Marcus Jastrow
Encyclopedia
Marcus Jastrow was a renowned Talmud
ic scholar, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive A Dictionary of the Targum
im, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrash
ic Literature.
Jastrow was born in Rogasen
in the Grand Duchy of Posen. After receiving rabbinical ordination
, Ph.D.
, and Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt), he became the rabbi of the then Orthodox
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1866, at the age of thirty-seven. In 1886, he began publishing his magnum opus, A Dictionary of the Targum
im, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrash
ic Literature, in pamphlet form. It was finally completed and published in two-volume form in 1903, and has since become a popular resource for students of Talmud. In the preface to this work, Jastrow sharply criticized those linguistic
and etymological
scholars who claimed that obscure terms in Talmudic literature are primarily derived from Greek
. Jastrow held that Greek influence on Talmudic Aramaic
was minimal, and that most obscure terms could be much more simply be traced to Hebrew
origins. Jastrow was also responsible for most Talmud-related articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia
.
He was the father of Joseph Jastrow
and Morris Jastrow, Jr.
, graduating in 1852. From there he went to Halle
, where he was graduated in 1855, receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy. In the meantime he continued his Jewish studies and in 1853, at the age of 24, he received his rabbinical ordination
from Rabbi Moses Feilchenfeld in Rogasen
and later, in 1857, from Rabbi Wolf Landau in Dresden
. Jastrow taught briefly at Orthodox
Jewish schools in Berlin
, first at a school by Dr. David Rosen then at Michael Sachs
' school.
, and threw himself into the study of the Polish language and of Polish conditions. By February 27, 1861, national feeling had risen so high in Poland that the government called out the military; five victims fell in the Krakowskie Przedmieście
, Warsaw, and their burial and the memorial service were turned into patriotic demonstrations, in which, for the first time, "the Old Testament Brethren" of the Poles participated as a community. Though it was Sabbath
, three rabbis, including Jastrow, joined the funeral cortège; at the memorial service in his synagogue, also on a Sabbath, Jastrow preached his first Polish sermon, which aroused such great enthusiasm that on Sunday his auditors reassembled and took it down at his dictation. Circumventing the censor, they distributed ten thousand manuscript copies within a week.
Although it was controversial at the time, delivering a sermon in Polish does not violate any Orthodox Jewish restriction. (Neither does following a funeral procession on foot on the Sabbath
.) Today most Orthodox rabbis give lectures in their local vernacular.
On various pretexts the three rabbis were arrested (November 10, 1861) and incarcerated in the citadel of Warsaw. For twenty-three days Jastrow was kept in solitary confinement; for seventy-two days he shared the cell of Rabbi Meisels. His release came on February 12, 1862, when, being a Prussian subject, he was sent across the frontier. During his imprisonment he had been required to answer in writing three questions concerning the relation of the Jews to the Polish Christians in their opposition to the government (see Hebrew Leader, July 15, 22, 1870).
, and Dresden
; in the autumn he accepted a call from the Jewish community in Mannheim
. A few weeks later, Nov., 1862, the order for his expulsion was revoked, and gave occasion for a controversy between the congregation at Warsaw (which had continued his salary until he went to Mannheim) and that of Mannheim; at Jastrow's request the latter released him. A few months after his return to Warsaw (Jan., 1863) the revolution broke out. During its progress, and while Jastrow was traveling, his Prussian passport was canceled, and he was not permitted to return to Warsaw.
The literary results of his Polish period are: Die Lage der Juden in Polen (anonymous; Hamburg, 1859); Kazania Polskie, a volume of Polish sermons (Posen, 1863); Die Vorläufer des Polnischen Aufstandes (anonymous; Hamburg, 1864). He probably had a considerable share in the production of Beleuchtung eines Ministeriellen Gutachtens (Hamburg, 1859 [?]). In July, 1864, Jastrow accepted a call to Worms
as district rabbi, and while there he produced Vier Jahrhunderte aus der Gesch. der Juden von der Zerstörung des Ersten Tempels bis zur Makkabäischen Tempelweihe (Heidelberg, 1865).
, Congregation Rodeph Shalom
, with which he was connected until his death, remaining in active service until 1892 and identifying himself with the interests of the Jewish community. The problem under discussion at the time was organization, urged in the Eastern States by the Orthodox Isaac Leeser
, and in the Western by the Reform
Isaac M. Wise. It dealt with higher education, representation, and the regulation of liturgical changes, and Jastrow's personality became a factor in its solution. When, through the exertions of Leeser, the Maimonides College, the first rabbinical college in the U.S., was opened at Philadelphia, Oct., 1867, Jastrow occupied the chair of religious philosophy and Jewish history, and later also of Biblical exegesis; he was identified with the college until it closed its doors four years later. He supported the plan of organizing the Board of Delegates of Civil and Religious Rights, and, under its auspices, the American Jewish Publication Society (1873). His main activity, however, from 1867 to 1871, was directed toward combating the tendencies expressed in the resolutions of the rabbinical conferences of 1869 and 1871. His opposition to them found expression in a series of polemical articles published in The Hebrew Leader and The Jewish Times.
To the same period belongs his collaboration with the leading rabbi in Boston
, Benjamin Szold
, in the revision of the latter's prayer-book (Abodat Yisrael) and home prayer-book (Hegyon Leb), and his translation of the same prayer-books into English. (The prayer-book was later more thoroughly revised after his death.) In his own congregation his influence effected consolidation and growth; in the Jewish community he participated in the formation and reorganization of societies.
In 1876 Jastrow fell severely ill, and for some years his public activities were limited by his poor health, which necessitated a sojourn in the south of Europe. During this period of withdrawal he fully matured the plans for his great work, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (London and New York, 1886–1903). When the dictionary was approaching completion in manuscript (1895), the Jewish Publication Society of America was about to begin work on its projected new translation of the Bible into English, and to Jastrow was entrusted the chief-editorship. At the time of his death the translation of more than half the books of the Bible had been revised by him. In addition to these two great undertakings, he was a member of the Publication Committee of the Jewish Publication Society from the time of its establishment, and was connected with the Jewish Encyclopedia
as editor of the department of the Talmud; he took a prominent part in the proceedings of the Jewish Ministers' Association, held a seat in the central board of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
at Paris, was on the committee of the Meḳiẓe Nirdamim, was one of the vice-presidents of the American Federation of Zionists, and was active in relieving the needs, material and intellectual, of the Russian immigrants.
Jastrow, a progressive rabbi, initially allowed his congregation to join the Reform
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
. At the time the schism between Reform
and Modern/Progressive Judaism was not yet distinct. After the Reform
organized "Pittsburgh conference" in 1885, Jastrow, along with many other rabbis of the time, withdrew his congregation's membership.
In 1886 together with Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes
(founder of the Orthodox Union
) he helped Rabbi Sabato Morais
establish the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
. It was only in 1913, ten years after Jastrow's passing, that the next generation of management altered the Orthodox principles of the school, and from them emerged Conservative Judaism
.
He was removed by his congregation in September 1892 in favor of the Reform ordained Dr. Henry Berkowitz. Dr. Jastrow attributed this decision to the growing popularity of liberal reforms and the congregation's desire to compete for membership with the more liberal synagogues. In his farewell speech he chastised his congregation insisting that "he who does not feel himself in unison with the tenets of Israel's religion as they have been transmitted from generation to generation, [is] not justified in occupying a Jewish pulpit established for the proclamation of Jewish doctrines." Several efforts were made by him to prevent the introduction of reforms, including articles in the public press. In 1894, the Board felt the necessity to write him to ask him to refrain from publishing articles that might create strife in the congregation. He served as rabbi emeritus of the congregation until his passing in 1903, on the Jewish festival of Shemini Atzeret
h.
In 1900 the University of Pennsylvania
conferred upon him the doctorate of literature. He died three years later in Germantown, Philadelphia.
Besides the journals previously mentioned, articles of his appear in the Revue des Études Juives
; Frankel's Monatsschrift; Berliner's Magazin für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums; Sippurim; Journal of Biblical Literature; Hebraica; Young Israel; Libanon; "Jewish Record"; Jewish Messenger; American Hebrew; Jewish Exponent; etc.
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic scholar, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive A Dictionary of the Targum
Targum
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
im, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
ic Literature.
Jastrow was born in Rogasen
Rogozno
Rogoźno is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 40 km north of Poznań. Its population is 11,337 . It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Rogoźno....
in the Grand Duchy of Posen. After receiving rabbinical ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
, Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, and Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt), he became the rabbi of the then Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Congregation Rodeph Shalom of Philadelphia, founded in 1795, is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform movement among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1866, at the age of thirty-seven. In 1886, he began publishing his magnum opus, A Dictionary of the Targum
Targum
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
im, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
ic Literature, in pamphlet form. It was finally completed and published in two-volume form in 1903, and has since become a popular resource for students of Talmud. In the preface to this work, Jastrow sharply criticized those linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and etymological
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
scholars who claimed that obscure terms in Talmudic literature are primarily derived from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. Jastrow held that Greek influence on Talmudic Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
was minimal, and that most obscure terms could be much more simply be traced to Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
origins. Jastrow was also responsible for most Talmud-related articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia
Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
.
He was the father of Joseph Jastrow
Joseph Jastrow
Joseph Jastrow was an American psychologist, noted for inventions in experimental psychology, design of experiments, and psycho-physics. Jastrow was one of the first scientists to study the evolution of language, publishing an article on the topic in 1886...
and Morris Jastrow, Jr.
Morris Jastrow, Jr.
Morris Jastrow, Jr., Ph. D. was an American orientalist, the son of Marcus Jastrow.-Biography:He was born in Warsaw, came to Philadelphia in 1866 when his father, Marcus Jastrow, accepted a position as Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom. He graduated at Penn in 1881...
Biography
American rabbi and scholar Marcus Jastrow was the fifth child of Abraham Jastrow and Yetta (Henrietta) Rolle. Until 1840 he was privately educated. In 1844 he entered the third-year class of the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium at PosenPoznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, graduating in 1852. From there he went to Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, where he was graduated in 1855, receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy. In the meantime he continued his Jewish studies and in 1853, at the age of 24, he received his rabbinical ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
from Rabbi Moses Feilchenfeld in Rogasen
Rogozno
Rogoźno is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 40 km north of Poznań. Its population is 11,337 . It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Rogoźno....
and later, in 1857, from Rabbi Wolf Landau in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. Jastrow taught briefly at Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jewish schools in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, first at a school by Dr. David Rosen then at Michael Sachs
Michael Sachs
Michael Sachs was a German rabbi from Glogau , Silesia.He was one of the first Jewish graduates from the modern universities, earning a Ph.D. degree in 1836. He was appointed Rabbi in Prague in 1836, and in Berlin in 1844...
' school.
Joins in Polish Revolution
In 1858 Jastrow moved again as rabbi to the leading Orthodox congregation in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and threw himself into the study of the Polish language and of Polish conditions. By February 27, 1861, national feeling had risen so high in Poland that the government called out the military; five victims fell in the Krakowskie Przedmieście
Krakowskie Przedmiescie
Krakowskie Przedmieście is one of the most impressive and prestigious streets of Poland's capital.Several other Polish cities also have streets named Krakowskie Przedmieście. In Lublin, it is the main and most elegant street...
, Warsaw, and their burial and the memorial service were turned into patriotic demonstrations, in which, for the first time, "the Old Testament Brethren" of the Poles participated as a community. Though it was Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, three rabbis, including Jastrow, joined the funeral cortège; at the memorial service in his synagogue, also on a Sabbath, Jastrow preached his first Polish sermon, which aroused such great enthusiasm that on Sunday his auditors reassembled and took it down at his dictation. Circumventing the censor, they distributed ten thousand manuscript copies within a week.
Although it was controversial at the time, delivering a sermon in Polish does not violate any Orthodox Jewish restriction. (Neither does following a funeral procession on foot on the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
.) Today most Orthodox rabbis give lectures in their local vernacular.
On various pretexts the three rabbis were arrested (November 10, 1861) and incarcerated in the citadel of Warsaw. For twenty-three days Jastrow was kept in solitary confinement; for seventy-two days he shared the cell of Rabbi Meisels. His release came on February 12, 1862, when, being a Prussian subject, he was sent across the frontier. During his imprisonment he had been required to answer in writing three questions concerning the relation of the Jews to the Polish Christians in their opposition to the government (see Hebrew Leader, July 15, 22, 1870).
Returns to Warsaw
Broken in health, Jastrow, with his family, spent the spring and summer of 1862 in Breslau, BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
; in the autumn he accepted a call from the Jewish community in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
. A few weeks later, Nov., 1862, the order for his expulsion was revoked, and gave occasion for a controversy between the congregation at Warsaw (which had continued his salary until he went to Mannheim) and that of Mannheim; at Jastrow's request the latter released him. A few months after his return to Warsaw (Jan., 1863) the revolution broke out. During its progress, and while Jastrow was traveling, his Prussian passport was canceled, and he was not permitted to return to Warsaw.
The literary results of his Polish period are: Die Lage der Juden in Polen (anonymous; Hamburg, 1859); Kazania Polskie, a volume of Polish sermons (Posen, 1863); Die Vorläufer des Polnischen Aufstandes (anonymous; Hamburg, 1864). He probably had a considerable share in the production of Beleuchtung eines Ministeriellen Gutachtens (Hamburg, 1859 [?]). In July, 1864, Jastrow accepted a call to Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
as district rabbi, and while there he produced Vier Jahrhunderte aus der Gesch. der Juden von der Zerstörung des Ersten Tempels bis zur Makkabäischen Tempelweihe (Heidelberg, 1865).
Aids Organization of American Jews
In the autumn of 1866 he went to Philadelphia as rabbi of the AshkenazicAshkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
, Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Congregation Rodeph Shalom of Philadelphia, founded in 1795, is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform movement among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique...
, with which he was connected until his death, remaining in active service until 1892 and identifying himself with the interests of the Jewish community. The problem under discussion at the time was organization, urged in the Eastern States by the Orthodox Isaac Leeser
Isaac Leeser
Isaac Leeser was an American, Ashkenazi Jewish lay minister of religion, author, translator, editor, and publisher; pioneer of the Jewish pulpit in the United States, and founder of the Jewish press of America. He produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English to be published in...
, and in the Western by the Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
Isaac M. Wise. It dealt with higher education, representation, and the regulation of liturgical changes, and Jastrow's personality became a factor in its solution. When, through the exertions of Leeser, the Maimonides College, the first rabbinical college in the U.S., was opened at Philadelphia, Oct., 1867, Jastrow occupied the chair of religious philosophy and Jewish history, and later also of Biblical exegesis; he was identified with the college until it closed its doors four years later. He supported the plan of organizing the Board of Delegates of Civil and Religious Rights, and, under its auspices, the American Jewish Publication Society (1873). His main activity, however, from 1867 to 1871, was directed toward combating the tendencies expressed in the resolutions of the rabbinical conferences of 1869 and 1871. His opposition to them found expression in a series of polemical articles published in The Hebrew Leader and The Jewish Times.
To the same period belongs his collaboration with the leading rabbi in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Benjamin Szold
Benjamin Szold
Benjamin Szold was an American rabbi and scholar....
, in the revision of the latter's prayer-book (Abodat Yisrael) and home prayer-book (Hegyon Leb), and his translation of the same prayer-books into English. (The prayer-book was later more thoroughly revised after his death.) In his own congregation his influence effected consolidation and growth; in the Jewish community he participated in the formation and reorganization of societies.
In 1876 Jastrow fell severely ill, and for some years his public activities were limited by his poor health, which necessitated a sojourn in the south of Europe. During this period of withdrawal he fully matured the plans for his great work, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (London and New York, 1886–1903). When the dictionary was approaching completion in manuscript (1895), the Jewish Publication Society of America was about to begin work on its projected new translation of the Bible into English, and to Jastrow was entrusted the chief-editorship. At the time of his death the translation of more than half the books of the Bible had been revised by him. In addition to these two great undertakings, he was a member of the Publication Committee of the Jewish Publication Society from the time of its establishment, and was connected with the Jewish Encyclopedia
Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
as editor of the department of the Talmud; he took a prominent part in the proceedings of the Jewish Ministers' Association, held a seat in the central board of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
Alliance Israélite Universelle
The Alliance Israélite Universelle is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 by the French statesman Adolphe Crémieux to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world...
at Paris, was on the committee of the Meḳiẓe Nirdamim, was one of the vice-presidents of the American Federation of Zionists, and was active in relieving the needs, material and intellectual, of the Russian immigrants.
Jastrow, a progressive rabbi, initially allowed his congregation to join the Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
. At the time the schism between Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
and Modern/Progressive Judaism was not yet distinct. After the Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
organized "Pittsburgh conference" in 1885, Jastrow, along with many other rabbis of the time, withdrew his congregation's membership.
In 1886 together with Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes
Henry Pereira Mendes
Henry Pereira Mendes was an American rabbi who was born in Birmingham, England and died in New York.-Family history and education:...
(founder of the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
) he helped Rabbi Sabato Morais
Sabato Morais
Sabato Morais was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.- Early years :...
establish the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
. It was only in 1913, ten years after Jastrow's passing, that the next generation of management altered the Orthodox principles of the school, and from them emerged Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
.
He was removed by his congregation in September 1892 in favor of the Reform ordained Dr. Henry Berkowitz. Dr. Jastrow attributed this decision to the growing popularity of liberal reforms and the congregation's desire to compete for membership with the more liberal synagogues. In his farewell speech he chastised his congregation insisting that "he who does not feel himself in unison with the tenets of Israel's religion as they have been transmitted from generation to generation, [is] not justified in occupying a Jewish pulpit established for the proclamation of Jewish doctrines." Several efforts were made by him to prevent the introduction of reforms, including articles in the public press. In 1894, the Board felt the necessity to write him to ask him to refrain from publishing articles that might create strife in the congregation. He served as rabbi emeritus of the congregation until his passing in 1903, on the Jewish festival of Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. In the Diaspora, an additional day is celebrated, the second day being separately referred to as Simchat Torah...
h.
In 1900 the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
conferred upon him the doctorate of literature. He died three years later in Germantown, Philadelphia.
Besides the journals previously mentioned, articles of his appear in the Revue des Études Juives
Revue des Études Juives
Revue des Études Juives is a French quarterly of Jewish studies, founded in July 1880 at the École pratique des hautes études, Paris by the Société des Études Juives...
; Frankel's Monatsschrift; Berliner's Magazin für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums; Sippurim; Journal of Biblical Literature; Hebraica; Young Israel; Libanon; "Jewish Record"; Jewish Messenger; American Hebrew; Jewish Exponent; etc.
External links
- Jastrow's Dictionary in PDF at Case Western Reserve University
- Jastrow's Dictionary arranged for alphabetical access online at Tyndale House
- The History and Future of the Jastrow Dictionary
- Jastrow's Thanksgiving Sermon at Rodeph Shalom, November 26, 1866 - full view on Google Books
- Jastrow's essays on Jewish history written while in Worms, 1865 - full view on Google Books
- Marcus Mordechai Jastrow