Schechter, Solomon 1847-1915

If it were not for one man, I might not be at a Jewish Day School today.

Solomon Schechter was born in Foscani, Romania, in 1847, one of six children, to the town's only kosher butcher. (The name Schechter is related to the word "Shochet", meaning "butcher" in Yiddish and Hebrew.) His family was not prosperous, so their library was limited, although he became interested in learning about anti-Semitism which was prevalent in Romania, and began reading from a friend's collection. Jewish resources in Romania were limited and left his homeland for Vienna, Berlin and London, eventually moving to the US.

Solomon Schechter briefly attended a rabbinical school in Austria, but disliked it so much that he returned home. There, he studied alone, had a brief, but unhappy marriage, and did not remarry until he was almost 40. Schechter returned to Vienna, where he studied Philosophy and Grammar at the University of Vienna and attended the Jewish House of Study (Bet Midrash) where he was ordained as a rabbi.

In 1879, he left Vienna for Germany, where he attended the University of Berlin and the Academy for Jewish Studies. There, he met Claude Montefiore, a young Jew from a prominent British family, who engaged him as a tutor when he decided to return to England. Lessons took place in the British Museum, where there was a large collection of Jewish books, and where he met Mathilde Roth, whom he married in 1887.

Schechter was appointed to a position at the University of Cambridge in 1890. In May 1896, two sisters who had just returned from Eretz Yisrael gave him some parchment fragments they had found in Egypt, with a Hebrew text of Ecclesiastes (Ben Sira). He published his findings almost immediately, and in June of that year traveled to see the Cairo Genizah. He entered the Genizah with the help of Cairo's Chief Rabbi, through a hole in the wall of the 1,000 year-old Ben Ezra Synagogue, where he found over 100,000 pages of works. Over the next six years, he devoted his time to studying and publishing his findings.

Schechter then moved to the US to head the new Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, which became the home of Conservative Judaism. JTS struggled at first, ordaining only 17 rabbis in 13 years, which caused some funding problems, but Schechter would not give up. From 1902 until his death in 1915, he worked to make JTS more prominient, bringing in excellent faculty and studuents, as well as more books from the Genizah and building the school's great library. Some of the books he acquired are on display in the Rare Book Room, which I have visited.

Schechter also helped to build the Conservative movement. In 1913, he founded the United Synagogue of America, which is now associated with over 800 Conservative congregations across the US alone. He also became a big contributor to and hearty supporter of Zionism and its work.

Solomon Schechter died aged 68, in 1915. Thanks to his work, the Solomon Schechter Day School system and the Jewish Theological Seminary were established and prospered; and the Conservative Movement grew. Many writings and Jewish artefacts might never have been found but for Schechter's persistence and research. He is undoubtedly one of my biggest Jewish heroes.

References:

Pasachoff, Naomi, "Links in the Chain: Shapers of the Jewish Tradition", Oxford University Press, New York, 1997.

Biography submitted to Sol Novick as an Extra-Credit Assignment by: Jesse Cooper, Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union

Editor: Gila Ansell Brauner

Do you have a biography you would like to write? Could your class take on a similar assignment? We would like to hear from you - pedagog@jajz-ed.org.il

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