Rabbi Herman Vogelstein, one of the leaders of Liberal Judaism in Germany, was the recipient of hundreds of congratulations last week when he celebrated his sixtieth birthday. Rabbi Vogelstein is a brother of Ludwig Vogelstein, chairman of the Executive Board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Rabbi Vogelstein was appointed rabbi in Opeln when he was 24 years old. Two years later he became rabbi in Koenigsberg, remaining there for twenty-five years. He then went to Breslau as the rabbi of the Liberal Jewish community, succeeding the famous scholar, Rabbi Jacob Guttman.
Writing of Dr. Vogelstein’s life work in the “Juedisch-liberale Zeitung,” Rabbi Julius Galliner says:
“He has worked for all German Jews, but especially for Liberal Judaism. He has in this respect followed the example of his famous father, Rabbi Heyneman Vogelstein, the one-time leader of Liberal Judaism in Germany. Both in the Federation of Liberal Rabbis of Germany and in the Federation of Liberal Jews, he is to the present day one of our most loyal workers. When he was only 21, he wrote in collaboration with Paul Rieger, ‘The History of the Jews in Rome,’ which has remained the standard work on the subject. For two generations the name Vogelstein has been synonymous with the program of Liberal Judaism in Germany.”
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