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Our Backs Will Touch: Similarities between Hasidim and German Jewish Hirschians

JL;DR SUMMARY Yisrael Kashkin explores the perceived cultural and religious dichotomy between Hasidim and German Jewish Hirschians, demonstrating how these two seemingly opposite Jewish communities share more similarities than typically acknowledged. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Baal Shem TovJewish UnityTorah Im Derekh EretzCultural DifferencesGerman JewsHasidimRabbi Samson Raphael HirschCommunity StructureHirschiansJoy In Judaism

Places mentioned

Washington Heights, New York, United States
"When it comes to the Yekkes of the Hirschian communities of Frankfurt and Washington Heights, New York the contrast is even starker."
Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
"When it comes to the Yekkes of the Hirschian communities of Frankfurt and Washington Heights, New York the contrast is even starker."
Mainz, Hesse, Germany
"Bernays was born in Weisenau (now Mainz), Germany and Ettlinger in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany."
Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
"Bernays was born in Weisenau (now Mainz), Germany and Ettlinger in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany."
Berlin, Germany
"Similarly, R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, originally from Hamburg, wrote his first two booksThe Nineteen Letters and Horebfor the lost Jewish youth of the German Confederation, formerly the Holy Roman Empire."
New York City, New York, United States
"Hasidim, particularly those from Chabad, share traits with Yekkes, particularly those of the Hirschian communities in Frankfurt, Germany and Washington Heights in New York City."
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
"I heard R. Aharon Feldman, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Litvish yeshiva Ner Yisrael in Baltimore and member of the Moetzes of the American Agudah tell a large audience that the purpose of life is to build a dwelling place for the Divine on earth."
Hamburg, Germany
"R. Hirsch was a German Jew, born in Hamburg. His primary teachers were Hakham Isaac Bernays (17921849) and R. Yaakov Ettlinger (17981871)."
Weimar, Thuringia, Germany
"While Hasidim, particularly Chabad, share traits with Yekkes, particularly those of the Hirschian communities in Frankfurt, Germany, Washington Heights in New York City, and the Weimar Republic period, it is about R. Hirsch and the Hirschian communities that I will speak."

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Retrieved 2026-02-25 05:30:35 UTC
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