Samuel Schulman (14 February 1864 – 2 November 1955) was an American

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 ...

Biography

Schulman was born in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

; he came to the United States with his family in 1868, and attended the New York City public schools. He graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1885 and then went abroad where he studied at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

and the

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary established in Berlin in 1872 and closed down by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942. Upon the order of the government, the name ...

(Higher Institute for Jewish Studies) from 1885 to 1889. At the latter school, he completed the courses he needed to be ordained as a rabbi. Returning to the United States, Schulman was rabbi in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would b ...

, from 1890 to 1893, there instrumental in the building of Montana's first synagogue, Temple Emanu-El and at Kansas City, Missouri, from 1893 to 1899. He then returned to New York City 1899 where he joined Kaufman Kohler at Temple Beth-El, succeeding him in 1903. When Temple Beth-El was absorbed by Temple Emanu-El in 1927, he became rabbi of the new congregation, becoming rabbi emeritus in 1934. On June 11, 1924, he offered the

invocation An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of: *Supplication, prayer or spell. *A form of possession. * Command or conjuration. * Self-identification with certain spirits. These forms a ...

at the opening of the second day of the

1924 Republican National Convention Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

. He spoke with appreciation for "the Republican Party's precious heritage of the championship of human rights" and he called for "every form of prejudice and misunderstanding" to be "driven forever out of our land." Speaking of

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

, he praised "the integrity, the wisdom, the fearlessness of our beloved President."Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention, published by the Republican National Committee (1924), pp. 49-50 He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, aged 91.

Literary activities

He was a member of the board of editors for the English translation of the Bible for the Synagogue, a contributor to 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 th ...

''. While he authored no large works, he wrote articles and his sermons were published as pamphlets frequently. Among the articles he wrote were: * "Jewish Ethics" * "Israel" * "Why American Jews are opposed to Zionism" * "The Fundamentals of Judaism as a Religion for the World" * "The Significance of Israel and Judaism for a New World-order"

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schulman, Samuel 1864 births 1955 deaths American Reform rabbis Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Anti-Zionist Reform rabbis