Author: Professor Yitzchok Levine

THE CHIEF RABBI’S FUNERAL

by Professor Yitzchok Levine • May 30, 2012 • 0 Comments

In a recent front-page essay (May 30, 2008) and in last month’s “Glimpses” column we traced the life of Rabbi Jacob Joseph (1840-1902). Rabbi Joseph, who studied in the famed Volozhiner Yeshiva, was an outstanding Talmudic scholar and one of…

THE CHARACTER OF RABBI JACOB JOSEPH

by Professor Yitzchok Levine • May 25, 2012 • 0 Comments

The Jewish Press recently published three articles about the life of New York’s chief rabbi, Rav Jacob Joseph (1840-1902): “Failed Experiment: New York’s Only Chief Rabbi” (front-page essay, May 30); “The Chief Rabbi Encounters Opposition” (Glimpses Into American Jewish History,…

THE CHIEF RABBI ENCOUNTERS OPPOSITION

by Professor Yitzchok Levine • May 23, 2012 • 0 Comments

Note: Unless otherwise indicated all quotes are from “New York Chooses a Chief Rabbi” by Abraham J. Karp, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society (1893-1961) Sep 1954-Jun 1955, 44. The article is available at http://www.ajhs.org/references/adaje.cfm. In “Failed Experiment: New…

FAILED EXPERIMENT: NEW YORK’S ONLY CHIEF RABBI

by Professor Yitzchok Levine • September 9, 2011 • 0 Comments

(It is widely known among Orthodox Jews that Rabbi Jacob Joseph [RJJ] served as chief rabbi of New York in the latter part of the 19th century. Many are aware that his experience in New York was quite tragic. There is,…