Joseph Mayor Asher was born on September 23, 1872 in Manchester, England, the son of Rabbi Aaron Asher and Betsey (Jacobs) Asher.
He descended from Russian rabbis, among whom were some of the greatest masters of the Torah or Jewish Law, and his heritage strongly influenced him in the selection of his profession.
He was sent for his training to the Jews School, Grammar School, Technical School, and Owens College, then one of the constituent colleges of Victoria University, where he took his B. A. and M. A. degrees and where he received a scholarship and fellowship, the latter for excellence in philosophy.
Resolved to embark upon the career of a rabbi, and seeking to acquaint himself with German methods of scholarship, he matriculated at Bonn University in Germany.
He remained in Russia long enough to complete his rabbinic studies and to secure his diploma as rabbi from Rabbi Katzenellenbogen of Suwalko.
While at Trinity College, Cambridge, he came under the spell of that great scholar Dr. Solomon Schechter, who kindled in him a burning ardor for rabbinical study and research.
Having learned what he wanted at Bonn, he left for Russia and there entered the Yeshibot at Kovno.
He organized the Talmud Torah schools, where studies in the lore and religion of the Jew might be ardently pursued. Upon the reorganization of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, in 1902, Asher was asked to serve as professor of homiletics and to take charge of the department of philosophy and ethics. Soon after his arrival in this country, he was appointed rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jehurum of New York City.
He served with distinction in this position for a number of years and then went to Congregation Orach Chaim, also of New York City. He remained as rabbi of this congregation until his death. By his eloquence in the pulpit Asher made a name for himself, not only in New York but in other communities.
He was equally learned in the subtleties of Talmudic disquisitions, the Maimonidean philosophy, or the reasoning of Immanuel Kant. Little opportunity was given him for writing, because of the exacting nature of his professorial and ministerial duties.
His unceasing labors exhausted him, and he died at the age of thirty-seven.
He devoted himself whole-heartedly to the cause of Jewish education and all interests pertaining to orthodox Judaism.
There is no record of his own family.
