Solomon Schechter (‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

n-born British-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 t ...

, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of 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 as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

, and architect of American

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

. He is an important figure in Jewish studies and

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

, particularly his study of the Cairo Geniza.

Early life

He was born in Focşani,

(now Romania), to Rabbi Yitzchok Hakohen, a shochet ("ritual slaughterer") and member of Chabad hasidim. He was named after its founder, Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Schechter received his early education from his father. Reportedly, he learned to read

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

by age 3, and by 5 mastered Chumash. He went to a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

in Piatra Neamț at age 10 and at age thirteen studied with one of the major

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic scholars, Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson of Lemberg. In his 20s, he went to the Rabbinical College in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he studied under the more modern Talmudic scholar Meir Friedmann, before moving on in 1879 to undertake further studies at the '' Berlin Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums'' and at the University of Berlin. In 1882, he was invited to Britain, to be tutor of rabbinics under

Claude Montefiore Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore, also Goldsmid–Montefiore or just Goldsmid Montefiore (1858–1938) was the intellectual founder of Anglo-Liberal Judaism (UK), Liberal Judaism and the founding president of the World Union for Progress ...

in London.

Academic career

In 1890, after the death of Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy, he was appointed to the faculty at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, serving as a lecturer in Talmudics and reader in Rabbinics. The students of the Cambridge University Jewish Society hold an annual Solomon Schechter Memorial Lecture. His greatest academic fame came from his excavation in 1896 of the papers of the Cairo Geniza, an extraordinary collection of over 100,000 pages (around 300,000 documents) of rare Hebrew religious manuscripts and medieval Jewish texts that were preserved at an Egyptian synagogue. The find revolutionized the study of Medieval Judaism. Jacob Saphir was the first Jewish researcher to recognize the significance of the Cairo Geniza, as well as the first to publicize the existence of the Midrash ha-Gadol. Schechter was alerted to the existence of the Geniza's papers in May 1896 by two Scottish sisters, Agnes and Margaret Smith (also known as Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson), who showed him some leaves from the Geniza that contained the Hebrew text of Sirach, which had for centuries only been known in Greek and Latin translation. Letters, written at Schechter's prompting, by Agnes Smith to '' The Athenaeum'' and '' The Academy'' quickly revealed the existence of another nine leaves of the same manuscript in the possession of Archibald Sayce at University of Oxford. Schechter quickly found support for another expedition to the Cairo Geniza, and arrived there in December 1896 with an introduction from the Chief Rabbi, Hermann Adler, to the Chief Rabbi of Cairo, Aaron Raphael Ben Shim'on. He carefully selected for the Cambridge University Library a trove three times the size of any other collection: this is now part of the Taylor-Schechter Collection. The find was instrumental in Schechter resolving a dispute with David Margoliouth as to the likely Hebrew language origins of Sirach. Charles Taylor took a great interest in Solomon Schechter's work in Cairo, and the '' genizah'' fragments presented to the University of Cambridge are known as the Taylor-Schechter Collection. He was joint editor with Schechter of ''The Wisdom of Ben Sira'', 1899. He published separately ''Cairo Genizah Palimpsests'', 1900. He became a Professor of Hebrew at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1899 and remained until 1902 when he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and was replaced by Israel Abrahams.

American Jewish community

In 1902, traditional Jews reacting against the progress of the American

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

movement, which was trying to establish an authoritative "synod" of American rabbis, recruited Schechter to become President of the

(JTSA). Schechter served as the second President of the JTSA, from 1902 to 1915, during which time he founded the United Synagogue of America, later renamed as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Death

He died in 1915, and was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

Religious and cultural beliefs

Schechter emphasized the centrality of Jewish law (''Halakha'') in Jewish life in his inaugural address as president of JTS in 1902: Schechter, on the other hand, believed in what he termed "Catholic Israel." The basic idea being that ''Halakha'' is formed and evolves based on the behavior of the Jewish people. The concept of modifying the law based on national consensus is an untraditional viewpoint. Schechter was an early advocate of

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. He was the chairman of the committee that edited the Jewish Publication Society of America Version of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Schechter's name is synonymous with the findings of the Cairo Geniza. He placed the JTSA on an institutional footing strong enough to endure for over a century. He became identified as the foremost personality of Conservative Judaism and is regarded as its founder. A network of

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Jewish day schools is named in his honor, as well as a summer camp in Olympia, Washington. There are several dozen Solomon Schechter Day Schools across the United States and Canada. His daughter Ruth was married to the South African Jewish politician Morris Alexander from 1907 to 1935.

Bibliography

* Schechter, Solomon (1896) ''Studies in Judaism''. 3 vols. London: A. & C. Black, 1896-1924 (Ser. III published by The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia PA) * Schechter, Solomon (1909) ''Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology'' London: A. and C. Black (Reissued by Schocken Books, New York, 1961; again by Jewish Lights, Woodstock, Vt., 1993: including the original preface of 1909 & the introduction by Louis Finkelstein; new introduction by Neil Gilman .e. Gillman

References

External links

Solomon Schechter, from Neil Gillman's book on Conservative Judaism

* Louis Jacobs
From Cairo to Catholic Israel: Solomon Schechter
in ''The Jewish Religion: a Companion'', OUP, 1995
Solomon Schechter Collection at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston

AHRC Rylands Cairo Genizah Project

Solomon Schechter School of Queens

Solomon Schechter School of Westchester
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schechter, Solomon 1847 births 1915 deaths 19th-century British rabbis 19th-century Romanian rabbis 20th-century British rabbis 20th-century Romanian rabbis American Conservative rabbis American male non-fiction writers American Zionists Conservative Zionist rabbis Jews from the Principality of Moldavia Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Academics of University College London Academics of the University of Cambridge Jewish American academics Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish scholars Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty Jewish Egyptian history American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Romanian Zionists British Zionists British people of Romanian-Jewish descent People from Focșani Romanian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American rabbis 19th-century American rabbis Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) Jewish translators of the Bible Humboldt University of Berlin alumni