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, and helped organize various social and educational organizations. He is considered one of the most important nineteenth century American Jewish personalities. He was "fiercely opposed" to Reform Judaism and was regarded as one of the most important "orthodox" rabbis of his era. Leeser is regarded as a forerunner by both Modern Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism.

Early life

Isaac Leeser was born to Sarah Leeser and her husband Leffman Leeser in Neuenkirchen/Rheine, Westphalia, but his parents died when he was young. His grandmother encouraged his religious studies under the guidance of the chief rabbi of Münster. Young Leeser was educated at the primary school in nearby Dülmen and then at a gymnasium in Münster. This gave him a solid grounding in Latin, German, and Hebrew. He also studied the ''Talmud'' tractates ''Moed'', '' Bava Metzia'', and portions of ''Kodashim'' and ''Bava Batra''.

Career

Young Leeser emigrated to America and arrived at Richmond, Virginia in May, 1824. His uncle, Zalma Rehiné (1757-1843), a respected merchant in that city, sent Leeser to a private school to learn English, but after ten weeks the school closed. Leeser worked in his uncle's counting-room for five years. He also assisted the ''hazzan'' by teaching religion on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as by defending Judaism in the public press when it was assailed.

Philadelphia's Congregation Mikveh Israel

In 1828, Leeser published a letter in the '' Richmond Whig'' which used Jewish history to respond to an anti-Semitic article in the ''London Quarterly''. This attracted the attention of the Jewish communities of Richmond as well as Philadelphia. About that time Abraham Israel Keys, who had served as hazzan of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia for four years, died. Leeser accepted the congregation's invitation to serve as his successor, although several previous hazzans had been Sephardic Jews while he was an Ashkenazi Jew. Six years later, he discussed his rationale in a letter to Rabbi Solomon Hirschell of London: "Knowing my own want of proper qualification, I would never have consented to serve, if others more fitting in point of standing, information, or other qualities had been here; but this not being the case (as is proved by there being yet two congregations at least in this country without a regular ''hazzan''), I consented to serve."

In August, 1829, Leeser arrived in Philadelphia with the manuscript of his first book (''The Jews and the Mosaic Law''). He also brought fresh ideas about his new job. Until that time, a ''hazzan'' in America mostly led the congregation in Hebrew prayers, and Rev. Keys had been known for his fine voice. Leeser was aware however that Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, the synagogue's first rabbi and congregation founder had delivered sermons in English on occasion, as had Rev. Solomon Nunes Carvalho. Leeser knew that in Hamburg, Rabbi Gotthold Salomon had broken new ground by delivering a sermon in German. Preaching in German soon became the norm in Reform synagogues, and even some conservative rabbis, such as Isaac Bernays, had begun to deliver sermons in the vernacular. Leeser helped to transform the lectern into the pulpit.

On June 2, 1830, Leeser delivered his first English sermon. Thereafter he preached with regularity, though on sufferance only, until June 18, 1843, when the congregation formally accepted the sermon as regular. Leeser's practice of delivering sermons on a regular basis was ultimately adopted by American congregations, and preaching became one of the standard duties of Jewish clergymen.

Publisher

The scarcity of books concerning the Jewish religion had concerned many in his congregation. Leeser nearly singlehandedly provided American Jews with the texts they needed to worship. Although Philadelphia had vibrant publishing community, no one wanted to publish his translation of a Jewish instructional for children from German, so Leeser printed and published it himself in 1830. Similarly, he issued proposals to publish his translations of Johlson's ''Instruction in the Mosaic Religion'', as well as his ''The Jews and the Mosaic Law'', both of which likewise produced no offers, so he became his own publisher.

In 1837, he edited ''The Form of Prayers: The Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews'', representing a translation into English of the Sephardic prayers used at Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel synagogue.

In 1845, Leeser published his own Hebrew-English edition of the ''Torah'' in five volumes. It was the first such translation in the United States, and became the standard Bible for English-speaking Jews during the nineteenth century.

Three years later, Leeser published a Masoretic Hebrew edition of the ''Tanakh