12mo. 95 pages. First edition. Play based on the life of 15th Century Jew in Brunn (Brno), Czech Republic, Israel Brunn ben Hayyim. The book's provenance is a virtual who's who of the Reform movement in America: it is the copy of Kaufman Kohler, warmly inscribed and dated (Cincinnati, Sep. 1908) to him on the front endpaper by the author, Gotthard Deutsch. The same endpaper then bears the later ownership signature of a young "Solomon B. Freehof 1932." SUBJECT (S) : Tragedies; American drama -- 20th century. Deutsch (1859-1921) was born in Moravia and studied at Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary and Vienna University. In 1891 he left Europe for Hebrew Union College. In the United States, he became an advocate of Reform Judaism, but was a moderate and "was known for his sympathies toward Orthodoxy. "(EJ) Kohler (1843-1926) was born in Bavaria and received his doctorate in 1867. "His university studies had shattered Kohler's Orthodoxy and his doctoral thesis, Der Segen Jacobs, took such a radical viewpoint that no rabbinic position was open to him. " In 1869, at the suggestion of Abraham Geiger, Kohler moved to the United States, leading congregations first in Detroit, Chicago and New York. An anti-Zionist, active member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and president of Hebrew Union College, he was a Reform leader. "[In 1885, ] replying to attacks by Alexander Kohut, he published a series of sermons entitled Backward or Forward (1885) . The outcome was his convening of the Pittsburg Conference of Reform rabbis and its adoption of a radical program on the basis of Kohler's draft. In 1903 Kohler was appointed president of Hebrew Union College and set about immediately to improve the curriculum and to bring fresh talent to the faculty. Upon his retirement, Kohler received the title of president emeritus. " (Temkin, EJ). "Freehof, [1892-1990] born in London, was taken to the United States in 1903 by his parents, who settled in Baltimore... He graduated from the University of Cincinnati and a year later was ordained at Hebrew Union College, whose faculty he then joined. After serving as a chaplain with the American forces in Europe during World War I, Freehof became professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College. In 1924 he became rabbi of Congregation Kehillath Anshe Maarav in Chicago, and in 1934 he was appointed rabbi of Congregation Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh. He remained at Rodef Shalom until his retirement in 1966. Freehof's scholarly endeavors were largely in two fields. The first was Jewish liturgy. In 1930 he was appointed chairman of the Reform Committee on Liturgy of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose work led to the publication of the two-volume Union Prayer Book and the Union Home Prayer Book, both of which stressed relevance to modern life and the inclusion of contemporary material in the service. He served as President of the CCAR from 1943 to 1945. His second main interest was the development of Jewish law as displayed in the literature of the responsa and its bearing on modern Jewish practice. He was appointed head of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1955." (EJ, 2007). Wear to boards, especially at corners and spine, but good, solid condition. (k-amr-1-1).
