Samuel Mendelsohn (1850–1922) was a

Lithuanian Jewish {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

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 ...

and scholar born near

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Biography

He was educated at the rabbinical college in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, at the rabbinic school in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and at

Maimonides College Maimonides College was a Jewish institute of higher education which existed in Philadelphia from 1867 to 1873. It was named for the great mediaeval Jewish philosopher and Torah sage, Maimonides. Although short-lived, it was the first Jewish theolo ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 1883 he received the honorary degree of doctor of law from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. Mendelsohn served as

of the Congregation Beth-El,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

from 1873 to 1876; he then served as rabbi of the Congregation Temple of Israel, in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, until 1922. Mendelsohn published ''The Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews'' (Baltimore, 1891), in addition to several pamphlets and a large number of articles on subjects of general Jewish interest and Talmudical research, in ''Ha-Ẓofeh,'' the ''Jewish Messenger,'' ''Jewish Record,'' ''South Atlantic Magazine,'' ''American Israelite,'' and ''Revue des Etudes Juives.'' Dr. Mendelsohn was also a collaborator in the completion of the

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 ...

. In 1879, he married Esther Jastrow, niece of the Rev. Dr.

Marcus Jastrow Marcus Jastrow (June 5, 1829 – October 13, 1903) was a Poland-born American Talmudic scholar and rabbi, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive ''Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Mid ...

. He had one son, Charles Jastrow Mendelsohn; the latter was fellow in classics in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

(1901–1903), where he also received the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1904. Rabbi Mendelsohn was active in a number of fraternal and charitable organizations, including the Cornelius Harnett Council, Royal Acanum,

Odd Fellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...

B’nai B’rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the secu ...

and the Fraternal Mystic Circle. He also served as supreme president of the U.S. Benevolent Franternity.

References

Biography at University of North Carolina Wilmington
*

External links

*
Jewish Encyclopedia article for Samuel Mendelsohn
by

Cyrus Adler Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar. Early years Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelsohn 1850 births 1922 deaths American male non-fiction writers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American Reform rabbis Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Lithuanian Jews Jewish American non-fiction writers Writers from Kaunas Writers from Wilmington, North Carolina 20th-century American rabbis 19th-century American rabbis