David de Sola Pool ( he, דוד די סולה פול; 1885–1970) was the leading 20th-century Sephardic rabbi in the United States. A scholar, author, and civic leader, he was a world leader of Judaism.
Biography
Early life and education
Born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, de Sola Pool was descended from an old and renowned family of rabbis and scholars, de Sola, which traces its origins to medieval Spain. His great grandparents were Rabbi (R.)
David Aaron de Sola and Rebecca Meldola, his great-great grandfather was Haham Raphael Meldola, a prominent English Rabbi. He was also related to R.
Abraham de Sola, R.
Henry Pereira Mendes
Henry Pereira Mendes (, 13 April 1852 – 21 October 1937), was an American rabbi who was born in Birmingham, England and died in New York City. He was also known as Haim Pereira Mendes.
Family history and education
Henry Pereira Mendes was born ...
and Dr.
Frederick de Sola Mendes
Frederick de Sola Mendes (July 8, 1850 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, West Indies – October 26, 1927 in New Rochelle, New York) was a rabbi, author, and editor.
Family history and education
Frederick de Sola Mendes was born into an old Spanish & Portu ...
.
He studied at the University of London. He held a doctorate in ancient languages, summa cum laude, from the University of Heidelberg.
Career
In 1907, de Sola Pool was invited to become the assistant rabbi of
Congregation Shearith Israel
The Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew: קהילת שארית ישראל ''Kehilat She'arit Yisra'el'' "Congregation Remnant of Israel") – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Unit ...
— often called the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue — located in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the oldest Jewish congregation in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. He served as its assistant rabbi, under
H. Pereira Mendes, until 1919. He left to do work in Mandatory Palestine, but returned to become senior rabbi in 1921, when the synagogue was unable to find a replacement for Mendes after his 1920 retirement. In his detailed history of the congregation, Pool highlighted with satisfaction its noteworthy diversity: "Probably in no other congregation in the world is there so wide an ingathering of Jews from the four corners of the earth as is to be found in Shearith Israel
..Throughout the congregation's three centuries, its history has been marked by the integration of the elements which have come to it from the sixty or more countries of the earth. Within the compass of the congregation the motto of the country, E pluribus unum, has happy fulfillment."
He served as rabbi until 1955, and was an involved Rabbi Emeritus for the rest of his life.
Pool and his wife, Tamar, were particularly concerned about helping young people, to meet and talk with them, and to motivate them to lead ethical lives.
Zionism
Following in the footsteps of his cousin and predecessor, Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, Pool ardently advocated for Jewish nationhood. He and his wife, Tamar, were leaders in Hadassah's Young Judaea youth movement, and Tamar went on to become National President of Hadassah, striving there to support for the Zionist cause. In 1919, Pool took leave of his position and went with his wife to Palestine to do relief work, assuming charge of post-war relief and reconstruction for the World Zionist Organization and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Pool and his wife stayed three years until before returning to his rabbinical position in New York. Then, as Nazism rose in the 1930s, Pool spoke out increasingly of the need for a Jewish homeland, calling on American Jewry to action. And after Israel's founding, he and his wife Tamar were continuously active in support of the new nation.
Publications
De Sola Pool translated and edited the
Sephardic prayer book for the
Union of Sephardic Congregations in 1954, and the
Ashkenazic prayer book for the
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union (OU). It is the main pr ...
. These prayerbooks are still in use in congregations around the world.
His book ''The Kaddish'' (1909, third printing 1964), based on his dissertation, remains a definitive and well-regarded work on the origins of the
Kaddish prayer.
De Sola Pool wrote several important books about
Jewish history in Colonial America The history of the Jews in Colonial America begins upon their arrival as early as the 1650s. The first Jews that came to the New World were Sephardi Jews who arrived in New Amsterdam. Later major settlements of Jews would occur in New York, New Engl ...
including ''Portraits Etched In Stone — Early Jewish Settlers, 1682–1831'' (1952) and together with his wife,
Tamar de Sola Pool, ''An Old Faith in the New World — Portrait of Shearith Israel, 1654–1954'' (1955). He co-authored with his wife, Tamar de Sola Pool, ''Is There An Answer: An Inquiry into Some Human Dilemmas'' (1966). They also co-edited the Parenzo Haggadah for Passover (1951, 1975). De Sola Pool edited the prayerbooks used for the United States Armed Forces. He also wrote a book, ''Why I am a Jew'' (1957), part of a series written by leading clerical figures, which remains a supremely well-written introduction to Judaism.
Honors
De Sola Pool held honorary degrees of Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Hebrew Letters, Doctor of Humane Letters, and Doctor of Sacred Theology.
Respected and admired across the world, de Sola Pool combined spiritual and pastoral duties with scholarship, and also with public service. De Sola Pool was one of the foremost leaders of American Jewry and a world leader of Sephardic Jewry.
In 2012, the
American Sephardi Federation
The American Sephardi Federation, a founding member of the Center for Jewish History, is a non-profit Jewish organization that strengthens and organizes the religious and cultural activities of Sephardic Jews, preserves Sephardic heritage, traditi ...
mounted a small exhibition of de Sola Pool's correspondence.
Other positions
* First President of the Union of Sephardic Congregations (1928).
* President of the
New York Board of Rabbis The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis in New York State and the surrounding portions of Connecticut and New Jersey.
The roots of the New York Board of Rabbis date to 1881 wit ...
(1916–1917).
* Member of Herbert Hoover's food conservation staff (1917).
* Field organizer and director of army camp work of the
Jewish Welfare Board during World War I (1917–1918).
* U.S. representative to the Zionist Commission in Jerusalem, charged with helping to implement the Balfour Declaration (1919–1921).
* Regional director for Palestine and Syria of the
Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...
(1920–1921).
* Founder and director (1922) of the Jewish Education Committee of New York.
* President of the Union of Sephardic Congregations from 1928.
* President of the Synagogue Council of America (1938–1940).
* Chairman of the Committee of Army and Navy Religious Activities of the
National Jewish Welfare Board
The National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) was formed on April 9, 1917, three days after the United States declared war on Germany, in order to support Jewish soldiers in the U.S. military during World War I. The impetus for creating the organization ...
(1940–1947).
* Vice-president (1951–55) and President (1955–1956) of the
American Jewish Historical Society
The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and ...
.
* U.S. delegate to the NATO Atlantic Congress in London (1959).
Family
His wife,
Tamar de Sola Pool, was the daughter of R.
Chaim Hirschensohn
Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn ( he, חיים הירשנזון,
1857 – 1935) was a prolific author, rabbi, thinker, and early proponent of Religious Zionism.
Biography
Chaim Hirschensohn was born on August 31, 1857 in Safed, in the Galilee to R ...
. She was a National President of
Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America
Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jews, American Jewish volunteer List of women's organizations, women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organiz ...
and a prominent leader in her own right.
His son,
Ithiel de Sola Pool
Ithiel de Sola Pool (October 26, 1917 – March 11, 1984) was an American academic who was a widely celebrated and often controversial figure in the field of social sciences and information technology. He did significant research on technology an ...
, was a pioneer in the development of
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
and founder of the
political-science department at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. His daughter, Naomi de Sola Pool, is a physician.
Richard (Dick) Rodstein, his grandson, is a
voice-over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...
announcer.
Bibliography
* de Sola Pool, David; Angel, Marc D. (editor) (1980). ''Rabbi David de Sola Pool — Selections from Six Decades of Sermons, Addresses, and Writings''.
Union Of Sephardic Congregations (
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
). .
* de Sola Pool, David (1909,1929, 1964). ''The Kaddish''.
Bloch Publishing (
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
). .
* de Sola Pool, David (1952). ''Portraits Etched in Stone — Early Jewish Settlers, 1682–1831''.
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
(
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
). .
* de Sola Pool, David; de Sola Pool, Tamar (1955). ''An Old Faith in the New World — Portrait of Shearith Israel, 1654–1954''.
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
(
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
). .
* David de Sola Pool, Why I Am A Jew (NY: Bloch Publishing) 1957, Shuly Rubin Schwartz, ''The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life'' (NY: New York University Press) 2006, and the Pool Papers, archives as cited in Schwartz.
* The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
* Angel, Rabbi Marc. "Rabbi Dr. David de Sola Pool: Sephardic Visionary and Activist," Conversations, the journal of the
Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, Issue 28. https://www.jewishideas.org/article/rabbi-dr-david-de-sola-pool-sephardic-visionary-and-activist
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sola Pool, David De
1885 births
1970 deaths
20th-century Sephardi Jews
American Orthodox rabbis
American Sephardic Jews
American sermon writers
English emigrants to the United States
English people of Spanish-Jewish descent
American Freemasons
Jewish American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Writers from London
Writers from New York City
American historians of religion
Alumni of the University of London
20th-century American translators
20th-century male writers
Historians from New York (state)
Burials at Beth Olom Cemetery
20th-century American rabbis