HOFFMAN, CHARLES ISAIAH

HOFFMAN, CHARLES ISAIAH (1864–1945), U.S. lawyer, Conservative rabbi, and journalist. Hoffman was born in Philadelphia. While a practicing lawyer, Hoffman was the first editor and publisher of the Jewish Exponent, one of the earliest and most important Anglo-Jewish weeklies, which represented a traditional religious view. He also worked with the Association for Jewish Immigrants and the Baron de Hirsch Fund, which helped settle new immigrants in agricultural colonies in New Jersey. After 15 years of law practice, Hoffman studied for the rabbinate and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1904. After a short period in Indianapolis, he became rabbi of Ohev Shalom Synagogue in Newark, a position he held for over 40 years. Hoffman was one of the founders of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue, which he served as secretary for 25 years. He was a disciple and close friend of Solomon Schechter and helped edit some of his writings. His son ISIDORE B. HOFFMAN (1898–1981), a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, served from 1934 as counselor to Jewish students at Columbia University. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M.D. Hoffman, in: AJHSQ, 55 (1965/66), 212–34. (Jack Reimer)