David Einhorn (rabbi)

Early years

He was born in Diespeck, Kingdom of Bavaria on November 10, 1809, to Maier and Karoline Einhorn. He was educated at the rabbinical school of Fürth, where he earned his rabbinical ordination at age 17. He then studied at the universities of Erlangen, Munich and Würzburg, where he studied from 1828 to 1834, supported by his mother following the death of his father.

Beliefs

He was a supporter of the principles of Abraham Geiger, and while still in Germany advocated the introduction of prayers in the vernacular German, the exclusion of nationalistic hopes and the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem and the sacrificial services there from the synagogue service, and other ritual modifications, lobbying on behalf of these changes at the 1844 Frankfurt Assembly. He was chosen Landesrabbiner of the Birkenfeld at Hoppstädten, and afterward Landesrabbiner of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1847, succeeding Rabbi Samuel Holdheim whose views were a major influence on Einhorn. An incident in which he blessed an uncircumcised boy, which upset many of his more traditional congregants, led to his departure from Germany. He was called to Pest, Hungary in 1851 where his views met with such opposition that his temple was ordered closed only two months after his arrival there by the Emperor of Austria, who saw a connection between the Jewish reform movement and the Revolutions of 1848.

Emigration

Einhorn emigrated to the United States and was named on September 29, 1855, as the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore. In that role, Einhorn formulated the Olat Tamid siddur for use in services, which became one of the models for the Union Prayer Book published in 1894 by the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Olat Tamid contrasted with Wise's Minhag America in particular by removing references to the status of Jews as a chosen people and eliminating references to the restoration of sacrificial services in the Temple.

Reform Judaism

Einhorn was an opponent of the Cleveland Conference of 1855 and its decision that the Talmud had primacy in interpreting the Torah. In this stand, Einhorn stood in contrast to Rabbi Wise's efforts to find language that could accommodate the various strands of Judaism in the United States, arguing that such efforts betrayed the progress of reform. Starting in 1856, he started publishing the German language magazine, Sinai, devoted to interests of radical reform, which he also used as a platform for his antislavery pronouncements. Einhorn remained an opponent of Interfaith marriage in Judaism, arguing in Sinai that such practices were "a nail in the coffin of the small Jewish race", though he opposed the retention of practices such as the wearing of phylacteries, the limitations on activity prohibited on Shabbat and kosher dietary laws, all of which he viewed as outmoded. Only those portions of the Torah that derived from a moral basis were to be retained. He became the acknowledged leader of Reform Judaism in America.

Views on slavery

In 1861, Einhorn delivered a sermon as a response to a sermon by Morris Jacob Raphall that supported the existence of slavery, which Einhorn called a "deplorable farce" and argued that the institution of slavery in the South was inconsistent with Jewish values, noting the Jewish experience as slaves in Egypt as a reason that Jews should be more sensitive to the plight of slaves. He staunchly advocated this position, despite the fact that many of his congregants and colleagues were sympathetic to slavery in what was then a slave state. In his sermon titled War on Amalek, based on Exodus 17, Einhorn stated that "We are told that this crime [slavery] rests upon a historical right! ... Slavery is an institution sanctioned by the Bible, hence war against it is war against, and not for, God! It has ever been a strategy of the advocate of a bad cause to take refuge from the spirit of the Bible to its letter." A riot broke out in response to his sermon on April 19, 1861, in which the mob sought to tar and feather the rabbi. Einhorn fled to Philadelphia where he became spiritual leader of Congregation Keneseth Israel.

Retirement

In 1866 he moved to New York City, where he became the inaugural rabbi of Congregation Adas Jeshurun on 39th Street, which merged with Congregation Anshei Chesed in 1873 and adopted the new name Congregation Beth-El and built a new structure on 63rd Street. Einhorn retained the position as spiritual leader of the merged synagogue, delivering his final sermon on July 12, 1879, after which the congregation agreed to bestow upon him a pension of $3,500. Upon his retirement, Einhorn was recognized by his fellow rabbis across denominations who held a farewell ceremony held at his apartment where he was presented with a resolution on behalf of the participants at the convention of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations that recognized Einhorn for his rabbinic service, noting the "ability and character which have marked his career, and the earnestness, honesty and zeal which have animated the heart of a man whom we proudly recognize as one of Israel's purest champions and noblest teachers."

Death

Einhorn died at age 69 on November 2, 1879, at his home on East 64th Street of old age. He had become increasingly debilitated and was forced to stay in his room for some time. His funeral was held before a packed house at Beth-El on November 6, 1879, where his plain coffin was carried into the congregation by 12 pallbearers and placed before the pulpit, which included such gathered rabbinic notables as Richard James Horatio Gottheil of Congregation Emanu-El, Einhorn's son-in-law and successor Kaufmann Kohler of Beth-El, another son-in-law Emil G. Hirsch of Louisville, Kentucky, along with representatives of the congregations he served in Baltimore and Philadelphia. He was buried at Machpelah Cemetery near the Jackie Robinson Parkway.