Emil William Leipziger (December 18, 1877 – March 11, 1963) was a Swedish-born Jewish-American rabbi.

Life

Leipziger was born on December 18, 1877 in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

, the son of Herman J. Leipziger and Hannah Edloff. He came to America in 1881. In 1900, Leipziger graduated from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and was ordained a rabbi by

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. He served as rabbi of Temple Israel in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

from 1900 to 1913. He became associate rabbi of the Touro Synagogue in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in the latter, serving under Rabbi Isaac Leucht. When Leucht died the following year, he became the new rabbi. Active in communal work, he was president of the Louisiana State Conference of Charities in 1916 and vice-president of the National Conference of Social Work in 1917. In 1925, he received a loving cup from the ''

New Orleans Times Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'' in recognition of his work for the community chest. He organized the Jewish Welfare Fund of New Orleans and served as treasurer and director of the Hebrew Union College Alumni Association. He was president of 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 ...

from 1939 to 1941. He retired as rabbi in 1948, after which he became rabbi emeritus. Leipziger volunteered to be a chaplain in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but he was never appointed due to the rapid end of the war. He wrote a book called "A Rabbi and His Flock." He was president of B'nai B'rith District #7. In 1901, he married Reta Jeannette Strouse. Their child was Eleanor Jeannette, wife of Leslie Moses. Leipziger died at his daughter's home in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

on March 11, 1963. He was buried in Hebrew Rest Cemetery.

References

1877 births 1963 deaths American people of Swedish-Jewish descent Swedish emigrants to the United States People from Stockholm University of Cincinnati alumni Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni People from Terre Haute, Indiana Jews and Judaism in New Orleans 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American rabbis American Reform rabbis Burials in Louisiana {{DEFAULTSORT:Leipziger, Emil W.