Joseph Mayor Asher (September 23, 1872 – November 9, 1909) was a Jewish English-American rabbi and professor.

Life

Asher was born on September 23, 1872 in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the son of Rabbi Aaron Asher and Betsey Jacobs. Asher attended

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Ow ...

, graduating from there with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1898 and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1901. While attending Owens, he received the University Scholarship in Philosophy in 1898 and had the Langton Fellowship in Philosophy from 1898 to 1900. He was also an Advanced Student of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

from 1898 to 1900. He was ordained a rabbi in 1893. The descendent of Russian rabbis, he went to study in the Yeshiva of Kovno in 1889. While studying in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

after returning to England, he fell under the influence of

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

and again left England to study in the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. He returned to Manchester after he was ordained a rabbi, acting as dayan (judicial assessor) in cases involving Jews in Manchester courts and helping organize the Manchester Talmud Torah School system. His rabbinical diploma was granted by Rabbi David Tevel Katzenellenbogen of

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

. In 1901, Asher immigrated to America and became rabbi of B'nai Jeshurun in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He served as rabbi there until 1907, when he became rabbi of Orach Chaim in New York City. He served as rabbi there for the rest of his life. In 1902, he became professor of homiletics of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was put in charge of the Seminary's department of philosophy and ethics. He also contributed an article on Jewish food and health laws to the ''

Encyclopedia Americana ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. With ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

'' and wrote reviews for the ''

International Journal of Ethics ''Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1890 as the ''International Journal of Ethics'', renamed in 1938, and published since 1923 by the University of C ...

'' and the ''Critical Review''. Asher died at home from a weakened heart on November 9, 1909. His funeral took place in his synagogue, with Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes officiating the ceremony. He was buried in Beth Olam Cemetery in the Shearith Israel section.

References

1872 births 1909 deaths Rabbis from Manchester American people of English-Jewish descent 19th-century English rabbis Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English people of Russian-Jewish descent English emigrants to the United States 20th-century American rabbis Rabbis from New York City Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty {{DEFAULTSORT:Asher, Joseph Mayor 20th-century American academics Jewish American academics Burials at Beth Olom Cemetery