Daniel Block ( – 1853) was a Jewish leader who founded the B'nai B'rith synagogue in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. He lived for only four years in the United States but he made important contributions on the culture of the St. Louis Jewish community to which he belonged. Between his arrival in about 1848, and his death in 1853, he contributed greatly to the organization and development of B'nai El congregation.
Early life
Daniel Block was probably born in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
in or around 1802 but no birth record has been located. In the 1850 United States City of St. Louis Census he stated his profession as butcher and his birthplace as Germany.
The 1850 census entry for his wife Sarah Wedeles and his children stated they were born in Germany. At this time the family lived in Ward 1 of the City of St. Louis, close to the Mississippi River and south of the Eads Bridge.
Later US census entries for his wife and children stated that they were born in Bohemia. Many Block family members went to St. Louis in the early 19th century from Bohemia, then a part of the Austrian Empire. Most came from
Å vihov,
Klatovy District
Klatovy District ( cs, Okres Klatovy) is a district ('' okres'') within Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Klatovy. With its area of 1,946 km² it is the largest district in the Czech Republic.
List of municipalities
Běha� ...
, in German Schwihau. This is a small town about 70 miles South West of Prague in the Klatovy region.
Synagogue development
Daniel Block did have a well-known and documented involvement in the founding in 1849 of synagogue B'nai B'rith. His actions were described in some detail in Zion in the Valley.
[Ehrlich, Walter. Zion in the Valley. The Jewish Community of St. Louis. Volume 1. 1807-1907. University of Missouri Press. Columbia and London. 1997. ] This congregation was known as the "Bohemian shul" as it was founded by German speaking Bohemian Jews who lived in the southern part of St. Louis.
Daniel Block was named as the "first parnass" and referred to as "the father of the B'nai B'rith Congregation."
Many of the other founding members were listed in Daniel Block's 1853 will. This congregation came into existence because recently emigrating liberal Bohemian German Jews considered the preexisting United Hebrew congregation too intolerant in religious matters and too Polish in habits and mannerisms and too exacting in financial matters.
B'nai B'rith purchased a lot inside the city upon which it hoped to build a synagogue, but in October 1850, unable to pay the balance on the land, they returned it to the Benjamin Soulard estate. Shortly thereafter, when
Isidor Bush
Isidor Bush or Busch (January 15, 1822, Prague – August 5, 1898, St. Louis, Missouri) was a man of letters, publisher, and viticulturalist.
His maternal great-grandfather was , the first Jew raised to nobility in Austria.
"Jahrbücher"
At age ...
became president, new efforts resulted in successfully acquiring another plot of land on Jackson Street. Bush then appealed for funds from the entire country by publishing in the Rabbi
Isaac Leeser
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, ...
paper in Philadelphia an open letter asking for money for a building. This letter was signed by Bush as president, M. Taussig as vice-president and by Ludwig Schwartzkopf as secretary.
Rabbi Leeser traveled throughout the US seeking to unify the Jewish people. He spoke to more than a hundred people at United Hebrew temple on Fifth Street in St. Louis on December 14, 1851. He pointed out the absurdity of maintaining three separate congregations.
As a result of this activity B'nai B'rith merged with Emanu-El and United Hebrew to form B'nai-El. During 1852 Daniel served on several committees that assisted in the merger of B'nai B'rith and Emanu El that preceded the merger with United Hebrew. On October 17, 1852, a document was ratified that created B'nai El. Daniel was appointed a Temporary Director along with Bush. Daniel, along with Fred Wolff, F. L. Dattelzweig, L. R. Strauss, Bernard Singer and Julius Epstein were placed on a fund raising committee. Later he was made a permanent Director along with Isidor Bush, William Walter, Alexander Suess, Bernard Singer, Isaac Lowman and Ludwig Schwartzkopf.
In 1853 he convinced the Directors to reject leasing a lot and to go ahead and purchase land and build a completely new building. The congregation concluded a deal shortly after his death to purchase land at Sixth and Gratiot near Cerre. The first synagogue constructed in St. Louis, and first west of the Mississippi had its cornerstone laid at this site on April 16, 1855. Over four hundred people attended the ceremony
Friends and family
His first son-in-law was Louis Schwarzkopf, probably from Susice Bohemia, also a part of the founding group at B'nai-B'rith. Louis is mentioned in Zion in the Valley as the chazzan from 1852 to 1857. Louis died at age 38 on December 18, 1863, leaving Daniel's daughter Dora a widow with four small children. Louis may be related to Abraham Schwarzkopf who was married to an earlier time period Block family member, Esther, sister of Eliezer S. Block and of Ellen Block who married Joseph Kohn.
Daniel Block died on September 3, 1853, and was buried in
New Mount Sinai Cemetery
New Mount Sinai Cemetery is a cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Its first burial was in 1853, and its rural cemetery landscape design was laid out in 1907. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. As of the 2005 listing, t ...
(old section), St. Louis. He was the first person to be buried within this newly formed cemetery and is so noted on the web site introduction to the cemetery. His tombstone is a replacement donated by his children
Daniel Block's children were Heinrich, Jacob, Dora (born as Veronika), and Abraham.
[Svihov birth records 1832-1840, Library Code HBMa 2028. Prague, Czech Republic.]
References
Further reading
* Jewish Tribune November 23, 1883, Historical Sketches, The Jews in St. Louis, Isidor Bush.
* Makovsky, Donald I. Origin and Early History of United Hebrew Congregation of St. Louis, 1841-1859. Master's Thesis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
195
Web site of present day Congregation B'nai El* The Jewish Voice 5 December 1902. "persistence of Daniel Block, who had been one of B'nai B'rith's influential leaders"
* Ehrlich page 94 "merger of Emanu El and B'nai B'rith…October 17, 1852…Temporary directors …Daniel Block"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Daniel
1800s births
1853 deaths
Date of birth unknown
American Jews
Bohemian Jews
Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to the United States
Naturalized citizens of the United States