Isaac Leeser
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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, and helped organize various social and educational organizations. He is considered one of the most important nineteenth century American Jewish personalities. He was "fiercely opposed" to
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 ...
and was regarded as one of the most important "orthodox" rabbis of his era. Leeser is regarded as a forerunner by both
Modern Orthodox Judaism Modern Orthodox Judaism (also Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the secular, modern world. Modern Orthodoxy draws on sever ...
and
Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...
.


Early life

Isaac Leeser was born to Sarah Leeser and her husband Leffman Leeser in Neuenkirchen/Rheine,
Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...
, but his parents died when he was young. His grandmother encouraged his religious studies under the guidance of the chief rabbi of
Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
. Young Leeser was educated at the primary school in nearby
Dülmen Dülmen () is a town in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems ri ...
and then at a gymnasium in
Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
. This gave him a solid grounding in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, German, and
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 ...
. He also studied 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 ...
'' tractates ''
Moed Moed ( he, מועד, "Festivals") is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people (also the Tosefta and Talmud). Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of M ...
'', ''
Bava Metzia Bava Metzia (Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא מְצִיעָא, "The Middle Gate") is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin ("Damages"), the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed a ...
'', and portions of ''
Kodashim file:Pidyon HaBen P6020102.JPG, 150px, Pidyon haben Kodashim ( he, קדשים, "Holy Things") is the fifth of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta and the Talmud, and deals largely with the services within the Temple in Jer ...
'' and ''
Bava Batra Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of pr ...
''.


Career

Young Leeser emigrated to America and arrived at
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
in May, 1824. His uncle, Zalma Rehiné (1757-1843), a respected merchant in that city, sent Leeser to a private school to learn English, but after ten weeks the school closed. Leeser worked in his uncle's counting-room for five years. He also assisted the ''
hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...
'' by teaching religion on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as by defending
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
in the public press when it was assailed.


Philadelphia's Congregation Mikveh Israel

In 1828, Leeser published a letter in the ''
Richmond Whig The ''Richmond Whig'' was a newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia, between 1824 and 1888. The paper had a variety of titles, and it is not easy to determine which title was published in which years: ''Constitutional Whig, Daily Richmond Whig, ...
'' which used Jewish history to respond to an anti-Semitic article in the ''London Quarterly''. This attracted the attention of the Jewish communities of Richmond as well as Philadelphia. About that time Abraham Israel Keys, who had served as
hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...
of
Congregation Mikveh Israel Congregation Mikveh Israel ( he, קהל קדוש מקוה ישראל), "Holy Community Hope of Israel", is a synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that traces its history to 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue that follows ...
in Philadelphia for four years, died. Leeser accepted the congregation's invitation to serve as his successor, although several previous hazzans had been
Sephardic Jew Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
s. Six years later, he discussed his rationale in a letter to Rabbi Solomon Hirschell of London: "Knowing my own want of proper qualification, I would never have consented to serve, if others more fitting in point of standing, information, or other qualities had been here; but this not being the case (as is proved by there being yet two congregations at least in this country without a regular ''hazzan''), I consented to serve." In August, 1829, Leeser arrived in Philadelphia with the manuscript of his first book (''The Jews and the Mosaic Law''). He also brought fresh ideas about his new job. Until that time, a ''hazzan'' in America mostly led the congregation in Hebrew prayers, and Rev. Keys had been known for his fine voice. Leeser was aware however that Rev.
Gershom Mendes Seixas Gershom Mendes Seixas (January 15, 1745 – July 2, 1816) was the first native-born Jewish religious leader in the United States. An American Patriot, he served as the hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel, New York City's first Spanish and Por ...
, the synagogue's first rabbi and congregation founder had delivered sermons in English on occasion, as had Rev.
Solomon Nunes Carvalho Solomon Nunes Carvalho (April 27, 1815 - May 27, 1897) was an American painter, photographer, author and inventor. He may be best known as an explorer who traveled through the territory of Kansas, Colorado and Utah with John C. Frémont on his ...
. Leeser knew that in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Rabbi Gotthold Salomon had broken new ground by delivering a
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
in German. Preaching in German soon became the norm in Reform synagogues, and even some conservative rabbis, such as
Isaac Bernays Isaac Bernays ( , , ; 29 September 1792 – 1 May 1849) was Chief Rabbi in Hamburg. Life Bernays was born in Weisenau (now part of Mainz). He was the son of Jacob Gera, a boarding house keeper at Mainz, and an elder brother of Adolphus Bernays. ...
, had begun to deliver sermons in the vernacular. Leeser helped to transform the
lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...
into the
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
. On June 2, 1830, Leeser delivered his first English sermon. Thereafter he preached with regularity, though on sufferance only, until June 18, 1843, when the congregation formally accepted the sermon as regular. Leeser's practice of delivering sermons on a regular basis was ultimately adopted by American congregations, and preaching became one of the standard duties of Jewish clergymen.


Publisher

The scarcity of books concerning the Jewish religion had concerned many in his congregation. Leeser nearly singlehandedly provided American Jews with the texts they needed to worship. Although Philadelphia had vibrant publishing community, no one wanted to publish his translation of a Jewish instructional for children from German, so Leeser printed and published it himself in 1830. Similarly, he issued proposals to publish his translations of Johlson's ''Instruction in the Mosaic Religion'', as well as his ''The Jews and the Mosaic Law'', both of which likewise produced no offers, so he became his own publisher. In 1837, he edited ''The Form of Prayers: The Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews'', representing a translation into English of the Sephardic prayers used at Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel synagogue. In 1845, Leeser published his own Hebrew-English edition of 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 five volumes. It was the first such translation in the United States, and became the standard Bible for English-speaking Jews during the nineteenth century. Three years later, Leeser published a
Masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
Hebrew edition of the ''
Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''
Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
minister. It was the first of its kind to be printed in America. In 1853, Leeser completed his English translation of the entire ''Tanakh'', commonly called ''The Leeser Bible''. In 1857 he issued a second (folio-size) edition of this Bible. A compact size edition (containing a "Notes" section in the back of the book) was printed two years after the quarto edition (which contained footnotes of more extensive notes), as stated in the second to the last paragraph of the Preface of the compact size edition.


Community leader

Many Jews emigrated from Germany in the 1830s and 1840s, and Leeser founded a free Jewish school in his home, as well as traveled to address other synagogues. He helped found the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia in 1848, although he could not garner sufficient support to establish a network of Jewish schools to rival the local public schools. Following a disagreement, Leeser resigned from
Congregation Mikveh Israel Congregation Mikveh Israel ( he, קהל קדוש מקוה ישראל), "Holy Community Hope of Israel", is a synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that traces its history to 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue that follows ...
in 1850, which called the Italian conservative
hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...
Sabato Morais Sabato Morais ( he, שבתאי מוראיס; April 13, 1823 – November 11, 1897) was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Th ...
as his successor, as Leeser finished his Old Testament translation, as well as oversaw the opening of the first Philadelphia Hebrew school (with 22 students) on April 7, 1851. In 1857, the newly formed Congregation Beth-El-Emeth in Philadelphia called Leeser to lead them, and he served there until his death. When Leeser commenced his public career, the United States had approximately 12,000 to 15,000 scattered Jewish individuals and members of congregations in the United States; that community (and its children) grew to about 200,000 by his death. He helped to mold them into a community in part by his pulpit activities, and in part by his press. Leeser continued to advocate for the rights of religious minorities within American democracy. In the 1840s and 1850s, Leeser used his '' Occident and American Jewish Advocate'' magazine to alert the Jewish community to rising threats to their religious freedom. He also allied with other religious minorities, notably Seventh Day Baptists, to advocate against Sunday
blue laws Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...
that banned work and other activities on the "
Christian Sabbath Sabbath in Christianity is the inclusion in Christianity of a Sabbath, a day set aside for rest and worship, a practice that was mandated for the Israelites in the Ten Commandments in line with God's blessing of the seventh day (Saturday) making it ...
". Leeser participated in nearly all the early Jewish philanthropic activities in the United States — examples include the first
Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...
s, the first Jewish
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, the first Jewish publication society. The ''Occident and American Jewish Advocate'' acquired an international reputation during his 25 years at its helm. The Jewish Publication Society he founded became the predecessor of today's
Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...
, and Leeser's translation of the Bible became an authorized version for English-speaking Jews around the world. Shortly before his death, Rev. Leeser helped found
Maimonides College Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
and became its provost. That paved the way for future Jewish seminaries in the United States, although it closed its doors in 1873 and Hebrew Union College would not be founded in Cincinnati until 1875.


Death and legacy

Leeser died in Philadelphia on February 1, 1868, aged 61 and shortly after publishing ten volumes of his sermons. He was buried in his congregation's cemetery in West Philadelphia, which later became a joint cemetery with his former congregation Mikveh Israel. In 1998, Philadelphia erected a historic marker near the cemetery's location, recognizing his contributions as a teacher and scholar. By the terms of his will, Leeser left his extensive collection of letters, pamphlets, books, and periodicals to Maimonides College, which closed in 1873. Later, in 1913, the collection passed to Dropsie College, which itself closed in the early 1980s. The Leeser collection then passed to the Annenberg Research Institute, which became part of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, as th
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
The University of Pennsylvania Libraries now holds the Leeser collection. Leeser has been described as "a modern Orthodox Jew" because he hoped to create a "dynamic symbiosis of contemporary culture and Jewish tradition". He was also portrayed as "one fthe most articulate spokesmen" among a small group of American Orthodox rabbis in the United States before the Civil War.See also


Works

Leeser published the following works, including his own books, his translations, and books by other authors. * Joseph Johlson's ''Instruction in the Mosaic Religion'' (translated by Leeser, 1830) * ''The Jews and the
Mosaic Law The Law of Moses ( he, תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The law revealed to Moses by God. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew ...
'' (1833) * ''Discourses (2 volumes, 1837) * Portuguese prayers, with Leeser's English translation (6 volumes, 1837) * ''Hebrew Spelling-Book'' (1838) * ''
Catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
'' (1839) * ''The Claims of the Jews to an Equality of Rights'' (1841) * ''Discourses'' (1841) * ''The Occident and American Jewish Advocate'', a monthly magazine (1843—1868) * ''The
Pentateuch 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 sa ...
(Hebrew and English)'' (5 volumes, 1845) * ''Daily Prayers, German Rite'', with Leeser's English translation (1848) * ''The Twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures'' (''The Leeser Bible'')
4to
1853) * ''The Twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures'' (''The Leeser Bible'') (Second edition

1857) * Portuguese prayers, with Leeser's English translation (Second edition, 7 volumes, 1857) * ''The Dias Letters'' (1859) * ''The
Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
and Judaism'' (1860) * ''Meditations and Prayers'' (1864) *
Grace Aguilar Grace Aguilar (2 June 1816 – 16 September 1847) was an English novelist, poet and writer on Jewish history and religion. Although she had been writing since childhood, much of her work was published posthumously. Among those are her best know ...
, ''The Jewish Faith'' (1864) * Grace Aguilar, ''Spirit of Judaism'' (1864) * ''Collected Discourses'' (10 volumes, 1867) * Joseph Johlson's ''Instruction in the Mosaic Religion'' (translated by Leeser, second edition, 1867) In addition, Leeser translated Joseph Schwarz's ''Geography of Palestine'' and, with Jaquett, published an edition of the Hebrew Bible.


See also

* History of Jewish education in the United States before the 20th century *
Jewish English Bible translations Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
* Jewish history in Philadelphia * Relationship of American Jews to the U.S. Federal Government before the 20th century


References

*Comay, Joan, ''Who's Who in Jewish History'', Oxford University Press (1974). pg 118. *Levine, Yitzchok,
Isaac Leeser: Architect of Traditional Judaism in America
", ''
The Jewish Press ''The Jewish Press'' is an American weekly newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York, and geared toward the Modern Orthodox Jewish community. It describes itself as "America's Largest Independent Jewish Weekly". ''The Jewish Press'' has an online v ...
'', June 20, 2007. Retrieved on July 26, 2011. * Sussman, Lance J.1985. "Another look at Isaac Leeser and the first translation of the Jewish Bible in the United States. ''Modern Judaism'' 5.2: 159–190. * Sussman, Lance J., ''Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism'', Wayne State University Press (1995). *
Goldman, Yosef Yosef Goldman (1942 – August 4, 2015) was a scholar of American Jewish history and the co-author of the two-volume reference work, '' Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliography'' (2006). This work is usually cited b ...
, ''Hebrew Printing in America'', YGBooks, 2006. * Volk, Kyle G. (2014). ''Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy''. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 49–68. .


External links


Writings and primary sources


Gershwind-Bennett Isaac Leeser Digital RepositoryIsaac Leeser publications on Internet Archive
contains many of Leeser's works, including

and


Articles about Isaac Leeser


Some Notes on Isaac Leeser
by Zev Eleff (January 12, 2014).
Isaac Leeser: The Right Man at the Wrong Time
by Aharon Rakeffet-Rothkoff (Dec 25, 2013). {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeser, Isaac Translators of the Bible into English American newspaper editors American people of German-Jewish descent German Ashkenazi Jews People from Steinfurt (district) People from the Province of Westphalia 1806 births 1868 deaths Jewish translators of the Bible 19th-century American journalists 19th-century translators American male journalists 19th-century American male writers American Orthodox rabbis People from Richmond, Virginia 19th-century American rabbis American Ashkenazi Jews