Solomon Schechter (1847-1915) was a Romanian Jewish rabbi, academic scholar, and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of the American Conservative Jewish movement. 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi... The Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism. ... Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a modern denomination of Judaism that arose in United States in the early 1900s. ...

Early life

Born to a Chabad Hasidic family in Romania in 1847, he attended yeshivas in Eastern Europe. He received his early education from his father, a Chabad from Russia, who was a shochet. "The unusually gifted boy" learned to read Hebrew by age three and by five mastered Humash. He went to a yeshiva in Piatra at age ten and at age thirteen studied with one the greatest Talmudic authories, Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson of Lemberg [1]. In 1879 he went to study at the Berlin Hochschule fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums and at the University of Berlin, and several years later was invited to London to be a tutor of rabbinics. Chabad Lubavitch, also known as Lubavitch Chabad, is a large branch of Hasidic Judaism. ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ... Chabad Lubavitch, also known as Lubavitch Chabad, is a large branch of Hasidic Judaism. ... Shechita Shechita (Hebrew ) is the ritual slaughter of animals, as prescribed for slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. ... Humash or Chumash (Hebrew: חומש) is one name given to the Pentateuch in Judaism. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ... Joseph Saul Nathanson (1808 - 1875) was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day. ... Lviv ( Львів in Ukrainian; Львов, Lvov in Russian; Lwów in Polish; Leopolis in Latin; Lemberg in German—see also cities alternative names) is a city in western Ukraine with 830,000 inhabitants (an additional 200,000 commute daily from suburbs). ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... There is no institution called the University of Berlin, but there are four universities in Berlin, Germany: Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin) Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin) This is... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... // English Secondary Schools In English Secondary Schools the Form Tutor is similar to an American Home Room Teacher. ...

Academic career

In 1890 he was appointed to the faculty at Cambridge University, serving as a lecturer in talmudics and reader in rabbinics. 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... REDIRECT [1] ... The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ...

His greatest academic fame came from his exposition in 1896 of the papers of the Cairo Geniza, an extraordinary collection of over 100,000 pages of rare Hebrew manuscripts and medieval Jewish texts that were preserved in an Egyptian synagogue. The find revolutionized the study of Medieval Judaism. 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of Jewish manuscripts written from about 870 to as late as 1880 CE, that were found in the geniza of the synagogue of Fustat (Old Cairo), Egypt (built 882), the Busatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were... Over at least the last two thousand years, Judaism has not been monolithic in practice, and has not had any centralized authority or binding dogma. ...

Initially, Schechter forwarded the collection unopened to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, but in 1896 two Scottish sisters, Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson, showed him some leaves from the geniza that contained the Hebrew text of Ecclesiasticus, which had for centuries only been known in Greek and Latin translation. He quickly found support for an expedition to the Cairo Geniza, and carefully selected for the University Library a trove three times the size of any other collection. Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges Oxford University Libraries Service (OULS) comprises over 30 of the University of Oxfords central and faculty libraries: from the world-famous Bodleian Library, established 400 years ago, to the modern digital library ventures. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Wisdom of Ben Sirach, (or The Wisdom of Joshua Ben Sirach or merely Sirach), called Ecclesiasticus by Christians, is a book written circa 180 BCE in Hebrew. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

He became a Professor of Hebrew at University College, London, in 1899. The term university college is used in a number of countries to denote institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. ... 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

American Jewish community

In 1902, traditional Jews reacting against the progress of the American Reform Judaism movement, which was trying to establish an authoritative synod of American rabbis, recruited Schechter to become President of the Jewish Theological Seminary. 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of Judaism in America and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th Century Germany. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. ... The Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, and is the movements main rabbinical seminary. ...

Schechter served as the second President of the seminary, from 1902 to 1915, during which time he founded the United Synagogue of America, later known as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (or USCJ; until 1992, it was the United Synagogue of America) is the official organization of synagogues practicing Conservative Judaism in North America. ...

Under his leadership the Seminary obtained a distinguished faculty, and a dynamic momentum.

Religious and cultural beliefs

Solomon Schechter emphasized the centrality of Jewish law (halakha) in Jewish life in a speech in his inaugural address as President of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1902: Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

"Judaism is not a religion which does not oppose itself to anything in particular. Judaism is opposed to any number of things and says distinctly "thou shalt not." It permeates the whole of your life. It demands control over all of your actions, and interferes even with your menu. It sanctifies the seasons, and regulates your history, both in the past and in the future. Above all, it teaches that disobedience is the strength of sin. It insists upon the observance of both the spirit and of the letter; spirit without letter belongs to the species known to the mystics as "nude souls" nishmatim artilain, wandering about in the universe without balance and without consistency....In a word, Judaism is absolutely incompatible with the abandonment of the Torah."

Schechter was an early advocate of Zionism. For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian) 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ...

Schechter was the Chairman of the committee that edited the Jewish Publication Society of America Version of the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of the Jewish Bible (i. ...

Legacy

A chain of Conservative Jewish day schools is named in his honor. There are several dozen Solomon Schechter Day Schools across the United States. Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a modern denomination of Judaism that arose in United States in the early 1900s. ...

External links

• Solomon Schechter, from Neil Gillman's book on Conservative Judaism

• Biography at the Jewish Virtual Library

References

Conservative Judaism: The New Century, Neil Gillman, Behrman House

Studies in Judaism, Solomon Schechter

Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, Solomon Schechter

Solomon Schechter and the Ambivalence of Jewish Wissenschaft, David J. Fine, Judaism p.4-24, 1997