Guide to the A. Englander Correspondence with Isaac Leeser
July 7, 1861
Collection Overview | |
| Creator: | Englander, A. |
| Title: | A. Englander correspondence with Isaac Leeser |
| Dates: | July 7, 1861 |
| Size: | 1 folder |
| Abstract: | The collection contains a handwritten letter from A. Englander of San Francisco to Rabbi Isaac Leeser, an important rabbi, scholar and educator based in Philadelphia. Englander's letter discusses the Jewish community in San Francisco, specifically the attempt by Benjamin II, the pen name of traveller and explorer Israel Joseph Benjamin of Moldavia, to raise money to search for the lost tribes of Israel in China. |
| Languages: | Materials are in English. |
| Call No: | 1986.032 |
Finding aid encoded December, 2008
Finding aid encoded in English.
A. Englander was a resident of San Francisco, California and an active member of the Jewish community there. In his letter to Rabbi Leeser, he reports local events and politics in great detail. Isaac Leeser was an important rabbi, scholar and educator. He served as the hazzan (cantor) for the Sephardic Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, one of the oldest congregations in America. He founded the Jewish Publication Society of America and published and edited The Occident, the first periodical devoted to Jewish literature and thought. He started a number of educational projects, including Sunday school, and is remembered as one of the most influential religious figures of the Civil War era.
The collection contains a handwritten letter from A. Englander in San Francisco, California to Rabbi Isaac Leeser in Philadelphia concerning the Jewish community in San Francisco. He specifically mentions the attempt by the traveler/explorer Benjamin II (Israel Joseph Benjamin) to raise money to search for the lost tribes of Israel in China. Benjamin II fashioned himself after Benjamin of Tudela (1154) and travelled across America, the Far East and North Africa. His exploits and information on the Jewish communities he visited were published as Sefer Masei Yisrael (The Book of the Travels of Israel).
This collection has been indexed under the following terms:
Persons:Collection is available to researchers deemed to be qualified by the Archivist.
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