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David Einhorn (November 10, 1809November 2, 1879) was a German
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and leader of
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
in the United States. Einhorn was chosen in 1855 as the first rabbi of the
Har Sinai Congregation Har Sinai Congregation ("Mount Sinai Congregation") is a Reform Jewish synagogue located in Owings Mills, Maryland. Originally established in 1842 in Baltimore, it is the oldest congregation in the United States that has used a Reform prayer rite ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, the oldest congregation in the United States that has been affiliated with the Reform movement since its inception. While there, he created an early American prayer book for the congregation that became one of the progenitors of the 1894 ''
Union Prayer Book The ''Union Prayer Book'' was a Siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States. History An original version of the prayer book was published in 1892, based on th ...
''. In 1861, Einhorn was forced to flee to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, where he became rabbi of
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel is the sixth oldest Reform Jewish synagogue in the United States. It began in Philadelphia in 1847, and was at a number of locations in the city before building a massive structure on North Broad Street in 1891 ...
. He moved to New York City in 1866, where he became rabbi of Congregation Adath Israel.


Early years

He was born in
Diespeck Diespeck is a municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...
,
Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
, on November 10, 1809, to Maier and Karoline Einhorn. He was educated at the rabbinical school of
Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...
, where he earned his rabbinical ordination at age 17. He then studied at the universities of
Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...
, where he studied from 1828 to 1834, supported by his mother following the death of his father.


Beliefs

He was a supporter of the principles of
Abraham Geiger 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, Geige ...
, and while still in Germany advocated the introduction of prayers in the vernacular German, the exclusion of messianistic hopes and the restoration of the
Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
and the sacrificial services there from the
synagogue service Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...
, and other ritual modifications, lobbying on behalf of these changes at the 1844 Frankfurt Assembly. He was chosen
Landesrabbiner (; he, רב מדינה, Rav Medinah) are spiritual heads of the Jewish communities of a country, province, or district, particularly in Germany and Austria. The office is a result of the legal condition of the Jews in medieval times when the J ...
of the
Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. The town itself has approximately 7,000 inhabitants. Geography ...
at
Hoppstädten Hoppstädten is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstei ...
, and afterward Landesrabbiner of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...
in 1847, succeeding Rabbi
Samuel Holdheim Samuel Holdheim (1806 – 22 August 1860) was a German rabbi and author, and one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. A pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics, he was often at odds with the Orthodox community.(Histo ...
, whose views were a major influence on Einhorn. An incident in which he blessed an uncircumcised boy, which upset many of his more traditional congregants, led to his departure from Germany. He was called to
Pest, Hungary Pest () is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two-thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda and Óbuda, the western parts of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable sights are the ...
, in 1851, where his views met with such opposition that the
Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Ho ...
ordered his temple closed only two months after his arrival. The Emperor saw a connection between the Jewish reform movement and the
Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
.


Emigration

Einhorn emigrated to the United States and was named on September 29, 1855, as the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore. In that role, Einhorn formulated the ''Olat Tamid''
siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...
for use in services, which became one of the models for the ''
Union Prayer Book The ''Union Prayer Book'' was a Siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States. History An original version of the prayer book was published in 1892, based on th ...
'' published in 1894 by the
Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. I ...
.About Us: History
, Har Sinai Congregation. Accessed August 29, 2010.
''Olat Tamid'' contrasted with
Isaac Mayer Wise Isaac Mayer Wise (29 March 1819, Lomnička – 26 March 1900, Cincinnati) was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author. At his death he was called "the foremost rabbi in America". Early life Wise was born on 29 March 1819 in Steingrub in B ...
's ''
Minhag America ''Minhag America'' is a siddur created in 1857 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise that was intended to address conflict between sides supporting and opposing traditionalism in early Reform Judaism in the United States. The prayer book was accepted by the ...
'' in particular by removing references to the status of Jews as a
chosen people Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of a "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term ( he, עם ס ...
and eliminating references to the restoration of sacrificial services in the Temple.


Reform Judaism

Einhorn was an opponent of the Cleveland Conference of 1855 and its decision that the
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
had primacy in interpreting the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
. In this stand, Einhorn stood in contrast to Rabbi Wise's efforts to find language that could accommodate the various strands of Judaism in the United States, arguing that such efforts betrayed the progress of reform. In 1856, he started publishing a German-language monthly magazine, ''Sinai'', devoted to radical Jewish reform, which he also used as a platform for his antislavery pronouncements. Einhorn remained an opponent of
interfaith marriage Interfaith marriage, sometimes called a "mixed marriage", is marriage between spouses professing different religions. Although interfaith marriages are often established as civil marriages, in some instances they may be established as a religiou ...
, arguing in ''Sinai'' that such practices were "a nail in the coffin of the small Jewish race", though he opposed the retention of practices such as the wearing of phylacteries, the limitations on activity prohibited on Shabbat, and kosher dietary laws, all of which he viewed as outmoded. Only those portions of the Torah that derived from a moral foundation were to be retained. He became the acknowledged leader of
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
in America, and in 1858 he published a revised prayer book, which formed the model for later revisions.


Views on slavery

In 1861, Einhorn delivered a sermon as a response to a sermon by
Morris Jacob Raphall Morris Jacob Raphall (October 3, 1798 – June 23, 1868) was a rabbi and author born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1849 until his death he resided in the United States. He is most remembered for having declared, on the eve of the Civil War, that the ...
that supported the existence of slavery, which Einhorn called a "deplorable farce" and argued that the institution of slavery in the South was inconsistent with Jewish values. He noted that the Jewish experience as slaves in Egypt as a reason that Jews should be more sensitive to the plight of slaves. He staunchly advocated this position, despite the fact that many of his congregants and colleagues were sympathetic to slavery in what was then a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
, Maryland. In his sermon titled ''War on
Amalek Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
'', based on Exodus 17, Einhorn stated that "We are told that this crime
lavery Lavery, also spelled Lowry, Lowrie, Lory, Lavoy and Lowery, is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Labhradha'', meaning the "descendants of Labhradha". The Ó Labhradha descend from Labhradh, who was the father of Etru, chief of the Mona ...
rests upon a historical right! ... Slavery is an institution sanctioned by the Bible, hence war against it is war against, and not for, God! It has ever been a strategy of the advocate of a bad cause to take refuge from the spirit of the Bible to its letter." A riot broke out in response to his sermon on April 19, 1861, in which the mob sought to
tar and feather Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a t ...
the rabbi. Einhorn fled to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
where he became spiritual leader of Congregation Keneseth Israel.Biography of David R. Einhorn
yourdictionary.com. Accessed August 29, 2010.


Retirement

In 1866 he moved to New York City, where he became the inaugural rabbi of Congregation Adas Jeshurun on 39th Street, which merged with Congregation Ansche Chesed in 1873, adopted the new name Congregation Beth-El, and built a new structure on 63rd Street. Einhorn retained the position as spiritual leader of the merged synagogue, delivering his final sermon on July 12, 1879, after which the congregation agreed to bestow upon him a pension of $3,500. Upon his retirement, Einhorn was recognized across denominations by his fellow rabbis; at a farewell ceremony held at his apartment (at his request, because of his health) he was presented with a resolution adopted at the convention of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...
, that recognized Einhorn for his rabbinic service, noting the "ability and character which have marked his career, and the earnestness, honesty and zeal which have animated the heart of a man whom we proudly recognize as one of Israel's purest champions and noblest teachers." He died 4 months later.


Death

Einhorn died of old age on November 2, 1879, at his home on East 64th Street. He was 69, and had become increasingly feeble and unable to leave his room.Staff
"DEATH OF THE REV. DAVID EINHORN."
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', November 3, 1879. Accessed August 30, 2010.
His funeral was held before a packed house at Beth-El on November 6, 1879, where his plain coffin was carried into the synagogue by 12 pallbearers and placed before the pulpit. Attending were such rabbinic notables as
Richard James Horatio Gottheil Richard James Horatio Gottheil (13 October 1862 – 22 May 1936) was an English American Semitic scholar, Zionist, and founding father of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Biography He was born in Manchester, England, but moved to the United States a ...
of Congregation Emanu-El, Einhorn's son-in-law and successor
Kaufmann Kohler Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906). Life and work Kaufm ...
of Beth-El, another son-in-law,
Emil G. Hirsch Emil Gustav Hirsch (May 22, 1851 – January 7, 1923) was a Luxembourgish-born Jewish American biblical scholar, Reform rabbi, contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), anfounding member of the NAACP Biog ...
, of
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, along with representatives of the congregations he served in Baltimore and Philadelphia. He was buried at Machpelah Cemetery, near the
Jackie Robinson Parkway The Jackie Robinson Parkway is a parkway in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The western terminus of the parkway is at Jamaica Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York. It runs through Highland Park, along the n ...
.


References


Sources

*


External links


JewishEncyclopediaAbolitionist Rabbi David Einhorn Carte-de-Visite, circa 1855-1861
Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Highbeam entry
* David Einhorn: ''Das vom Judenthum gebotene Verhalten des Israeliten gegenüber seiner stiefväterlichen Behandlung von Seiten des Vaterlandes. Predigt, am 13. November 1847 in der Synagoge zu Schwerin gehalten'' Schwerin: Kürschner 184

Original (German)
Einhorn's reply to Raphall, condemning slavery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Einhorn, David 1809 births 1879 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery American abolitionists American people of German-Jewish descent American Reform rabbis German emigrants to the United States German Reform rabbis University of Würzburg alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Tarring and feathering in the United States 19th-century American rabbis