Rabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman (June 27, 1861, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– March 12, 1945 in New York City) was a leader of

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

in 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 ...

at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Biography

Drachman was born to parents who were immigrants from Galicia and

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. After studying in a Hebrew preparatory school, Drachman earned a B.A. from Columbia College. He earned a scholarship at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau (official name: ) was an institution in Breslau for the training of rabbis, founded under the will of Jonah Frankel (businessman), Jonah Fränckel, and opened in 1854. It was the first modern rabbinical ...

where he received his rabbinic ordination. He also earned a PhD from the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. In 1890, Drachman began serving as rabbi in the Park East Synagogue, where he led for the next fifty-five years. Drachman was president of the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

and professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He translated

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the '' Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', hi ...

's The Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel into English. This was ironic as the works of

Zecharias Frankel Zecharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the founder and the most eminent member o ...

of Breslau, a man Drachman considered an important Orthodox leader had been condemned by Hirsch as heretical. Historically, Frankel is considered the founder or at least a forerunner of Conservative Judaism.

References

* Goldman, Yosef. '' Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography'' (YGBooks 2006). *Levine, Yitzchak. ''A Forgotten Champion of American Orthodoxy''. Accessed July 21, 2007.

External links

* * 1861 births 1945 deaths Burials at Mount Zion Cemetery (New York City) Columbia College (New York) alumni German–English translators Heidelberg University alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty Orthodox rabbis from New York City American people of German-Jewish descent 20th-century American rabbis {{US-rabbi-stub