Rabbi Morris Aaron Gutstein (February 26, 1905 – April 21, 1987) was an American Rabbi (Jewish Guy). He was a prominent congregational
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 ...
in Newport, Rhode Island, and Chicago, Illinois, and a historian best known for his work on the history of the Jewish community of colonial Newport.
Gutstein was born to Naftali and Sarah Pearl Taubes in
Otynia
Otynia ( uk, Отинія, pl, Ottynia, yi, אוטיניה, also Ottynia, Otyniya, Otynya, Otinya) is an urban-type settlement near Tlumach and Ivano-Frankivsk in Kolomyia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. It hosts th ...
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. He was a scion of a rabbinical family, descended maternally from a long line of renowned rabbis, including Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer (The
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
), the founder of
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Judaism, Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory ...
, and
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
(Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi), the famous Biblical exegete. On his father's side he is descended from a line of
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
rabbis with origins dating from the
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain
The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion from Spain following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted in order to eliminate their influence on Spain's large '' converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Juda ...
. In 1921, he immigrated with his family to America. He earned his bachelor's degree at New York University in 1929, received his Conservative rabbinical degree from the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
in 1932, and earned a Ph.D. from Webster University in 1939. While studying at the seminary, he served as rabbi of Temple Beth El in Long Beach, New York.
After graduating from rabbinical school, Gutstein became rabbi of the famed
Touro Synagogue
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel ( he, קהל קדוש ישועת ישראל) is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the Oldest synagogues in the United States, oldest synagogue building still standing in t ...
of
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, the oldest continuously functioning synagogue in America. While serving as Rabbi of the Touro Synagogue, he studied the history of the early colonial Jewish community of Newport, authoring several historical works, including ''The Touro Family in Newport'', ''The Story of the Jews of Newport'', and the biographical treatise ''Aaron Lopez and Judah Touro''. Always proud of the United States founding principals, and the Jewish contribution to the birth of the nation, he declared before an event at the Bunker Hill Monument in 1935, that the Declaration of Independence merited "inclusion in the great Literatures of Religion" and should be embraced by both Jews and Christians as "the American Song of Redemption." He was instrumental in the effort to obtain recognition for the Touro Synagogue as national historic site a designation that was bestowed by Congress in 1946. He continued his graduate studies concurrently, obtaining Orthodox ordination from Rabbi Eliezer Lipa Weisblum in 1937 and a Ph.D. in history in 1939 from Webster University. From 1940 to 1943, Gutstein also served as a civilian chaplain for American soldiers and sailors stationed in the
Narraganset Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...
area. In the years leading up to and during
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 opposin ...
, Gutstein, worked tirelessly to bring Jews living in Nazi Germany to safety in the United States by acting as a formal sponsor for the immigrants, training them in Jewish communal work and ultimately arranging positions for them in other congregations.
In 1943, Gutstein moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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to become rabbi of the Humboldt Boulevard Temple. He became rabbi of the nascent Congregation Shaare Tikvah in 1947, on Chicago's North Side, where he served for 24 years until his retirement in 1971. Gutstein developed into a revered and respected religious authority in the Chicago Jewish community. Under his leadership, Congregation Shaare Tikvah grew to become one of the largest Conservative Jewish synagogues in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Despite his many responsibilities as Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Tikvah, he continued his prodigious writing and teaching. He authored numerous books and articles including ''A Priceless Heritage'', a history of the first 100 years of Chicago Jewry, collections of essays entitled ''To Bigotry No Sanction'' and ''Profiles of Freedom'', and sermonic discourses in ''Frontiers of Faith''. He also wrote several historic monographs. He wrote articles on Judaica in ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', ''American Peoples Encyclopedia'' and ''Colliers Encyclopedia''. He was editor of the ''Tercentenary Edition of the
Jewish Sentinel
The ''Jewish Sentinel'' called simply ''The Sentinel'', was a weekly newspaper published each Thursday by The Sentinel Publishing Company of Chicago (Sentinel Pub. Co.) from 1911 to 1996.
Founded by Louis Berlin (d.1964) with a friend, Abraham L ...
'', was a contributing editor to the ''Universal Jewish Encyclopedia'' and coedited the Jewish ''Family Bible'' with Rabbi David Graubart. He compiled several prayer volumes for the High Holidays and the Jewish Festivals, as well as a book for mourners called ''Help and Comfort, Prayers and Meditations''. He taught courses at Congregation Shaare Tikvah, as well as at regional institutions such as associate professor of American Jewish history at Chicago's College of Jewish Studies which later became the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership Spertus College of Judaica , where, in 1969, he took on the role of Director of the Chicago Jewish Archives.
Gutstein remained active academically throughout his career. In 1948 he received a doctorate in Hebrew literature from the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the Seminary in 1967. Dr. Louis Finkelstein, Chancellor of the Seminary, said to him in awarding him his honorary Doctor of Divinity, "You have added one more jewel to the crown that is your family's name."
Gutstein won numerous awards and honors, including four awards and citations from the
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
The Freedoms Foundation is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Bill of R ...
for "works which advanced the American way of life." After his retirement from the pulpit, he was inducted into th Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame He has at leats one granddaughter named Niomi Gutstien who currently lives in Illinois.