Leeser, Isaac b. December 12, 1806; Neukirchen, Westphalia d. February 1, 1868; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Prominent German American Jewish religious leader, educator, and writer. He was a modern orthodox leader who sought to preserve Jewish law and practice while making moderate cultural modifications of Judaism to American life.
Leeser laid the foundations for modern orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism in the United States. Apart from establishing the first significant Jewish periodical in America, Leeser was also active in the formation of the first Jewish Sunday school in the United States, protested against antisemitism and Christian missionaries, and translated canonical Jewish texts into English.Leeser was educated by orthodox rabbi Abraham Sutro in Dulmen, Lower Saxony, and obtained secular education at the Gymnasium of Muenster. At the age of eighteen (1824), he went to America to work for his uncle in Richmond, Virginia. Although his knowledge of Jewish subjects was limited, the young immigrant read widely on his own and proved himself articulate. At the age of twenty-two (1828) Leeser published a series of six articles in defense of Jews in Richmond’s Whig. These articles attracted wide notice, and in 1829 the influential Sephardi congregation in Philadelphia (Mikveh Israel) invited him to be its cantor.
A year later (1830) Leeser began regular preaching in English, an innovation that earned him the label “reformer” from his congregants. But Leeser strongly opposed Reform Judaism because he insisted that changes could be justified only in accordance with Jewish law, which is divine and eternal. Thus he was willing to endorse only moderate cultural adaptations, such as modern garb, English prayers, and a larger role for women in Jewish education. Perhaps Leeser’s greatest achievement was the seventeen-year project of translating the Hebrew Bible into English, which was published in 1845. Leeser also provided the first English translation of a Sephardic prayer book and wrote numerous textbooks for children. In 1838 Leeser cooperated with Rebecca Gratz in establishing the first Jewish Sunday school, aimed at providing Philadelphia’s Jewish children some kind of religious education and countering the influence of Christian missionaries.
In his last years Leeser established the first (though short-lived) American Jewish rabbinical school.In 1843 Leeser founded the monthly The Occident, which was the first successful American Jewish newspaper and spread Leeser’s name and traditional views across Jewish communities in America. Through his publication Leeser was among the most outspoken Jewish voices against antisemitism and Christian proselytizing. In 1859 he was a cofounder of the first American Jewish national organization (The Board of Delegates of American Israelites), which set out to represent American Jews and struggle against anti-Jewish discrimination. During the Civil War, Leeser bitterly protested against General Grant’s notorious order in December 1862 (later revoked by President Abraham Lincoln), which expelled Jews “as a class” from the U.S. Army’s Department of Tennessee. After the war he warned American Jews that the crusade to add a Christian amendment to the Constitution could turn into an anti-Jewish campaign. Leeser’s advice to the Jewish community was always to use the ballot, the pen, and their right of free speech to defend their rights.
Gil Ribak
See also German Jewish Migration to the United States; Judaism, Reform (North America)
References and Further Reading
Davis, Moshe. The Emergence of Conservative Judaism: The Historical School in Nineteenth Century America. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1963.
Korn, Bertram Wallace. “Isaac Leeser: Centennial Reflections.” American Jewish Archives 19 (November 1967): 127—141.
Sussman, Lance J. Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University, 1996.