Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ʼAvrāhām Gayger; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar, considered the founding father of Reform Judaism. Emphasizing Judaism's constant development along history and universalist traits, Geiger sought to re-formulate received forms and design what he regarded as a religion compliant with modern times. Biography As a child, Geiger started doubting the traditional understanding of Judaism when his studies in classical history seemed to contradict the biblical claims of divine authority. At the age of seventeen, he began writing his first work, a comparison between the legal style of the Mishnah and Biblical and Talmudic law. He also worked on a dictionary of Mishnaic (Rabbinic) Hebrew. Geiger's friends provided him with financial assistance which enabled him to attend the University in Heidelberg, to the great disappointment of his family. His main focus was centered on the areas of philology, Syriac, Hebrew, and classics, but he also attended lectures in philosophy and archaeology. After one semester, he transferred to the University of Bonn, where he studied at the same time as Samson Raphael Hirsch. Hirsch initially formed a friendship with Geiger, and with him organized a society of Jewish students for the stated purpose of practicing homiletics, but with the deeper intention of bringing them closer to Jewish values. It was to this society that Geiger preached his first sermon (January 2, 1830). In later years, he and Hirsch became bitter opponents as the leaders of two opposing Jewish movements. At Bonn, Geiger began an intense study of Arabic and the Koran, winning a prize for his essay, written originally in Latin, and later published in German under the title "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen?" ("What did Mohammed take from Judaism?"). The essay earned Geiger a doctorate at the University of Marburg. It demonstrated that large parts of the Koran were taken from, or based on, rabbinic literature. (On this, see History of the Koran). This book was Geiger's first step in a much larger intellectual project. Geiger sought to demonstrate Judaism's central influence on Christianity and Islam. He believed that neither movement possessed religious originality, but were simply a vehicle to transmit the Jewish monotheistic belief to the pagan world. At this time, no university professorships were available in Germany to Jews; so, Geiger was forced to seek a position as rabbi. He found a position in the Jewish community of Wiesbaden