William Rosenau
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William Rosenau (1865, Wollstein,
Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...
,
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, ...
- 1943,
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 ...
) was a leader of
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...
in the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States.


Biography

William Rosenau was born in Wolstein, Germany in 1865, the son of Rabbi Nathan and Johanna (Braun) Rosenau. The family came to the United States and settled in the
Philadelphia 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 ...
area when William Rosenau was eleven. In 1876, Rosenau immigrated to the United States. He received a
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
from the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
and a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
. He also got rabbinic ordination from
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 ...
. He served as rabbi in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
and in Congregation Oheb Shalom of
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. He was also on the faculty of
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
. Rosenau was considered a " radical reformer" regarding ritual and he was a member of the
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) ...
American Council for Judaism The American Council for Judaism (ACJ) is a religious organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a national but a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in t ...
. He was an editor of the revised editions of the ''
Union Prayer Book The ''Union Prayer Book'' was a Siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States. History An original version of the prayer book was published in 1892, based on ...
'' and the '' Union Haggadah''. Much of Rosenau's early education was acquired from his father. The atmosphere of a rabbinic home no doubt influenced Rosenau's decision to enter the rabbinate. He studied at the University of Cincinnati and received his A.B. in 1888. In 1889 he became a rabbi after graduating from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. In 1900 he received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1923 he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Hebrew law from the Hebrew Union College. After graduation from the seminary, Rosenau served at Temple Israel in Omaha, Nebraska from 1889 to 1892. He then received a call from Baltimore to become rabbi at Congregation Oheb Shalom. He served as active rabbi in Baltimore until 1939, when he became rabbi emeritus. In 1942 he completed his fiftieth consecutive year as rabbi of the congregation. While at Congregation Oheb Shalom he succeeded in the introduction of English prayers and sermons (from the previous German), the abolishment of the compulsory wearing of hats during services, and the introduction of the Friday evening service. He also served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Semitics (1902–1932). Rosenau was involved in the activities of the general and Jewish communities of Baltimore. He was a member of the Baltimore School Board from 1900 to 1910 and served on the Maryland Society for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. He was a member of a commission which made a study of state-aided colleges in Maryland, the Board of the Prisoners Aid Association and the Maryland Commission for the Higher Education of Negroes. He served on the board of the Associated Jewish Charities and was for a time its director. He was a secretary of the central Conference of American Rabbis and later served as president (1916–1918). He was a founder of the Jewish Welfare Board, a member of the Board of Jewish Education, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College (1917–1943). He served for several years as chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. He contributed a number of articles to the Jewish Encyclopedia, and translated ''
Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...
'' for the Jewish Publication Society of America. In addition to numerous articles in periodicals, Rosenau also wrote several books


Selected works


Books

*''Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible'' (1901) *''Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs'' (1903, 1925) *''Jewish Biblical Commentators'' (1904) *''The Seder Haggada'' (1905) *''Jewish Education'' (1912) *''Book of Consolation'' (1914) *''The Rabbi in Action'' (1937)


Personal life

Rosenau was married twice. He married his first wife, Mabel Hellman, in 1893. They had two children, William H. and Marguerite (Mrs. Carl K. Kiefer). Mabel Rosenau died in 1923. Rosenau married Myra Krause in 1925. Rabbi William Rosenau died in December 1943.


References


External links

*
Goldman, Yosef Yosef Goldman (1942 – August 4, 2015) was a scholar of History of the Jews in the United States, American Jewish history and the co-author of the two-volume reference work, ''Hebrew Printing in America, Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A Hist ...
. ''
Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography ''Hebrew Printing in America, 1735–1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography'' () is a history and bibliography of Hebrew books printed in America between 1735 and 1926 by Ari Kinsberg. It records 1208 items, annotated with bibliographical infor ...
'' (YGBooks 2006). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenau, William 1865 births 1943 deaths Anti-Zionist Reform rabbis People from Wolsztyn American people of German-Jewish descent People from the Province of Posen Rabbis from Baltimore American Reform rabbis Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty German emigrants to the United States