Abraham Aaron Neuman (September 23, 1890 – November 20, 1970) was an Austrian-born American rabbi, historian, and college president from Philadelphia.

Life

Neuman was born on September 23, 1890, in

Berezhany Berezhany ( uk, Бережани, ; pl, Brzeżany; yi, ברעזשאַן, Brezhan; he, בּז'יז'אני/בּז'ז'ני ''Bzhezhani''/''Bzhizhani'') is a city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It lies about fr ...

Austria-Hungary 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 ...

, the son of Max Neuman and Rachel Rose. He immigrated to America in 1898. Neuman attended several parochial schools in

New York City, New York 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 graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1909. In 1912, he received an A.M. from Columbia and was ordained a rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary. He received a D.H.L. from the Seminary in 1914. He became a history instructor at the Teachers' Institute at the Seminary in 1912, and in 1913 he joined the faculty of Dropsie College in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He became an associate professor there in 1923 and a professor in 1934. His two-volume book ''The Jews in Spain: Their Social, Political and Cultural Life During the Middle Ages'', published in 1942, was a pioneer work that attempted for the first time to reconstruct the social life of Spanish Jews based on the rabbinic responsa and then-recently published archival material. He also wrote the biography ''Cyrus Adler'' in 1942. A Democrat, he was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for the 1940 presidential election. Neuman became president of Dropsie College following Cyrus Adler's death in 1940. Under him, the College expanded its curriculum and added departments in Middle Eastern studies, education, and philosophy. He served as president until he retired in 1966. He contributed to various scholarly periodicals, and many of his studies appeared in the 1953 ''Landmarks and Goals''. He and

Solomon Zeitlin Solomon Zeitlin, שְׁניאור זלמן צײטלין, Шломо Цейтлин ''Shlomo Cejtlin'' (''Tseitlin, Tseytlin'') (28 May 1886 or 31 May 1892, in Chashniki, Vitebsk Governorate (now in Vitebsk Region) in Russia – 28 December 1976, in ...

edited ''

The Jewish Quarterly Review ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pen ...

'' from 1940 to 1966. He was active in developing the Zionist movement in America. Closely involved with

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...

, he served as rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun from 1919 to 1927 and of Congregation Mikveh Israel from 1927 to 1943, president of the Board of Jewish Ministers of Philadelphia, an Executive Council member of the

United Synagogue The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations (including 7 affiliates and 1 associate, ), comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest ...

, president of the United Synagogue's Philadelphia branch, and chairman of the United Synagogue's Palestine Committee that dedicated itself to building the Yeshurun Synagogue in Jerusalem. He was also an early advocate for developing a placement system for Conservative rabbis. Neuman was an honorary fellow of the Jewish Academy of Arts and Sciences, vice-president and executive council member of the

American Jewish Historical Society The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and ...

, a publication committee member of the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...

, an advisory committee member of the Adult Education Council for Philadelphia, a member of the NCCJ committee on religious organizations, an honorary member of the American Academy for Jewish Research, an editor of the ''

Universal Jewish Encyclopedia Isaac Landman (October 24, 1880 – September 4, 1946) was an American Reform rabbi, author and anti-Zionist activist. He was editor of the ten volume '' Universal Jewish Encyclopedia''. Biography Landman was born in Russia on October 4, 1880, to A ...

'', editorial board chairman of the Jewish Apocryphal Liter, and co-editor of ''Saadia Studies''. Neuman received several honorary degrees, including a LL.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

and a D.H.L. from Hebrew Union College in 1945, a Litt.D. from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1947, a L.H.D. from New York University in 1955, and a D.H.L. from Dropsie College in 1968. He was on the state advisory board of the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It w ...

of Pennsylvania, the Better Philadelphia Committee, and the Committee of One Hundred. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Constitution Commemoration Committee in 1937 to 1938, an honorary fellow of the

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visua ...

and the

Oriental Club The Oriental Club in London is an exclusive Private Members’ Club established in 1824 Charles Graves describes it as fine in quality as White's but with the space of infinitely larger clubs. It is located in Stratford Place, near Oxford S ...

, and a member of the

American Historical Society The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

, the

American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society encourages basi ...

, the

Rabbinical Assembly The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, an ...

, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Philmont Country Club, and the Round Table Club of Philadelphia. In 1919, he married Gladys Reed of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. They had a son, Cyrus Adler. He later divorced Gladys. In 1944 he married Elsie (Gans) Guggenheim, the daughter of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

manufacturer Moses Godwin Gans and widow of Siegfried E. Guggenheim. Neuman died at the

Albert Einstein Medical Center The Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia is a non-profit hospital located in NorthPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The hospital is a part of the Einstein Healthcare Network. The medical center offers residency and fellowship training programs in many ...

on November 20, 1970.

References

External links

Abraham A. Neuman Papers
at the ''

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization. History The Katz Center is t ...

'' 1890 births 1970 deaths Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People from Berezhany Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Columbia University alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty Dropsie College faculty Heads of universities and colleges in the United States 20th-century American rabbis Rabbis from Philadelphia Jewish American historians Historians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American academics 20th-century American historians Pennsylvania Democrats 1940 United States presidential electors {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuman, Abraham A.