Creating American Reform Judaism

'Sefton Temkin has provided us with a much-needed critical and balanced portrayal of Wise . . . The best scholarly work on Wise to date. It presents an admiring yet critical picture of Wise's achievements and personality . . . a welcome contribution to our understanding of the man and his times.'
George L. Berlin, AJS Review

'Thorough and extremely competent . . . Temkin contributes a great deal through his careful use of materials . . . The book will be of interest to general readers . . . who wish not only to understand Isaac Mayer Wise but, moreover, to comprehend the attitudes and events that led to the formation of a truly American form of Judaism.'
A. J. Avery-Peck, Choice

'Sefton Temkin has outdone himself in this excellent critical biography . . . Dr Temkin has performed a great service with this highly readable and insightful book.'
Allen Howard Podet, Manna

'An important book which illumines a formative era of American Jewry and of the United States itself . . . scholarly and readable.'
William Frankel, Jewish Chronicle

Isaac Mayer Wise (1819–1900), founder of the major institutions of Reform Judaism in America, was a man of his time—a pioneer in a pioneer’s world. When he came to America from his childhood Bohemia in 1846, he found fewer than 50,000 Jews and only two ordained rabbis. With his sense of mission and tireless energy, he set himself to tailoring the vehicle of Reform Judaism to meet the needs of the growing Jewish community.

Wise strove for unity among American Jews, and for a college to train rabbis to serve them. The establishment of Hebrew Union College (1875) was the crowning achievement of his life. His quest for unity also led him to draw up an American Jewish prayer-book, Minhag America, to found the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and to edit two weeklies; their editorials, breathing fire and energy, were no less important in his quest for leadership. Here as elsewhere, it was his persistence that won him the war where his impetuosity lost him many battles.

Professor Temkin’s writing captures the vigour of Wise’s personality and the politics and concerns of contemporary Jewish life and leadership in America. Based primarily on material in the American Jewish Archives of the Hebrew Union College, this biography is a lively portrait of a rabbi whose singular efforts in many fields made him a pivotal figure in the naturalization of the Jew and Judaism in the New World.

The book was first published in hardback in 1992 under the title Isaac Mayer Wise: Shaping American Judaism.

Prefatory Note
Abbreviations
Note on Transliteration

1 Bohemia (1819-1849)
Metternich's Europe * Jewish Life in an Age of Reaction * Early Years * Departure
2 New Beginning (1846-1854)
Young America * Jewish Life * Rabbi in Albany * Organizing American Jewry * Early Writings * Sortie in Charleston: Backlash in Albany * Anshe Emeth * Formulating his Beliefs * The Asmonean * A Bible History * Heading West
3 Cincinnati (1854-1900)
Queen City of the West * Congregation B'nai Jeshurun * The Israelite * Zion College * Conference-Union-Synod * David Einhorn * Cleveland Platform: Quick Victory-Lengthy War * Minhag America * The Essence of Judaism * Fighting for Jewish Rights * Political Dimensions * The Civil War * At North College Hill * First Fruits in Cincinnati * Wider Ambitions * Among the Gentiles (1867-1878) * Years of Sorrow and Strife (1869-1874) * Flirting with the Orthodox * Reformers in Conflict: East versus West (1869) * Establishing the Union (1871-1873) * Call to New York (1873) * 'We Must have "Union in Israel"' * President of Hebrew Union College * Appendix: The Principal Changes Introduced in Minhag America
4 Fulfilment: Years of Harvest
Duties Old and New * Remarriage (1876) * Sustaining the College (1875- 1883) * Reform Moves On: The Pittsburgh Platform * A New American Jewish World * Seventieth Birthday: Central Conference of American Rabbis * Sunset * The Legacy

Bibliographical note
Glossary
Index

'Sefton Temkin has provided us with a much-needed critical and balanced portrayal of Wise . . . The best scholarly work on Wise to date. It presents an admiring yet critical picture of Wise's achievements and personality . . . Temkin's nuanced portrayal is a welcome contribution to our understanding of the man and his times.'
George L. Berlin, AJS Review

'Thorough and extremely competent . . . Temkin contributes a great deal through his careful use of materials . . . The book will be of interest to general readers . . . who wish not only to understand Isaac Mayer Wise but, moreover, to comprehend the attitudes and events that led to the formation of a truly American form of Judaism.'
A. J. Avery-Peck, Choice

'This new study, which becomes the authoritative work on Wise, is the product of decades of research.'
Geoffrey Wigoder, Jerusalem Post

'An important book which illumines a formative era of American Jewry and of the United States itself. No student of American or Jewish affairs can fail to learn and gain fresh insights from this scholarly and readable volume.'
William Frankel, Jewish Chronicle

'Sefton Temkin has outdone himself in this excellent critical biography . . . Dr Temkin has performed a great service with this highly readable and insightful book.'
Allen Howard Podet, Manna