbinacy was characterised by violent dissension between the progressive ideas of Moses Mendelssohn (which were gradually gaining ground at the time) and the ultraconservative orthodoxy to which he belonged.

Contrary to his wishes, the Philanthropin, a Jewish Reform school, evolved successfully, and the number of its pupils continued to expand. The Philanthropin stood for the comprehensive restructuring of Jewish educational methods, and sought to accord secular subjects the same importance as traditional religious ones. The rabbinate were restricted to purely confessional matters, effectively depriving them of their power. Hirsch Levy Horowitz, whose nickname was"Nesher Hagadol" ("Great Eagle"), was thus obliged to witness the departure of many Jews from orthodox Judaism. He died in 1817 in Bockenheim, then a separate town, but was buried in the cemetery in the Battonstrasse. Horowitz was the author of an Anthology of Responsa entitled "Machaneh Halevi" ("The Camp of Levi"); he also published his collected sermons under the title "Lachmei Toda" ("Bread of Gratitude").