I am also grateful to Rowan College of New Jersey, then Glassboro State College, for releasing me from a portion of my teaching duties, providing supplemental funding and a student worker, Laura Fonseca, who helped moved this project along during a grueling semester. Thanks also to JoAnn Mecouch, secretary for the Philosophy and Religion Department at Rowan, for her intelligent administrative support, and to Linda DeSelice, reference librarian at Gloucester County Community College, for her suggest ions about organizing this manuscript.
I could not travel to all the archives while teaching and several individuals provided informed legwork. Ann Millin, then a graduate student at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, very ably combed the Klau library and the American Jewish Periodical Center for holdings that I could not reach. Anthony Pappas did the same at the Rar e Book Room of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
This volume could not have been compiled without the aid of people from many repositories who interrupted their daily routines to help me find information and solve the organizing problems that come with a project of this kind. Especially wonderful w ere: Kevin Profitt and the able and always cheerful staff at the American Jewish Archives; R. Joseph Anderson and the staff of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies who were as excited by this project as I was and who helped in many ways; and Gina Hsia a t the American Jewish Historical Society, who never lost her patience despite my many questions. Lily Schwartz and Assistant Archivist Frank Muse of the PJA took time from their overworked schedules to explain the state of their collection to me. Judy Robins and Arthur Kiron, at what was then the Annenberg Research Institute, soon to be the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, spent hours shepherding me through their collection in the midst of its cataloging. Arthur's enthu siasm for the documents he was unearthing and the sorts of questions they raised about American Jewish history made the task a real pleasure. Their graciousness was extraordinary. Many thanks too to Julie Miller of the Ratner Center at the Jewish Theolog ical Seminary who explained the history of the JTS archives and guided me through its collections. Gary Schiff, Sara Spiegel, and Hayim Sheynin at Gratz College offered their unfailing helpfulness and informed aid whenever possible. I am, as always, grat eful for their kindness and intelligent help. Thanks also to Cyma Horowitz at the American Jewish Committee, Beth Carroll-Horrocks at the American Philosophical Society, David Zipkin at the National Museum for American Jewish History, Dina Abramowicz at Y IVO, Phyllis Sichel at the Archives of Congregation Keneseth Israel, Elizabeth Fuller at the Rosenbach Museum and Martin Yoelson, archivist at Congregation Mikveh Israel. Each one gave generously of their time and knowledge.
Richard Drucker, who coordinated a household in transition across states while remaining cheerful and understanding about the time I devoted to this project, made it possible for me to complete this volume. To him go my deepest thanks.
Together they proceeded in the making of an American Jewish community to insure Jewish continuity in the new world. Whatever definitions and limitations Solis-Cohen implied, historians note that Philadelphia's Jewish leaders conformed to a Philadelphia pattern. Throughout Philadelphia, new religious educational, cultural and welfare organizations were established by means of interlocking networks of family, work, and religion reflected in the city's many interlocking Boards of Directors.2 Solomon Solis-Cohen and his Philadelphia Group worked together on many such boards.
But Solis-Cohen's group was part of a larger group of Philadelphia Jews who worked in similar ways to achieve similar goals. That larger group is the focus of this guide. The work of all of the individuals included in this guide displayed a vision for the national life of American Jewry unique in its breadth and in its commitment to both a national Jewish culture and, except for Rabbi Krauskopf, to an Americanized traditional Judaism.3 Although the period from 1830 to 1940 saw the rise of hundreds of American Jewish institutions, large and small, those which are associated with the PG, as I have defined it, set standards for others and were unusu ally innovative and successful. Their work gave form to American Jewish communal life. Although innumerable local Jewish service, educational and religious groups formed around the country, those founded by the PG shared a distinctive vision of American Jewry as a united community of coreligionists who shared similar intellectual, spiritual, and material needs, and who benefitted by shared solutions to their shared problems.
Among the first to "save souls" in this manner were the first non-synagogal Jewish charity association in the U.S., the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society (1819), the first Jewish sunday school, the Hebrew Sunday School Society (1838) and the first American residential institution for Jewish poor and orphaned children, the Jewish Foster Home (1855). Although Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869) and her cohorts among the women of Mikveh Israel began and led each of these Philadelphia-based goups, as the first American organizatons of their kind they served Jews from New England to Alabama. Additionally, they instructed Jewish women outside of Philadelphia in establishing similar organizations in their own towns. Their work established new roles and new institutions in which American Jewish women took leadership roles, especially in religious education and in supporting Jewish domestic life.4
Mikveh Israel reached national significance under the leadership of its gifted Hazan, Isaac Leeser (1806-1868). Leeser supported Gratz's Hebrew Sunday School, edited the national Jewish monthly, The Occident and American Jewish Advocate from 1843 to 1868, and launched the Hebrew Education Society (1848), a Hebrew day school which merged with Gratz College in 1928.5 He founded Mai monides College, one of the first schools for advanced training in Judaism in America in (1867-1873), translated the Pentateuch into English (1845), launched the first Jewish Publication Society of America (1845), worked for the success of the Board of De legates of American Israelites, the first national Jewish defense organization (1859), and published an assortment of English language materials of Jewish culture. Among them, he edited and published what was probably the most influential work of Jewish theology by a Jewish woman, Grace Aguilar's Spirit of Judaism . (1842). Leeser regularly delivered and published English language sermons, setting a pattern for published lectures that was later followed by many rabbis, including Joseph Krauskopf, an important national leader based in Philadelphia at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel and the only Reform Jew of the "PG".6
A protege of Leeser's was Moses Aaron Dropsie (1821-1905). Born of a Jewish
father and non-Jewish mother, he formally converted to Judaism with immersion
in the Delaware River at age 14. Dropsie, a jurist, served as Chairman of Maimonides
College an d President of the Board of Trustees of Gratz College (1893) until
his death.7 Mayer Sulzberger (1843-1923) studied law in Dropsie's
office and later became Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.
Sulzberger edited the
Rev. Sabato Morais (1823-1897), who followed Leeser at Mikveh Israel in 1851, is credited with founding the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Unconvinced that the new Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati could serve all America's Jews, and provoked by the Pittsburgh Conference Platform of 1885, Morais determined to establish a rabbinical seminary that would offer traditional training in the heart of America's lar gest Jewish population - New York City.9
As hazan at Mikveh Israel, Morais influenced Sulzberger's young cousin, Cyrus Adler (1863-1940). Adler was an orientalist specializing in Semitic languages and culture, a prolific writer, and a Librarian at the Smithsonian Institution.10 Displaying the vision and commitment to advancing American Jewish culture evidenced by Sulzberger, Dropsie, and Leeser, Adler edited the American Jewis h Year Book (1899), co-edited a portion of the Jewish Encyclopedia, promoted the founding of the American Jewish Historical Society (1892) and was a founder of the National Jewish Welfare Board. In 1908 he became president of Dropsie College. JTS struggled fitfully for its first few years until Adler and others convinced Jacob H. Schiff to provide substantial funding and persuaded Dr. Solomon Schechter to leave Cambridge and assume the presidency of the Seminary. Schechter served as president from 1902 to 1915 when Adler himself took over and remained president until 1940.11
Working closely with Adler and Sulzberger was physician Solomon Solis-Cohen (1857-1948) who sought the causes of tuberculosis, a disease common to immigrants living in crowded, damp quarters. A founder of the Jewish Publication Society, Solis-Cohen co nvinced others that the Society ought to be a wholly independent organization, free of religious oversight.12 Solis-Cohen was a "poet, translator, and gentleman scholar"13 who remained a member of the Board of Managers of JPS for many years while also participating actively in the work of JTS.14 His nephew, Jacob da Silva Solis-Cohen, Jr. was President of JPS from 1933-1949.15
To thrive as a national organization, JPS had to develop and maintain a broad readership in communities around the country. Mary M. Cohen (1854-1911), a prolific essayist who published in journals, magazines, and newspapers, was selected first correspo nding secretary. Although she considered herself a traditional Jew opposed to Reform, Cohen often wrote about the problems and advantages of women's roles in Jewish life.16 Indeed, books that appealed to women formed an important part of the Society's first publication list as it sought subscribers among the membership of the newly formed National Council of Jewish Women (1897).17 Just as important to its growth was literature for Jewish children, such as that produ ced by Emily Solis-Cohen (1886-1969) who was variously translator, editor, and author of volumes published by JPS.18 Like many American-born Jewish women whose concern for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe fueled their communal act ivities, Solis-Cohen, who studied at Dropsie College, worked for the Jewish Welfare Board.19
Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf (1858-1923) founded the current Jewish Publication Society, although Solomon Solis-Cohen, a Board member who disagreed with Krauskopf over religious control of the Society, later provoked him to resign.20 Born in Prussian Poland, he emigrated to the U.S. and graduated in the first ordination class of HUC. Active in HUC and CCAR, Krauskopf was elected vice-president o f the Pittsburgh Conference of Reform Rabbis 1885 and came to Philadelphia's Keneseth Israel two years later. An eloquent speaker and gifted writer, he urged the establishment of the Jewish Publication Society. A prominent spokesman for social justice c auses, Krauskopf was disturbed by the condition of Jews emigrating from Eastern Europe. He travelled to Russia where he visited Tolstoy and a model Jewish farm at Odessa, and returned to the U.S. with the idea of starting a farm school for Jewish immigra nts. The National Farm School opened in 1897 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and is today called the Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture. Krauskopf became convinced that a national homeland for Jews in Palestine was feasible after visiting Pa lestine in 1916.21
Louis Edward Levy (1846-1914) was born in Bohemia and joined Mikveh Israel after settling in Philadelphia.22 Levy understood the struggles facing immigrants and became the president of the Association for the Protection of Jewish Immigrants in 1888. Under his leadership, the APJI merged with HIAS in 1913.23
Lithuanian born Rabbi Bernard Levinthal (1862-1952) came to Philadelphia's B'nai Abraham in 1891 and helped found the Agudat Harabanim (1902)24, established a Talmud Torah, and guided the growth of Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva.25
The Fels Family, Joseph (1854-1914), Mary (1863-1953) and Samuel (1860-1950),
dedicated Philadelphia philanthropists, are included in this guide. Samuel Fels,
along with Levy and Mayer Sulzberger, was also a founder of the APJI.26
The Philadelphia Group's national leadership rested on their vision of American
Jewry as a community with shared problems and shared solutions. Their leadership
emerged with the commitments, and connections, of Isaac Leeser and Rebecca Gratz.
Their influence was felt by later generations of Philadelphians who established
organizations that addressed the spiritual, intellectual, and material needs
of American Jews throughout the country. While the vast majority of American
Jews provided mater ial aid to Jews in their local communities, the Philadelphia
Group endeavored to link services across communities through umbrella agencies
that could strengthen local groups. While most Jews who upgraded the religious
and intellectual life of American J ewry did so within their own congregations
and within the denominational branches emerging in American Jewry at the end
of the century, these Philadelphians established religious and intellectual
institutions and resources that they hoped would benefit Je ws across the nation.
Their efforts laid the foundation for the national and international Jewish
leadership demanded of American Jewry throughout the Twentieth century.
1
Philip Rosen, "Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen and the Philadelphia Group,"
in Murray Friedman, ed. When Philadelphia Was the Capital of Jewish America
(Associated University Presses, 1993)
2 Lance Sussman, "Isaac Leeser and the Philadelphia Pattern,"
in Friedman, ed. (1993)
3 Robert Tabak,"Orthodox Judaism in Transition,"
Friedman, ed (1983) 49
4 Dianne Ashton, "Souls Have No Sex: Women Who Shaped
Jewish Philadelphia," Friedman (1993)
5 Thanks to Dr. Gary Schiff for this information.
6 Murray Friedman,"Introduction" Philadelphia
Jewish Life 1830-1940 (ISHI Press, 1983) 12
7 Frank J. Rubenstein, The Dropsie University: The Early
Years (1977)21 CJS
8 ibid
9 Maxwell Whiteman, "The Philadelphia Group," in
Friedman (1983) 166
10 Cyrus Adler, I Have Considered The Days (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1945) 1-50
11 Adler, (1945); Whiteman, "The Philadelphia Group"
in Friedman, (1983) 163-178; Jonathan Sarna, JPS: The Americanization
of Jewish Culture (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America,
1988)
12 Sarna, (1988) 19
13 op.cit.p. 157
14 op.cit. p.17
15 op.cit. p.173
16 Sarna (1988)22-23; Dianne Ashton, "Souls Have No Sex"
in Friedman , ed. forthcoming, When Philadelphia Was the Capital of Jewish
America ; and "Crossing Boundaries: Mary M. Cohen and the American
Press" ; in Pamela Nadell, ed. American Jewish History special
issue, forthcoming
17 Sarna (1988) 43; thanks to Dr. Faith Rogow for this insight.
18 Sarna (1988) 78,85,115
19 Ashton, "Souls Have No Sex" Friedman,ed. (1993)
20 Thanks to Dr. Malcolm Stern.
21 Malcolm H. Stern, "National Leaders of Their Time:
Philadelphia's Reform Rabbis",in Friedman, ed.(1983) 185-189
22 Whiteman, "The Philadelphia Group" in Friedman
ed. (1983) 165-166
23 Mark Wischnitzer, Visas to Freedom: The History of
HIAS (Cleveland: World Publishing Co, 1956)36
24 Friedman, Murray, "Introduction" (1983)5; Tabak,
"Orthodox Judaism in Transition" in Friedman (1983) 50
25 Whiteman, "The Philadelphia Group" in Friedman
(1983)165
26 Wischnitzer (1956)50