BAAR, HERMAN

BAAR, HERMAN (1826–1904), U.S. rabbi and educator. Born in Stadthagen, near Hanover, Germany, Baar received his early education at the gymnasium of Hanover and after graduation took a course in philology and theology at the University of Goettingen. On the completion of his studies he took a position as teacher at the school at Seesen, Germany, which he held eight years. In 1857 he was named rabbi in Liverpool, England, where he received what was then called the ministerial appointment in the Seel Street synagogue, where he spent a decade. When he lost his voice, he left the congregation and opened a school in Brussels. In 1870 he came to Washington, D.C., but believing a change of climate advisable he went to New Orleans, La., where he directed a school. From there he went to New York, where in 1876 he was appointed superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, New York City – a position he filled with great success until his resignation in 1899. He earned his national reputation as an educator with his addresses to students that were published in The American Hebrew. They were collected in a two-volume study called Homely and Religious Topics. He retired in 1900 and wrote for Jewish periodicals and published Bible stories for use by children. (Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)