HYMNS AND ANTHEMS ADAPTED FOR JEWISH WORSHIP. SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY...
New York, No Publisher [Printed at Press of G. P. Putnam’s Sons], 1887. Item #43206
Original pebbled cloth binding, 12mo,xi, 191 pages, 17 cm.One of the works on which the Union Hymnal was based.
Singerman 3531
G.P. Putnam's also published [as opposed to just printing] an edition of this work, which it distributed widely. Our variant here, with unlisted publisher and presumably printed by Putnams for Temple Emanu-El and a small number of Reform congregations, is much scarcer; we could identify only one holding in OCLC which actually fits the proper description (printed in 1887, no publisher, printed by Putnams)..
“Gustav Gottheil was a Prussian born American rabbi. Gottheil eventually became one of the most influential, well-known and controversial Reform Jewish leaders of his time….He left Manchester in 1873, having been elected to succeed the Rev. J. K. Gutheim as assistant to Dr. Samuel Adler, the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, New York City. When Adler retired about eighteen months later, Gottheil succeeded him.
On taking charge he reorganized the religious school, and assisted in founding a theological school where preliminary training might be imparted to future candidates for the rabbinate. He prepared in 1886 the first Jewish hymn-book printed in America (with music in a separate volume by A. Davis)[i.e. this work]; it contains not only traditional Jewish hymns, but also others of Christian origin, and upon it was based the Union Hymnal, which has since been generally adopted by the Reform congregations in the United States.
In 1889 he started the first Sisterhood of Personal Service, a philanthropic organization affiliated with Temple Emanu-El which served as a model for similar institutions elsewhere. Dr. Gottheil was the founder of the Association of Eastern Rabbis, and when it was assimilated with the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1890, he took an active part in its deliberations.
He was one of the founders and the president of the (American) Jewish Publication Society, vice-president of the Federation of American Zionists, chairman of the Revision Committee for the Union Prayer Book, and one of the governors of the Hebrew Union College, in Cincinnati….In 1893 Gottheil was one of the representatives of the Jews at the Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago during the World Columbian Exposition.
Unlike most Reform Jews of the time, Rabbi Gottheil was a supporter of Zionism and attended the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland.[citation needed] He was the most prominent American Jew to respond to Theodor Herzl's call and served as vice-president of the newly created Federation of American Zionists, a forerunner of the Zionist Organization of America. Rabbi Gottheil's belief was an act of faith, but it brought condemnation and vilification upon him from both the American Reform community and the American Orthodox community.” (Wikipedia)
SUBJECT(S):Judaism -- Hymns. Judai¨sme -- Hymnes. OCLC: 1069298260. OCLC locates only one copy of this variant (printed in 1887, no publisher, printed by Putnams).
Period spine label, Jewish institutional bookplate, pocket, stamps, and blindstamp to title page, otherwise Very Good Condition. (B) (AMR-72-3).
Price: $135.00