R. Travers (Robert Travers) Herford

Born in 1860 and active well into the first half of the twentieth century, Robert Travers Herford was a British Unitarian minister and a respected scholar of rabbinical literature. He studied at Owens College in Manchester and at Manchester New College in London, and later continued his studies in Germany as a Hibbert Scholar.

Herford became especially known for serious, accessible work on Judaism in the time of Jesus and on the literature of the rabbis. His books include Christianity in Talmud and Midrash and The Pharisees, works that helped many English-language readers approach Jewish texts with more care and understanding.

He died in 1950. Although he is remembered as a Christian minister, his lasting reputation rests on the patience and depth he brought to the study of Jewish tradition.