Isaac Landman (October 24, 1880 – September 4, 1946) was an American

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

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 ...

, author and

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

activist. He was editor of the ten-volume ''The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia''.

Biography

Landman was born in Russia on October 4, 1880, to Ada and Louis Landman. He emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1890. He graduated from the

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

. In 1911, with the assistance of

Jacob Schiff Jacob Henry Schiff (born Jakob Heinrich Schiff; January 10, 1847 – September 25, 1920) was a German-born American banker, businessman, and philanthropist. He helped finance the expansion of American railroads and the Japanese military efforts a ...

Julius Rosenwald Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions i ...

, and Simon Bamberger, he founded a Jewish farm colony in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. In 1913 he married Beatrice Eschner. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was "said to be the first Jewish

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

to serve on foreign soil". He was a leader in Jewish–Christian ecumenism. He was editor of '' American Hebrew Magazine'' from 1918, served as the delegate of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Landman had also been a prominent opponent of

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

: when, in 1922, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

was considering the Lodge–Fish resolution in support of the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

, Landman and Rabbi David Philipson had presented the Reform movement's (then)

position to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Landman also printed many opinions against the resolution and Zionism in his ''American Hebrew Magazine''.Cohen, Naomi W. ''The Americanization of Zionism, 1897-1948'', University Press of New England, 2003, p. 68. The bill was eventually unanimously supported by both houses of Congress,Reich, Bernard, "The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship", in Lesch, David W. ''The Middle East and the United States: A Historical and Political Reassessment'' (Fourth edition),

Westview Press Westview Press was an American publishing company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado founded in 1975. Field of work Westview primarily publishes textbooks. History Westview Press was founded by Frederick A. Praeger in 1975. Praeger sold ...

, 2007, p. 206. and approved by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Harding. He became rabbi of Brooklyn's Congregation Beth Elohim in 1931. Three years later he began editing the '' Universal Jewish Encyclopedia'', which was published in ten volumes in the 1940s. He died on September 4, 1946. Landman was also a playwright. With his brother, physician Michael Lewis Landman, he authored the play ''A Man of Honor.'' Michael Landman's daughter was the architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Landman, Isaac 1880 births 1946 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American rabbis American male non-fiction writers American Reform rabbis Jewish American military personnel Jewish American non-fiction writers Rabbis in the military United States Army chaplains