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RABBI'S OF NEW YORK
(Prior to 1934)

ADLER, SAMUEL:
Rabbi,Talmudist and author; 
Born, Worms, Germany, 1809; 
Died: New York,1891. 
He was appointed rabbi to Temple Emanu-El, New York in 1857.

ASCHER,  JOSEPH MAYER:
Rabbi: 
Born  Manchester, England, 1872:  
Died, New York 1909. 
He was descended from a rabbinical family & studied in England & Germany,
receiving his rabbinical diploma in Suwalk, Poland. He was professor of
Homelectics at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was also
preacher in New York of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun and was reputed for his
stern orthodox views, and scholarly attainments.

ENELOW,  HYMAN  G.:  
Rabbi    Author;  
Born Russia, 1877;  
Died at sea 1934. 
He was rabbi of Temple Adath Israel, Louisville, Ky., 1902-1912, 
and was then appointed to Temple Emanu-El, in New York, 
retiring, with his colleagues, a few weeks before his death. 
His most scholarly contribution was "Israel ibn al-Nakawa" in four volumes.

GOTTHEIL,  GUSTAV:  
American Rabbi;
Born Pinne, Prussian Posen, 1827;  
Died New York, 1903. 
In 1871 he participated in the synod at Leipzig, & in 1873 was elected assistant,
18 months later rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, in New York. In 1886 he issued the
first Jewish hymn book published in America, and in 1889 he founded the
Sisterhood of Personal Service in connection with the Temple. In honor of
his 75th birthday the "Gustav Gottheil Lectureship in Semitic Languages" was
founded at Columbia University.

HARRIS,  MAURICE  HENRY: 
Rabbi
Born London, 1859; 
Died  New York, 1930. 
In 1883, he was elected rabbi of Temple Israel of Harlem, New York, 
a position that he held till his death. Among his books are 
"A Biblical History," "A Thousand Years of Jewish
History and Modern Jewish History,".

HERTZ,  JOSEPH  HERMAN:
Chief Rabbi of the British Empire; 
Born Rebrin, Hungary, 1872. 
In 1894 He received an appointment as rabbi in Syracuse, N.Y.

ISAACS,  Sir ABRAM  SAMUEL: 
Rabbi and Editor;
Born New York, 1852; 
Died Paterson, New Jersey, 1920. 
He was professor
of Hebrew and German at New York University from 1886 to 1895, and held
rabbinic positions in New York and Paterson, N.J. From 1878 to 1903 he was
editor of the "Jewish Messenger" of New York.

ISAACS,  SAMUEL MYER:
Rabbi and journalist; 
Born Leeuwarden, Holland, 1804; 
Died New York, 1878. 
In 1839 he came to New York and was appointed rabbi of Congregation
B'nai Jeshurun. In 1857 he founded the "Jewish Messenger," as the organ of
Conservative Judaism. He edited it till his death.

JACOBS,  HENRY S.:
Rabbi;  
Born Kingston, Jamaica, 1827;  
Died New York, 1893. 
In 1854 he came to the United States and was rabbi in Richmond, Va.; 
Charleston, S.C.;New Orleans, La. He also was Rabbi at 
Shearith Israel and B'nai Jeshurun, in New York. He was president 
of the Board of Jewish Ministers from its inception until his death.

JOSEPH,  JACOB:
Orthodox chief rabbi in New York; 
Born Krozhe, Kovno, 1848: 
Died New York, 1902.
Joseph, who was the maggid of Wilna, came to America in 1888, as
chief rabbi of the Russian orthodox communities of New York. He was
instrumental in founding a Yeshiba which merging with another became the
basis of the Yeshibah-College. He was much neglected by his principal
supporter, but at his death, a mass demonstration funeral in which 50,000
persons participated was organized on the lower East Side of New York. The
procession was disturbed by an anti-Semitic riot in which a number of
persons were injured. The incident provoked considerable excitement at the time. 

KLEIN,  PHILIP:
Spiritual leader of American orthodox Hungarians; 
Born Baracska, Hungary, 1848;  
Died New York, 1926. 
He held several positions in Hungary
and later became rabbi in Libau. In 1890 he came to the United States, and
was appointed rabbi of the New York Hungarian Congregation, Oheb Zedek,
which position he held to his death. Klein was greatly esteemed as one of
the outstanding orthodox rabbis of America.

KOHLER,  KAUFMAN:
Rabbi, theologian, educator, leader of Reform Judaism; 
Born Furth, Bavaria, 1843;  
Died New York, 1926. 
His parents, Moritz and Babette (Loewenmayer) Kohler, were observant 
orthodox Jews possessed of German culture. His scientific and 
classical education he obtained at the
universities of Munich, Berlin, Erlangen and Leipzig. While at the
university he also continued his Jewish studies. He came to America in 1869
to be the rabbi of Congregation Beth El, Detroit. In 1870 he married
Johanna, daughter, in spirit as well as in body, of the great Reform
theologian and rabbi, Dr. David Einhorn, the leader of Congregation Beth El,
New York. In 1879 he succeeded Einhorn in New York, remaining rabbi of Beth
El until he retired from the active ministry. In 1903 he was elected
president of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati.

KOHUT,  ALEXANDER:
Talmudist and rabbi;  
Born Felegyhaza, Hungary, 1842: 
Died New York,1894. 
Kohut was descended from a family that included a number of well-known
rabbis, and his father was a linguist, but the town in which he was born
lacked even the rudimentary Jewish school and it was not until the family
moved to Kecskemet that he began to learn Hungarian and Hebrew. In 1885 he
was elected rabbi of Ahawath Chesed, New York, and immediately on his
settlement he became one of the stalwarts of Conservative Judaism, and one
of the keenest opponents of Reform Judaism.His critical essays and speeches
forced the exponents of Reform to clarify their views. Joining Sabato Morais
in the founding of the Jewish Theological Seminary he became professor in
Talmudic methodology in that institution to his death. In March, 1894, he
suffered from a stroke of paralysis, and died a few weeks later.

MAGNES,  JUDAH  LEON:
Chancellor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem: 
Born San Francisco, 1877. 
In 1903-1904 he was rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, New York. In 1906-1910 he was
rabbi of B'nai Jeshurun, New York. He directed the New York Kehillah,
1909-1922.

MARGOLIES,  MORRIS  S:
Founder of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of America and Canada; 
Born. Kroza, Russia, 1851. 
He was chief rabbi of the orthodox community of Boston,
1889-1906, being appointed in the latter year rabbi of Congregation
Kehilath, Jeshurun, in New York, which position he still holds. He has taken
a most active part in communal affairs, and is the treasurer and director of
a number of yeshibas in Jerusalem and eastern Europe.

MARGOLIS,  GABRIEL  WOLF:
Chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Community of New York;  
Born. Wilna, 1848. 
After holding a number of rabbinical positions in Russia he came to
Boston, Mass., in 1907 where he held the position of chief rabbi to 1910
when he received his appointment in New York. He is life president of the
Assembly of the Orthodox Rabbis of America and Canada.

MENDES,  FREDERICK  DE  SOLA:
Rabbi and editor of the "American Hebrew". 
Born. Montego Bay, Jamaica,1850:  
Died.  New Rochelle, N.Y., 1927. 
His first appointment as preacher
was in London, in 1873, but he removed to New York and became rabbi of
Shaaray Tefillah, 1874. He was one of the founders, and first editors of the
"American Hebrew,". In 1900 he joined the editorial staff of the Jewish
Encyclopedia, and was associated in the translation of the Bible and of the
Jewish Classics issued by the Jewish Publication Society. He published an
"Outline of Scripture History," 1884, and a "Jewish Home Prayer Book," 1888.

MENDES,  HENRY  PEREIRA:
 Rabbi emeritus, Shearith Israel, New York;  
Born. Birmingham, England,1852. 
His first appointment was to the Sephardic Congregation, Manchester,
England and in 1877 he was called to New York, where he was appointed rabbi
of Shearith Israel of which he was made rabbi emeritus in 1920. He was one
of the founders of the "American Hebrew," and of the New York Board of
Ministers, of which he was the first president. He was instrumental in the
founding of the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids, and the School for
Deaf-Mutes, and the Union of Orthodox Congregations of the U.S. and Canada.
He was also associated in the founding of the Jewish Theological Seminary,
and of the Federation of American Zionists. His 80th birthday, 1932, was
celebrated with impressive services in which Jews of all shades of opinion
joined.

PEIXOTTO,  MOSES  LEVY  MADURO:
Merchant and rabbi;  Born. Curacao, 1767;  Died. New York, 1828. In
Curacao he was a merchant, owned ships, and landed from one of his own
vessels in the United States in 1807. Owing to the Embargo Acts he could not
return, and settled in New York, and became an American citizen. On the
death of Rabbi Gershom Mendes Seixas, he served Shearith Israel in New York
as rabbi, and held that office to his death.

SEIXAS,  GERSHOM  MENDEZ:
Rabbi and American patriot. 
Born. New York, 1745. 
Died there, 1816. 
He was the son of Isaac Mendez Seixas (b. Lisbon, 1708: d. Newport, R.I.,
1780).who came to America via Barbadoes, in 1730. Gershom Mendez Seixas was
appointed minister of Shearith Israel in New York, in 1766, and at the
outbreak of the American Revolution he espoused the patriotic cause. He
compelled the closing of the synagog at the approach of the British, and
left New York rather than come under British rule. He and some of the
congregation settled in Stratford, Conn., but later went to Philadelphia and
founded Congregation Mikve Israel there. In 1784 he reopened Shearith Israel
in New York and was one of the first ministers, 1789, to preach a
Thanksgiving Day sermon. In 1787 he became a trustee of Columbia College,
and held that office to 1815. He preached in St. Paul's Church (1800), and
supported the Administration during the war of 1812. His grave is in the old
cemetery at Chatham Square, New York, and is decorated regularly on Memorial
Day. A tablet in his memory is conspicuous in Shearith Israel.

WISE,  AARON:
Rabbi:  
Born. Erlau, Hungary, 1844:  
Died. New York, 1896. 
In Hungary he was for a time identified with the ultra orthodox party 
editing a Yiddish publication in that interest. He emigrated to the 
U.S. in 1874 and became rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn, 
being later appointed to Temple Rodeph Shalom, New York, 
which office he held till his death. He
compiled a prayer-book, edited the "Jewish Herald" of New York, and was one
of the founders of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and of the Rodeph Sholom
Sisterhood of Personal Service which established the Aaron Wise Industrial
School in his memory.

WISE,  STEPHEN  SAMUEL:
President of the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. 
Born. Budapest, 1874, 
son of Aaron Wise. In 1893 he was appointed assistant rabbi
of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New York, and in 1900 became rabbi of
Congregation Beth Israel, Portland, Ore. In 1906-07 he was offered Temple
Emanu-El, New York, and created a storm by refusing to accept a "muzzled
pulpit." Some time later he founded the Free Synagog, New York, which is an
exponent of Liberal Judaism and through which Wise has established the Free
Synagog House as a center for a unique group of communal and social
activities, and in which is also housed the Jewish Institute of Religion.
Wise has been as prominent as the lecturer on the public platform, as a
champion of suffrage and of other liberal movements, and as an active
participant in political and municipal struggles. James Waterman states: "He
is liked by the powerful and wealthy neither of America nor of Israel. The
term demagog is as liberally applied to him by the one group as by the
other. But the penalty of the disfavor of the powerful has not in his case
been exacted without the recompense of general esteem and popular recognition."

Source:  The Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge (in one volume)
Edited by:  Jacob De Haas (in collaboration with more than one hundred and
fifty scholars and specialists)
Publisher:  Behrman's Jewish Book House-New York
Copyright:  1934
___________________________________________

           Researched and Transcribed by Miriam Medina
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