Hyman Gerson Enelow (October 26, 1877 – February 6, 1934) was a Russian-born American

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 ...

of the New York Congregation Emanu-El.

Life

Enelow was born on October 26, 1877, in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

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, the son of merchant Leopold Enelow and Matilda Marver. Enelow moved to Liepāja with his family when he was an infant. In 1893, he immigrated to America with his family and settled in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He intended to study at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, but en route he changed his mind and went to America. Under the influence of

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 ...

and Joseph Stolz, he went to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

prior to going to

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 ...

in 1895. He received a B.A. 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 ...

in 1897 and was an English fellow there from 1897 to 1898. He was ordained a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in 1898, and received a D.D. there in 1900 and an honorary D.H.L. in 1925. Enelow was rabbi of Temple Israel in Paducah, Kentucky, from 1898 to 1901, Temple Adath Israel in

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 ...

, from 1901 to 1912, and Temple Emanu-El in

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, from 1912 to 1934. He was vice-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 1925 to 1927 and its president from 1927 to 1929. He helped establish chairs for

Jewish Studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(with the aid of his friend Lucius Littauer) and in

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(with the aid of Mrs. Nathan Miller). He wrote a number of books on Jewish religion, and had a private library of over 20,000 he willed to the Jewish Theological Seminary when he died. During

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 ...

, Enelow went to France as overseas commander and general field secretary of the National Jewish Welfare Board. He was also a member of the Army Education Corps during that time. He served on a number of committees of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He died at sea of heart failure, on February 6, 1934, while on a cruise to the Mediterranean. He was never married. He was buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. In the year prior to Enelow's death, he published a rabbinic work written in about the later end of the 4th-century CE, entitled ''Mishnat Rabbi Eli'ezer (aka The Thirty-two Hermeneutical Principles)'', a work heretofore preserved in manuscript form, and cited by the author of the Midrash HaGadol. The work is replete with English annotations.

References

External links

Hyman G. Enelow Papers
at the '' American Jewish Archives'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Enelow, Hyman G. 1877 births 1934 deaths People from Kannus People from Liepāja Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Clergy from Chicago University of Chicago alumni University of Cincinnati alumni Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni 19th-century American rabbis 20th-century American rabbis American Reform rabbis Rabbis from New York City People from Paducah, Kentucky Religious leaders from Louisville, Kentucky People who died at sea Burials at Rosehill Cemetery