Mathilde Roth Schechter (also Matilda; December 16, 1859 – August 27, 1924) was the American founder of the U.S. National Women's League of

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

in 1918.

Biography

Schechter was born in Breslau,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland). She was married to Dr.

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter (‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the ...

, a prominent

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 t ...

who was chancellor of the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

(JTSA). They lived in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England before immigrating to the United States in 1902. She founded and taught at the Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls. After assisting

Henrietta Szold Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was an American-born Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Pal ...

in creating Hadassah, Schechter later served as its national chairwoman of education. The Mathilde Schechter Residence Hall formerly contained undergraduate housing for students of the JTSA's

List College Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, known simply as List College, is the undergraduate school of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). It was founded by Solomon Schechter in 1909 as the T ...

. She died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on August 27, 1924, following an operation.''New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1948''

References

External links

* American Conservative Jews 1859 births 1924 deaths Educators from New York City American women educators People from Wrocław Prussian emigrants to the United States {{Judaism-bio-stub