DRACHMAN, BERNARD

DRACHMAN, BERNARD
DRACHMAN, BERNARD (1861–1945), U.S. Orthodox rabbi, first of the modern English-speaking Orthodox American rabbinate. Drachman was born in New York and reared in Jersey City. His early Jewish education was at a Reform institution, the Hebrew Preparatory School, sponsored by Temple Emanu-El Theological Seminary. He graduated from Columbia College, and was sent to study at Breslau and Heidelberg by New York's Temple Emanu-El (Reform). In Europe, much to the chagrin of his patrons, for the first time he came into personal contact with the deep piety of East European Jewry, and was so influenced by it that he became entirely committed to Orthodoxy, of which he later became one of the leading spokesmen in the United States. Drachman served as rabbi of Oheb Shalom in Newark until it introduced mixed seating, and in several New York City pulpits, including Zichron Ephraim (1889–1909) and Oheb Zedek (1909–22). His background was unusual. American-born, he shared none of the East European experiences of his Orthodox colleagues; Reform-trained, he shared none of the enthusiasm for Reform of those who first taught him. He was the first ordained Orthodox rabbi to preach in the vernacular in the U.S. and was one of the founders of the jewish theological seminary , where he taught Bible, Hebrew, and Jewish philosophy from 1887 to 1902. After Solomon Schechter's arrival, he continued as assistant reader in Codes from 1902 to 1908. There are two versions of his decision to sever his service at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Some believe that Drachman was not sufficiently scholarly for the institution that Schechter was rebuilding and others believe that he left the Seminary when it gradually started to diverge from Orthodoxy; he later taught at Yeshiva College. He served as president of the union of orthodox jewish congregations during 1908–20. He was a candidate for the Chief Rabbinate of England in 1912 but withdrew when one of his first pupils, J.H. Hertz , a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, put forward his candidacy. Drachman was a founder of the Jewish Endeavor Society and Jewish Sabbath Alliance, which sought to repeal the Blue Laws that prohibited businesses from being open on Sunday and thus imposed a great economic hardship on Sabbath-observing Jews. In the 1920s, together with the labor movement they advocated a five-day work week. He translated Samson Raphael Hirsch's Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel into English (1899). His autobiography, Unfailing Light (1948), is a vivid portrait of American Jewry during his lifetime. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Davis, Emergence of Conservative Judaism (1963), 335–6. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Gurrock, "Bernard Drachman and the Evolution of Jewish Religious Life in America," in: American Jewish History, 76:4 (June 1967). (Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Drachman, Bernard — (1861 1945)    American Orthodox rabbi. He was born in New York and served as an Orthodox rabbi there and in Newark, New Jersey. He was the first Orthodox rabbi to preach in the vernacular in the US and was one of the founders of the Jewish… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Bernard Drachman — Rabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman (1861, New York City March 12, 1945, New York City) was a leader of Orthodox Judaism in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century.Drachman was born to parents who were immigrants from Galicia and… …   Wikipedia

  • Baptism — This article is about the Christian religious ceremony. For other uses, see Baptism (disambiguation). Baptism of Neophytes by Masaccio, 15th century, Brancacci Chapel, Florence.[ …   Wikipedia

  • Torah im Derech Eretz — Part of a series of articles on Jews and Judaism …   Wikipedia

  • Drachmann — Drachmann, Drachman Family name Meaning dragon Region of origin Denmark, Poland, Galicia Language(s) of origin Danish, Yiddish Related names Drach, Drache …   Wikipedia

  • Jewish Theological Seminary of America — Building at 3080 Broadway in Manhattan Motto והסנה איננו אכל Motto in English And …   Wikipedia

  • Strong AI — For John Searle s Strong AI hypothesis, see Philosophy of artificial intelligence Strong AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence the intelligence of a machine that can successfully perform any intellectual task… …   Wikipedia

  • Academic genealogy of theoretical physicists — An academic genealogy tree of researchers and scholars in theoretical physics can be constructed by following the pedigree of thesis advisors. If an advisor did not exist, or if the field of physics is unrelated, a link can be constructed by… …   Wikipedia

  • EDUCATION, JEWISH — This entry is arranged according to the following outline. Bibliography at the end of a section is indicated by (†). in the biblical period the nature of the sources historical survey the patriarchal period and the settlement the kingdom the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Tucson, Arizona — Tucson redirects here. For other uses, see Tucson (disambiguation). Tucson   City   From upper left: Downtown Tucson Skyline, Pima County Courthouse, Old Main, Un …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”