Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
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Netherlands
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, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
) was the founder, first president and although unordained, the first
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
of
Congregation Shangarai Chasset Shangarai Chasset (Shaarei Chesed) was a nineteenth-century New Orleans Orthodox (and later Reform) synagogue.
History
Shangarai Chasset was founded in New Orleans on December 20, 1827,Emily Ford, Barry Stiefel (2012. ''The Jews of New Orleans a ...
of New Orleans.
Though Jacobs was never ordained, he assumed the duties of rabbi of the congregation until his death in 1839. Though Jacobs took a French Catholic wife, Angelique Charlotte Jacinthe Verneuille (1781/82-1851), he nonetheless played an active role in the congregation, contributing significant resources to establish organized Jewish life in New Orleans.
In March 1828, Jacobs purchased land in his own name to be used for burial purposes by the congregation, calling the benevolent society by the same name as the synagogue. Aside from Jacobs, the wardens of the society included other early Jewish community leaders Asher Phillips, Abraham Green and Abraham Plotz. This property was located on Jackson Street (now Jackson Avenue) at Saratoga Street, within what is now the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans (but was outside the city limits before 1830). In April of that year Jacobs turned the property over to the congregation, after its charter was approved.
There are surviving records in the Orleans County Probate Court archives referring to Jacobs' estate.
References
* Hill, Samuel S. ''On Jordan's Stormy Banks: Religion in the South: a Southern Exposure'' (Mercer University Press 1983).
* Rader Marcus, Jacob. ''United States Jewry, 1776-1985'' (Wayne State University Press 1989).
* Wiernik, Peter. ''History of the Jews in America: From the Period of the Discovery of the New World to the Present'' (The Jewish Press Publishing Company 1912). International Jewish Cemetery Project - Louisiana detail.
1782 births1839 deathsClergy from New Orleans
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