Isaac Mayer Wise (29 March 1819,
Lomnička – 26 March 1900,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
) was an American
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
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 ...
, 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 Bohemia (today Lomnička, a part of Plesná in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
). The son of Leo Weis, a schoolteacher, he received his early Hebrew
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 ...
education from his father and grandfather, later continuing his Hebrew and secular studies in Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
.[
He may have received the '' hattarat hora'ah'' from the Prague ]bet din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
, composed of Rabbis Rapoport, Samuel Freund, and E. L. Teweles,[ or from Rabbi Falk Kohn, however there is debate as to whether he was an ordained rabbi at all. It was even a source of controversy with his intellectual rival, Rabbi David Einhorn.
In 1843 he was appointed rabbi at Radnitz (now ]Radnice
Radnice () is a town in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,800 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
The village of Svatá Barbora is an administrative part of Radnice.
Geography
Radnice is located about no ...
near Plzeň), where he remained for about two years.[ In 1846 Weis emigrated to the United States, arriving on July 23.][ He changed the spelling of his surname to Wise.
]
Reforms in Albany
In October, 1846, Wise was appointed rabbi of the Congregation Beth-El of Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
. His eight years in that position has been described as "crucial period of his existence" and his "storm and stress period". During this time, he conceived many of his later projects.[ Soon after his appointment, Wise began with reforms. His congregation was the first American synagogue to:
* Count women in forming a '' minyan'' (religious quorum).][
* Allow men and women to sit together, in family ]pews
A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom.
Overview
...
. (Another source says this first happened in 1851, at Anshe Emeth.)
* Eliminate Bar Mitzvah, which in Wise's view was meaningless because at that age a boy cannot understand Judaism, and replace it with a later and more informed confirmation, open to girls as well.
* Have a mixed-sex choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
.
In addition, Wise had famously remarked in reply to a question, when he was in Charleston, South Carolina applying for another Rabbinate position (at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim ( he, קהל קדוש בית אלוהים, also known as K. K. Beth Elohim, or more simply Congregation Beth Elohim) is a Reform Synagogue located in Charleston, South Carolina. Having founded the congregation in 1749, i ...
) and lecturing on "The Poetry of the Hebrew Bible", that he did not believe in the coming of the Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
or the resurrection of the dead; a letter from the Charleston congregation documenting these statements was published in a newspaper. As a result, the trustees of the synagogue dismissed him in 1850, which Wise did not accept. At the following day's service, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, at the moment when 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 ...
scroll was being removed from the ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
, an altercation broke out between opponents and defenders of Wise. The fracas was so pronounced that the Sheriff was called; the Sheriff cleared the synagogue, locked the doors, and took the keys. This was the end of Wise's position at Temple Beth-El.[
Supporters of Wise formed a new congregation, Anshe Emeth. Wise remained with this congregation until 1854. In January 1852, Wise was Chaplain of the Legislature of the State of New York, a position supporters, including then-New York Senator ]William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
, helped him get since Anshe Emeth was unable to pay a full salary.[ During this time Wise worked on his ''History of the Israelitish Nation'', which he stated was based on "such facts as are able to stand the test of criticism", eliminating miracles, dogmas, and doctrines, and as a general principle distinguishing religion from history. Unable to find a publisher, he printed it at his own expense, with help from friends. As he put it, "it fell into the orthodox camps like a veritable bomb".
]
''Minhag America'' prayer-book
In 1847, at the suggestion of Max Lilienthal
Max Lilienthal (November 6, 1815 – April 6, 1882) was a German-born adviser for the reform of Jewish schools in Russia and later a rabbi and proponent of Reform Judaism in the United States.
Life and religion Work for Russian Government
Lilie ...
, who was at that time stationed in New York, a bet din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
was formed, which was to act in the capacity of an advisory committee to the congregations of the country, without, however, exercising hierarchic powers. As members of this ''bet din'', Lilienthal named Wise and two others, besides himself. At a meeting held in the spring of 1847 Wise submitted to the ''bet din'' the manuscript of a prayer-book, to be titled the ''Minhag America'', and to be used by all the congregations of the country. No action was taken, however, until the Cleveland Conference of 1855, when a committee consisting of Wise, Rothenberg
Rothenberg is a village and a former municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. Since January 2018, it is part of the new town Oberzent.
Geography
Location
Rothenberg lies at elevations between 200 and 500 m in the sou ...
, and Isidor Kalisch
Isidor Kalisch (15 November 1816 – 11 May 1886) was an American reform rabbi and writer.
Early life
He was born at Krotoschin in Prussia (now Poland), and was educated at Berlin, Breslau (Wrocław) and Prague.
While pursuing his studies in t ...
was appointed to edit such a prayer-book. This book appeared under the title ''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 m ...
'', and was practically Wise's work; it was adopted by most of the congregations of the Western and Southern states. So pronounced was Wise's desire for union, that when in 1894 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 ...
'' was published 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 ...
, he voluntarily retired the ''Minhag America'' from his own congregation.[
As early as 1848 Wise issued a call to the "ministers and other Israelites" of the United States, urging them to form a union which might put an end to the Jewish anarchy in the United States. His call appeared in the columns of '']The Occident
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. '', and was ably seconded by its editor, Isaac Leeser
Isaac Leeser (December 12, 1806 – February 1, 1868) was an American Orthodox Jewish religious leader, teacher, scholar and publisher. He helped found the Jewish press of America, produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English, ...
. Wise suggested that a meeting be held in the spring of 1849 at Philadelphia, to establish a union of the congregations of the entire country. This meeting did not take place, but the originator of the idea never ceased advocating it, especially after he had established his own newspaper, ''The Israelite'', in 1854 (renamed ''The American Israelite
''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper sti ...
'' in 1874). In its columns he tirelessly expounded his views upon the subject. His persistence won its reward when in 1873, twenty-five years after he had first broached the idea, 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 b ...
was organized at Cincinnati.[
]
Move to Cincinnati
In 1853 Wise was offered a position as rabbi of the Bene Yeshurun congregation of the Lodge Street Synagogue of Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio. He accepted on condition that it be a lifetime appointment, which the congregation agreed to. He offered to release the congregation when his controversial ''History of the Israelitish Nation'' appeared months later, but the synagogue maintained its support for him. He moved to Cincinnati in April 1854, and was rabbi of that congregation for the remaining 46 years of his life.[
Shortly after his move, he began the weekly newspaper '']The Israelite
''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper stil ...
'' (after 1874 ''The American Israelite''), and a German-language supplement for women, ''Die Deborah''. Wise was above all an organizer, and called numerous institutions into being.[ He organized the building of the Plum Street Temple in 1866. The temple, noted for its architectural grandeur, was renamed the ]Isaac M. Wise Temple
The Isaac M. Wise Temple (formerly the Plum Street Temple) is the historic synagogue erected for Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise and his congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wise was among the founders of American Reform Judaism. The temple building was de ...
in his honor.
Hebrew Union College
Earnest as he was in proclaiming the necessity for union among the congregations, he was equally indefatigable in insisting upon the pressing need of a theological seminary for the training of rabbis for American pulpits. In his ''Reminiscences'' he gives a vivid picture of the incompetency of many of the men who posed as spiritual guides of congregations, during his early days in the United States. He had scarcely arrived in Cincinnati when, with his characteristic energy, he set to work to establish a college in which young men could receive a Jewish education. He enlisted the interest and support of a number of influential Jews of Cincinnati and adjacent towns, and in 1855 founded the Zion Collegiate Association. The venture, however, proved a failure, and the society did not succeed in opening a college. Not daunted, Wise entered upon a literary campaign, and year in and year out he presented the subject in the columns of ''The Israelite''. Starting in 1868 the project benefited from the administrave skills of Jacob Ezekiel. His indomitable perseverance was crowned with success when, on 3 October 1875, the Hebrew Union College opened its doors for the reception of students, four of whom were ordained eight years later.[ In a famous incident, the 1883 " Trefa Banquet" for this first graduating class included a number of non-kosher foods; Wise was probably not responsible for it, but he refused to condemn it, and criticism from him and his movement of what he called "kitchen Judaism" spurred the splitting-off of Conservative Judaism from Reform.]
Rabbinical conferences
The first outcome of Wise's agitation for union among the Jews was the Cleveland Conference held in 1855, and convened at his initiative. This conference was unfortunate, for, instead of uniting the rabbis of all parts of the country in a bond of fellowship, it gave rise to strained relations between Wise and his followers on one side, and prominent rabbis in the eastern part of the country on the other side. These differences were partly removed during the rabbinical conference of Philadelphia (1869), which Wise attended. The New York conference of 1870, and the Cincinnati conference of 1871 were efforts in the same direction; but a controversy ensuing from the latter served only to widen the breach. Yet was the great "unionist" not discouraged. He continued agitating for a synod which was to be the central body of authority for American Judaism. In 1881 he submitted to the meeting of the Rabbinical Literary Association a report urging the formation of a synod; but the matter never passed beyond the stage of discussion. However, he lived to see the establishment 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 ...
in 1889, which was the third enduring offspring of his tireless energy and unfailing perseverance. During the last eleven years of his life he served as president of the conference which he had called into existence.[
Besides the arduous labors that the organization of these national institutions entailed, Wise was active in many other ways. In 1857, when a new treaty was to be concluded between the United States and Switzerland, he visited Washington as chairman of a delegation to protest against the ratification of this treaty unless Switzerland should cease its discrimination against American Jews. In his own city, besides officiating as rabbi of the Bene Yeshurun congregation and as president of the Hebrew Union College, he edited the ''American Israelite'' and the ''Deborah'', served as an examiner of teachers applying for positions in public schools, and was also a member of the board of directors of 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 44,0 ...
. He traveled throughout the United States, lecturing, dedicating synagogues, and enlisting the interest of the Jewish communities in his plans and projects.[
]
Jewish-Christian relations
As part of a program to defend Judaism against the inroads of Christianity, while refusing to demonize it, Isaac Mayer Wise offered innovative and influential views of the founding figures of Christianity. He was among the earliest Jewish scholars to reclaim Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
as a Jew, and, more controversially, to suggest that Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
was in fact 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 ce ...
ic figure Acher
The Acher is a 53.6-kilometre-long river and right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the county of Ortenau, in the south German state of Baden-Württemberg. It flows in an northwesterly direction from the Black Forest to the Rhine, between the two ...
.
Slavery
Isaac Mayer Wise has been criticized for his attitude toward slavery. In an article from 1864, Isaac Mayer Wise wrote: "We are not prepared, nobody is, to maintain it is absolutely unjust to purchase savages, or rather, their labor, place them under the protection of law, and secure them the benefit of civilized society and their sustenance for their labor. Man in a savage state is not free; the alien servant under the Mosaic law was a free man, excepting only the fruits of his labor. The abstract idea of liberty is more applicable to the alien labor of the Mosaic system than to the savage, and savages only will sell themselves or their offspring. Negro slavery, if it could have been brought under the control of the Mosaic or similar laws, must have tended to the blessing of the negro race by frequent emigration of civilized negroes back to the interior of Africa; and even now that race might reap the benefit of its enslaved members, if the latter or the best instructed among them were sent back to the interior of Africa."[''The Israelite'' 11, no. 26 (23 December 1864): 204.]
However, this quote is taken from an article whose opening sentence is: "It is evident that Moses was opposed to slavery." The article itself, titled "On the Provisional Portion of the Mosaic Code, with Special Reference to Polygamy and Slavery", defends the Mosaic form of slavery as found in the Hebrew Bible, while at the same time offering certain criticisms.
Personal life
Wise was married twice. His first wife was Therese Bloch,[American Jewish Archives: "A Finding Aid to the Isaac Mayer Wise Papers. 1838-1931 - Manuscript Collection No. 436"]
retrieved September 27, 2015 sister of Edward H. Bloch, the founder of Bloch Publishing Company. They had 10 children eight of whom were living at the time of his death: Emily Wise May; Leo Wise Leo Wise (October 28, 1849 – January 27, 1933) was a Jewish-American newspaper editor and publisher. Life
Wise was born on October 28, 1849 in Albany, New York, the son of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise and Theresa Bloch. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio wi ...
; Dr. Julius Wise; Ida Wise Bernheim; Isidor Wise; Helen Wise Molony; Iphigene Miriam Wise Ochs, married to Adolph Ochs; and Harry Wise. She died in 1874. In 1876, he married Selma Bondi; they had four children: Elsie Corrine Wise; Rabbi Jonah Bondi Wise; Regina Wise May; and Isaac M. Wise.
Wise had no close relation to Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise
Stephen Samuel Wise (March 17, 1874 – April 19, 1949) was an early 20th-century American Reform rabbi and Zionist leader in the Progressive Era. Born in Budapest, he was an infant when his family immigrated to New York. He followed his fath ...
.
His works
Wise was the author of the following works:[
* ''The History of the Israelitish Nation from Abraham to the Present Time'', Albany, 1854
* ''History of the first commonwealth of the Israelite'', Cincinnati, 1860
* ''The Essence of Judaism'', Cincinnati, 1861
* ''The Origin of Christianity, and a Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles'', 1868
* ''Judaism, Its Doctrines and Duties'', 1872
* ''The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth: a Historico-Critical Treatise on the Last Chapter of the Gospel'', 1874
* ''The Cosmic God'', 1876
* ''History of the Hebrews' Second Commonwealth'', 1880
* ''Judaism and Christianity, Their Agreements and Disagreements'', 1883
* ''A Defense of Judaism vs. Proselytizing Christianity'', 1889
* ''Pronaos to Holy Writ'', 1891][
In his early years he wrote a number of novels, which appeared first as serials in ''The Israelite'', and later in book form; these were:][
* ''The Convert'', 1854
* ''The Catastrophe of Eger''
* ''The Shoemaker's Family''
* ''Resignation and Fidelity, or Life and Romance''
* ''Romance, Philosophy, and Cabalah, or the Conflagration in Frankfort-on-the-Main'', 1855
* ''The Last Struggle of the Nation'', 1856
* ''The Combat of the People, or Hillel and Herod'', 1858
* ''The First of the Maccabees''][
He wrote also a number of German novels, which appeared as serials in the ''Deborah'';][ among these may be mentioned:
* ''Die Juden von Landshuth''
* ''Der Rothkopf, oder des Schulmeisters Tochter''
* ''Baruch und Sein Ideal''][
In addition to all these works Wise published in the editorial columns of ''The Israelite'' numerous studies on various subjects of Jewish interest. He even wrote a couple of plays, "Der Maskirte Liebhaber" and "Das Glück Reich zu Sein".][
During his lifetime Wise was regarded as the most prominent Reform Jew of his time in the United States. His genius for organization was of a very high order; and he was masterful, rich in resources, and possessed of an inflexible will. More than of any of his contemporaries, it may be said of him that he left the imprint of his personality upon the development of Reform Judaism in the United States.]
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:
*I. M. Wise, ''Reminiscences'', transl. from the German and ed. by David Philipson, Cincinnati, 1901;
*''Selected Writings of Isaac M. Wise'', with a biography by David Philipson and Louis Grossmann, ib. 1900;
*''The American Israelite
''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper sti ...
'', 1854–1900, passim, and the Jubilee number, 30 June 1904.
Links to some works of Wise
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Legacy and honors
*The World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Liberty Ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
was named in his honor.
*A park in North College Hill, Ohio was dedicated to Wise. In 2022, the park was renovated and re-dedicated.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Isaac Mayer Wise Digital Archive
at the American Jewish Archives
Works by Isaac Mayer Wise
in the German Union Catalogue
Funeral of Rabbi Wise
*
''Die Deborah'' (B63)
is a digitized periodical at the Leo Baeck Institute
The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, and Jerusalem that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Baeck was its first intern ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Isaac Mayer
1819 births
1900 deaths
19th-century Austrian people
American Reform rabbis
American Jewish theologians
Judaic scholars
Rabbis from Cincinnati
Jewish American writers
Presidents of Hebrew Union College
American people of Bohemian descent
American people of Czech-Jewish descent
People from Cheb District
Religious leaders from Albany, New York
Austrian Empire emigrants to the United States
19th-century American rabbis