Background
Samuel Myer was born on January 4, 1804 at Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands. In 1814, his father, Myer Samuel Isaacs. Four of the five his sons, including Samuel, entered the rabbinate.
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The Old Guard: And Other Addresses (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Old Guard: And Other Addresses He was b...)
Excerpt from The Old Guard: And Other Addresses He was born in Elm Street, New York, on May 8, 1841. Two years earlier his father had been called to minister to the then Elm Street Synagogue, and thus in close proximity to the house of God began his education. It was a modest, reverent home in which he was reared - the eldest son receiving the fullest measure of pa rental guidance. His useful life, his ster ling character, his chivalrous devotion to Israel, were the fruits of that training. His studious ways and love of learning made the task of acquisition easy. At school he was a lad who was equally bril liant in every line, and at the New York University, which he entered in 1855, he maintained his standard of excellence, graduating as valedictorian, and securing a similar honor in i8oi, when he graduated from the Law School. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Samuel Myer Isaacs
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While a young man in England, Samuel was the head of the Neveh Zedek orphan asylum. In 1839 he was called to New York to be rabbi of the B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue. Eight years later, he became the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaaray Tefila, a secession group from B'nai Jeshurun, and remained its minister until his death.
Samuel Isaacs was largely responsible for making unorganized New York Jewry a coherent, articulate community. He consecrated thirty-eight synagogues, including the first ever built in Illinois. His influence as a community organizer and as an exponent of historic Judaism was most widely spread, however, through the Jewish Messenger, a weekly organ of orthodox Judaism founded by him in 1857, and merged into the American Hebrew in 1903.
He died in 1878
Achievements
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Samuel Myer Isaacs was the first rabbi in New York to introduce regular English sermons into the service, sermons in which for the most part he urged the necessity of preserving historic Jewish tradition, and he soon became, second only to Isaac Leeser in Philadelphia, the most influential orthodox rabbi in the country. As an outcome of the Mortara case, he helped create the Board of Delegates of American Israelites to defend the rights of Jews. He was one of the founders in New York of the Jews' (later Mt. Sinai) Hospital, the Hebrew Free School Association, and the United Hebrew Charities, and was influential in the establishment of Maimonides College in Philadelphia.
Works
book
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The Old Guard: And Other Addresses (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Old Guard: And Other Addresses He was b...)
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The Old Guard: And Other Addresses (Classic Reprint)
Religion
Isaacs battled uncompromisingly in defense of traditional Judaism against the increasing inroads of Reform Judaism.
Views
As an ardent abolitionist, his denunciations of slavery cut off his Southern subscribers. Thereupon he wrote: "We want subscribers, for without them we cannot publish a paper, and Judaism needs an organ; but we want much more truth and loyalty, and for them, we are ready, if we must, to sacrifice all other considerations".
Personality
Integrity, fearlessness, and conscientiousness were outstanding characteristics of Isaacs and won the admiration of the very Reform Jews whose principles it was his life's work to combat. Though zealously loyal to his own religious principles, he showed a tolerance which sprang from a ready, genial humor, and an abounding benevolence.
Quotes from others about the person
His religious devotion, high ability, warm sympathy, and sterling, unblemished character, won for him a general esteem characterized in the following editorial comment: "Mr. Isaacs during his long and busy life, did perhaps more than any other one man in New York to make the name of a Jew respected, and to reflect credit upon the Jewish Synagogue and the Jewish ministry".
Connections
Isaacs married Jane Symmons of London. Among his children were Judge Myer S. Isaacs, president of the board of delegates of American Israelites, one of the originators and organizers of the United Hebrew Charities of New York City, and president of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, Isaac S. Isaacs, a lawyer and a prime mover in organizing the Young Men's Hebrew Association of New York, and Abram S. Isaacs.
References
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Born
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Died
May 19, 1878 (aged 74) -
Resting place
Salem Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, United States -
Nationality
American -
Religion
Judaism