Rabbi David Abraham Jessurun Cardozo (March 29, 1896 – August 31, 1972) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Sephardic 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 ...

Rabbi who served as assistant minister of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the oldest synagogue in the United States and was the first rabbi to conduct

High Holidays The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jewi ...

services in Spain since the

Alhambra Decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...

of 1492 expelled Jews from that country. Albert Einstein and others letter

Cardozo was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

on March 29, 1896, to Abraham Jessurun Cardozo and Marie Serlui. He attended the Sephardic Seminary there and

Jews' College The London School of Jewish Studies (commonly known as LSJS, originally founded as Jews' College) is a London-based organisation providing adult educational courses and training to the wider Jewish community. Since 2012 LSJS also offers rabbini ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, as well as the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

.Staff
"RABBI CARDOZO DIES; A SEPHARDIC LEADER"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', September 5, 1972. Accessed January 27, 2009. Rabbi Cardozo was spiritual leader of the

Montefiore synagogue The Montefiore Synagogue is the former private synagogue of Sir Moses Montefiore. It is an 1833, Grade II* listed building in Ramsgate, Kent, England. The synagogue and mausoleum are cared for and maintained by the Montefiore Endowment. The en ...

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...

from 1929 to 1936.Staff
"GETS PHILADELPHIA POST; Dr. D. A. J. Cardozo, Aide of Dr. de Sola Pool, Accepts Call "
''

'', September 5, 1943. Accessed January 27, 2009. In 1948, ''

'' published a letter signed by Rabbi Cardozo and two dozen prominent Jewish figures including

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...

and

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

, which criticized the

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

party, described as an outgrowth of the

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

which the letter called "a terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine" and criticized a visit to the United States by its leader,

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

. Rabbi Cardozo came to the United States to assist Rabbi David de Sola Pool from 1936 to 1943 at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of the

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Cardozo was selected in September 1943 to succeed Rabbi Abraham A. Newman at

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 follow ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. He later served as Rabbi of Sephardic Jewish centers in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Invited to Spain in 1953 to lead services for

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , ...

and

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

, Rabbi Cardozo was able to conduct prayer services and stated that he had no difficulty in bringing Hebrew prayer books into the country or of arranging the use of the facilities of the ballroom of a major new hotel. The services he led, reaching out to the 400 Spanish-speaking Jews in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, were the first there since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.Staff
"BALLET TEAM SKIPS IRON CURTAIN CALL; Dancers Who Fled Via Berlin Subway Are Among 1,145 to Arrive Here on Dutch Ship"
''

'', November 14, 1953. Accessed January 27, 2009. Rabbi Cardozo expressed his belief that the government of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

was showing a "more friendly" approach to the Jews of Spain, noting that permission had been granted by the Spanish government to construct a synagogue in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

."RABBI'S VIEW OF SPAIN; Cardozo Finds Franco Regime 'More Friendly' to Jews "
''

'', December 18, 1953. Accessed January 27, 2009. Rabbi Cardozo died at age 76 on August 31, 1972, and was survived by a brother and sister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardozo, Jessurun 1896 births 1972 deaths Dutch Orthodox rabbis Orthodox rabbis from New York City Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch emigrants to the United States Dutch Sephardi Jews University of Amsterdam alumni Alumni of the London School of Jewish Studies Rabbis from Amsterdam Sephardi rabbis 20th-century American rabbis