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Michael Solomon Alexander (1 May 1799 – 23 November 1845) was the first
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem () is the Anglican Communion, Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and has diocesan offices at St. George' ...
.


Life

He was the second son and one of five children born to Alexander Wolff. His ancestors may have come to Prussia from England, or may have been in Schönlanke for many generations. His education in the Talmud began when he was seven years old, and from age sixteen to twenty, he was a teacher in his community of both Talmud and the German language. He emigrated to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in about 1820, and became a private tutor for a Jewish family in Colchester. Then he became rabbi at
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
. Here he came into contact with William Marsh, a stalwart of the ''London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews'' (now known as the
Church's Ministry Among Jewish People The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican Missionary, missionary society founded in 1809. History The society began in the ...
or CMJ). Attempting to flee Christian influences, he accepted the post of teacher and shochet at
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
. He taught Hebrew to the Rev. Benjamin Golding of Stonehouse church. In 1825, he converted to Christianity. Soon afterwards, he and his wife, Deborah Levy, went to live in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, where he taught
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church in 1827. This was followed by working with CMJ, firstly in Danzig between 1827 and 1830, and then in London between 1831 and 1841. He was professor of Hebrew at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
from 1832 until 1841 and helped Alexander McCaul of the CMJ to revise the Mission's translation of the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
into Hebrew in 1835 and to translate the
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
into Hebrew.


Diocese of Jerusalem

In 1841 the British and Prussian Governments as well as the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
and the Evangelical Church in Prussia entered into a unique agreement - the establishment of a Protestant Bishopric in Jerusalem. Alexander was proposed as the first Protestant bishop. He was appointed bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem, and was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
a bishop on 7 December 1841 at
Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...
. He arrived in Jerusalem in January 1842. Alexander's position was always a controversial one. He worked alongside the CMJ pioneer, John Nicolayson, in consolidating the Protestant presence in Jerusalem. Various institutions were set up under his leadership, including a School of Industry for training Jewish believers in basic trades, an Enquirers House, a Hebrew College, and the first hospital in Palestine. His presence greatly antagonised the Jewish leadership, who considered him an apostate, as well as provoking the other major churches to consolidate their presence in Jerusalem. The
Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
subsequently sent a
Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...
to (or re-established the medieval Latin Patriarchate in) Jerusalem to counteract Alexander's influence. He died in
Bilbeis Bilbeis ( ; Bohairic ' is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile Delta in Egypt, the site of the ancient city and former bishopric of Phelbes and a Latin Catholic titular see. The city is small in size but dens ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
while returning to England. He was buried in
Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem The Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery (a.k.a., Jerusalem Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery, ; ) on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, is a cemetery owned by the Anglican ''Church Missionary Trust Association Ltd.'', London, represented by the Episcopal Church ...
. He was succeeded by Bishop Samuel Gobat. He had nine daughters (Sarah Jane Isabella Wolff, Fanny Vincent Steele, Deborah Rebecca Marsh, Anna, Elizabeth, Mary Anne, Louisa, Salome, and Emilie) and two sons (Michael Robert Richard Hawtrey and Alexander Benjamin).


References


Sources

* * Crombie, Kelvin (2006) ''A Jewish Bishop in Jerusalem: The Life Story of Michael Solomon Alexander''. Jerusalem: Nicholayson's


External links


Bishop Michael Solomon Alexander

Alexander, Michael Solomon
(
Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...
)
Records relating to Bishop Alexander at Lambeth Palace Library
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Michael Solomon Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism 1799 births 1845 deaths 19th-century Anglican bishops in the Middle East British expatriate bishops Anglican bishops of Jerusalem Christianity in Jerusalem Christian Hebraists Academics of King's College London German emigrants to England 19th-century German Jews People from Trzcianka Burials at Mount Zion (Protestant) German Anglican missionaries 19th-century English rabbis German people of English descent Missionary linguists Messianic clergy