Sabato Morais

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Rabbi Sabato Morais
Mikveh Israel Cemetery (11th and Federal), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Rabbi, Posek

Sabato Morais (

Italian-American rabbi of Portuguese descent, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary
, which initially acted as a center of education for Orthodox Rabbis.

Early years

Morais was born in Livorno, Italy. He was the elder son and the third of nine children of Samuel and Bona Morais. The Morais family came originally from Portugal, being probably among the large number of Jews who fled thence from the Inquisition. At the time of Sabato's birth, Italy was in the thick of her great struggle for freedom. Samuel Morais was an ardent republican, at one time undergoing imprisonment for his political views, and his father, Sabato Morais, was prominently identified with the political movements of his day.

Upon young Sabato early rested the responsibility of aiding in the support of the family. While still a child he earned a little by teaching

Aramaic, French, and Spanish
.

He remained at his home studying and teaching until 1845, when he went to

Joseph Mazzini
, and that patriot's struggle for Italian freedom was warmly seconded by Morais.

Elected hazzan in Philadelphia

In 1850, owing to the withdrawal of

Mikveh Israel Synagogue congregation at Philadelphia
, became vacant, and Morais was an applicant for the post. He arrived in Philadelphia on March 17, 1851, and was elected April 13 following, the synagogue services in the interval being conducted by him. In 1855 he married Clara Esther Weil, who died in 1872, leaving seven children. From the date of his installation as hazzan until his death his influence was a continually growing power for traditional (Orthodox) Judaism. The synagogue formerly (c.1906) occupied by the Mikveh Israel congregation was built and consecrated during his incumbency.

Though his ministry covered the period of greatest activity in the adaptation of Judaism in America to changed conditions, he, as the advocate of

slave
. In appreciation of his attitude during these trying times the Union League Club of Philadelphia placed him on the roll of its honorary members.

Aids in founding the Theological Seminary

When, in 1867,

Pittsburg Conference in 1885 urged him to immediate action. After a considerable agitation of the subject he succeeded, in conjunction with a few others, in establishing (January, 1886) the Jewish Theological Seminary
at New York.

He was at once made president of the faculty and professor of Bible, holding both posts until his death. Unquestionably the establishment of the seminary constitutes Morais' most lasting influence upon Judaism in America. The directors of that body have fittingly recognized his memory by naming the chair of Biblical literature and exegesis "the Sabato Morais professorship." In 1887 the

Jew so honored by that institution. Many of his papers
are evidently held in that institution's library.

His multifarious activity

In addition to the work which he did in official positions, Morais was most active in religious, educational, and charity matters. The Hebrew Sunday-School Society, the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia, and the Young Men's Hebrew Association of that city numbered him among their most steadfast friends. In his own home he gathered about him a small band of young men whom he instructed in

Mikve Israel and other congregations in New York and Rhode Island
.

The strong conservatism of the Jews of Philadelphia and the warm interest in the higher things of Judaism evinced by the younger men of that city may be in a large measure directly traced to the influence of Sabato Morais. He was greatly interested in the

Baron de Hirsch, he was enabled to secure timely aid for the agricultural colonies in New Jersey and was the representative of Baron de Hirsch in the Carmel Colony
.

When the Russo-Jewish exodus began, in 1882, and

Gentiles
also he was widely known and esteemed, and was very frequently called upon to address public assemblies.

Besides his sermons, he contributed to Jewish literature much in the form of addresses to various Jewish organizations and of theological, polemical, literary, and critical articles for the Jewish press at home and abroad. He wrote classic Hebrew in prose and in verse with ease and elegance.

In all his life, Morais maintained close (cultural, religious and political) ties with his motherland, Italy. His translations and essays in Italian Jewry made him the founding father of Italian Jewish Studies in America.

Among his later works are:

Morias is interred in the

Mikveh Israel Cemetery (11th and Federal)
.

Bibliography

  • Arthur Kiron (1999). "Golden ages, promised lands: The Victorian rabbinic humanism of Sabato Morais". Ph.D. Thesis. Columbia University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-22. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  • Kiron, Arthur (1992). "Sabato Morais Papers - Finding Aid". ARC MS8. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  • Kiron, Arthur (1996). "'Dust and ashes': The funeral and forgetting of Sabato Morais". American Jewish History. 84 (3): 155–188.
    S2CID 162106324
    .
  • Adler, Cyrus; Sulzberger, Cyrus L. (1906). "Sabato Morais". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  • The JE article cites the following works:
    • H.S. Morais
      , The Jews of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1894;
    • Memoir by H. S. Morais in Sixth Biennial Report of the Jewish Theological Seminary Association, New York, 1896.

Further reading

External links

See also: Morais
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