Prophet in a Time of Priests. Janice Rothschild Blumberg

      Advance Praise

      “This warts-and-all biography recounts the strange-but-true story of one of America’s most colorful, accomplished, and eccentric religious leaders, Edward Benjamin Morris (“Alphabet”) Browne. At once a rabbi, a doctor, and a lawyer, Browne befriended Ulysses S. Grant, bested the atheist preacher Robert Ingersoll, corresponded with Theodor Herzl, and sprang innocent men from jail. Acquainted with many of the leading figures of his day, he championed causes both great and small, and occupied pulpits from Boston to Peoria. Few recall Browne today, but as this prodigiously researched volume demonstrates, they should. His life illuminates significant chapters in the history of American Judaism.”

      – Jonathan D. Sarna

      Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University, and author of American Judaism: A History

      “Readers will quickly discover that by examining Browne they will supplement their knowledge of numerous vitally important topics relating to the history of American Jewry, including American Reform Judaism, American Zionism, the American Jewish press, American Jewry and politics, and much more. Janice Rothschild Blumberg deserves much credit for assiduously reconstructing her great grandfather’s complicated, intriguing, and truly illuminating biography. The story of Rabbi “Alphabet” Browne is as instructive as it is enthralling.”

      – Gary Phillip Zola

      Executive Director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives and Professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio

      “The narrative is meticulously documented, but lovingly related by Janice Rothschild Blumberg who remembers her great grandfather from her childhood. Browne is honestly depicted as a prophetic figure who held strong and controversial opinions in a generation of rabbis who were committed to compromise. The book is an important contribution to an understanding of American Jewry during the post Civil War era, and particularly the relationship between reform and traditional Jewish beliefs in this era. I would characterize the narrative as a “delightful” read, a term which I would ordinarily restrict to a work of historical fiction.”

      – Rabbi Harold S. White

      Senior Advisor and Founder, The Program for Jewish Civilizatiom, The School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

      Prophet in a Time of Priests

      Rabbi “Alphabet” Browne

      1845-1929

      a biography

      Janice Rothschild Blumberg

      Apprentice House

      Baltimore, Maryland

      Copyright © 2012, 2014 by Janice Blumberg

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the publisher (except by reviewers who may quote brief passages).

      Printed in the United States of America

      Cover and internal design by: Alyssa Link

      Paperback ISBN: 978-1-934074-73-2

      EBook ISBN: 978-1-934074-99-2

      First Edition, updated

      Published by Apprentice House

      Apprentice House

      Communication Department

      Loyola University Maryland

      4501 N. Charles Street

      Baltimore, MD 21210

      410.617.5265 • 410.617.2198 (fax)

      www.ApprenticeHouse.com • [email protected]

      TABLE OF CONTENT

       FOREWORD vii

       INTRODUCTION xi

       I - WUNDERKIND AND THE PROMISE OF AMERICA 1

       II - UNCHARTED WATERS AND SOPHIE 17

       III - EVANSVILLE 43

       IV - PRESIDENT GRANT AND THE MAN WHO CHALLENGED INGERSOLL 57

       V - GATE CITY AND THE SOUTH’S FIRST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 79

       VI - NEW YORK: Pulpit, Press and Politics 121

       VII - NEW YORK: Crime and Punishment 155

       VIII - INTERMEZZO 179

       IX - FAMILY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, AND FRUSTRATION 203

       X - ZION ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE 227

       XI - TRAVELING WITH SOPHIE 265

       XII - ROOSEVELT, TAFT AND TRAGEDY 279

       XIII - WILSON AND THE WANING YEARS 309

       CONCLUSION 339

       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 345

       THE HEARING OF THE REICH CASE BEFORE GOVERNOR HILL 353

       NOTES 389

       ABOUT THE AUTHOR 415

      INDEX 417

      FOREWORD

      Since the 1890s numerous rabbis have occupied pulpits in particular congregations for decades. Especially in Reform temples, but also in some Conservative and modern Orthodox synagogues, their responsibilities have included service as ambassadors to the gentiles.” This broad role includes interaction with the general community, ecumenical endeavors, participation in civic and social service projects and organizations, and acting as major spokespeople and faces of the Jewish community. Although conflicts frequently occurred, rabbis have tended to enjoy power and prestige within their congregations and within the broader Jewish and secular societies.

      These patterns have not always been the rule. As Janice Rothschild Blumberg makes clear in this path breaking study of Rabbi E.B.M. (“Alphabet”) Browne, virtually all of those who followed Rabbi Abraham Rice, the first ordained rabbi to hold an American pulpit, in 1840, did not do so. During the next