34 Facts About David Philipson

David Philipson was an American Reform rabbi, orator, and author.

At the invitation of Rabbi Isaac M Wise, who was friends with David's father, David moved to Cincinnati to become a member of the first class of Hebrew Union College, a Reform Jewish Seminary Rev Wise was beginning.

David Philipson lodged with a prominent Jewish family during his time taking classes both at HUC and Hughes High School.

David Philipson graduated from both Hughes High School and the preparatory section of HUC in 1879, and was valedictorian at the former.

David Philipson immediately matriculated into college courses at HUC while studying at the University of Cincinnati.

David Philipson graduated from The University of Cincinnati in 1883 with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics.

David Philipson was one of four men ordained as Reform Rabbis in that year, and was one of those feted at the Trefa Banquet that HUC hosted for its first ordination class.

David Philipson did not intend to go directly into the ministry, but instead chose to spend time in Dallas to aid in the growth of Reform Judaism there.

David Philipson initially refused the offer, but later agreed to go.

David Philipson received a Doctorate of Divinity from Johns Hopkins in 1886 where he studied Assyriology and other Semitic languages.

David Philipson gained attention within Baltimore society by serving on the board of the Baltimore Charity Organization Society, on which he was the only Jew.

David Philipson returned to Cincinnati in 1888, bringing his Baltimore-raised wife, Ella Hollander, with him.

David Philipson took over ministry at Bene Israel from Rabbi Max Lilienthal, and taught at the Bene Israel religious school and at HUC.

David Philipson was active in politics, not only opposing antisemitism but the rampant corruption in Cincinnati politics.

David Philipson was the first Jewish leader in Cincinnati to actively participate in public society.

David Philipson worked mostly with other religious figures, but participated in many secular charity efforts.

David Philipson was the first Jew to speak at an Episcopalian chancel, at the invitation of a Cincinnatian priest.

David Philipson spoke out against American imperialism, and in 1902 he allied with Hon.

David Philipson's politically oriented sermons were famous and often controversial; they often found him at odds with other rabbis and important congregational figures.

David Philipson stopped in Cincinnati and offered all of the local religious and political heads an invitation to dine with her.

David Philipson attained national attention when he refused her invitation due to the pogroms that were going on throughout Romania at that time.

David Philipson was very active in the Central Conference of American Rabbis and United American Hebrew Council throughout his life.

David Philipson used HUC's journal of Reform Judaism, The American Israelite, to further his view that Judaism was a religion exclusively, and thus stateless.

Rev David Philipson was the premier rabbi of Cincinnati, even consecrating Orthodox synagogues, particularly Ohave Shalom in 1905.

David Philipson traveled throughout the United States speaking at graduations, consecrations, funerals, and innumerable other events.

David Philipson retired from his position as Rabbi of Bene Israel in 1938.

David Philipson did very little in public life after his retirement, but stayed active in various Jewish organizations and charities.

David Philipson died at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston after collapsing at a convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1949.

David Philipson is buried at the United Jewish Cemetery in Cincinnati.

David Philipson co-wrote the Union Prayer Book, the central prayer book for Reform Judaism, and presided over the first few of its re-publishings.

David Philipson's first published work was The Jew in English Fiction.

David Philipson is noted for writing Old European Jewries, considered to be a foundational work on the study of ghetto life.

David Philipson's memoir, written in 1940, is My Life as an American Jew.

David Philipson was a member of the translation committee for the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 Bible translation into English.