R. Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888) was a rabbi, writer, and foremost exponent of Orthodox Judaism in Germany in the 19th century. From the 19th century on, modern Jews repeatedly issued translations and adoptions of the siddur (Jewish prayer book). Hirsch too devoted a considerable part of his spiritual energy to the translation of and commentary on the biblical texts, including the Pentateuch (Der Pentateuch uebersetzt und erklaert, 1867–78), and the Book of Psalms (Psalmen uebersetztund erklaert, 1883). These translations of traditional texts paralleled those of Hirsch’s Liberal contemporaries, who like him responded to the fact that German Jewry could no longer cope with the Hebrew texts of the scriptures and the prayers, and who viewed the Bible and the prayer book as the two main foci of the Jewish heritage. At the same time, those translations clearly distinguish his attitude from theirs. While the Liberal prayer books reflected the view that synagogue worship should be reformed and should be held largely in German, Hirsch's translation aims to preserve and strengthen the traditional forms, which ought to be implemented entirely in Hebrew even when many of the congregants needed an aid in order to follow and understand it. The same is true for his Bible translation.