Letter from Mayer Manheim to Isaac Leeser;March 15, 1849
- Title
- Letter from Mayer Manheim to Isaac Leeser;March 15, 1849
- Author
- Mayer Manheim
- Contributor
- Isaac Leeser
- Format
- Letter. 3 page(s).
- Type
- Letter
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3348h76k/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3348h76k
- Physical Characteristics
- Unlined Paper
- Manuscript
- content
-
Mr I. Leeser Philadelphia
Pittsburg the 15 March 1849
Hebrew
Mayer Manheim
Rev. I. Leeser the within letter you will persive how Mr Kohen acted contrary to the station he was in also the wrong the writer of the letter has done to give on giving Mr Cohen Hebrew if you think it proper to and for the Good of Israel. I think it would do good to Expose both of the offenters trough your Occident I only make the remark and leave it at your disgresion yours very Respectfully
N Gallinger
Rev. Isaac Leeser
favor of Mr. N. Galinger Philadelphia. Pa.
Pittsburgh, March 15, 1849.
Peace and well-being to my dear sir,
Please be good enough to forgive my intrusion, that I burden you with my letters, even though this matter is of no practical value to you I write simply to defend myself against you and to justify myself in view of the fact that in this matter I am completely unhampered?, since I can perform marriages without the permission of a representative of the congregation Mr. Cohen came to me and asked that I should perform the marriage ceremony for him. He told me that his bride was a proselyte. She had been proselytized in Philadelphia, and was, therefore, compelled to remain unmarried until the first of April. It seemed peculiar to the gentiles that the woman should remain in a separate room. Therefore, he wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. I asked him whether his bride had a document about this and he told me that he had forgotten to bring it along, and that I could believe him, upon his honor, that she was a proselyte, that he could get it from Philadelphia at any time, also that Mr Cohen had enjoyed a great deal of confidence in Philadelphia since he has been a preacher. I, therefore, reposed the same confidence in him and took his word for it. There is one other consideration—that Mr. Cohen had at one time married her among the gentiles and had therefore kept he and had lived with her contrary to law. Since she was satisfied to live as a Jewess and, as she said that, if Mr. Cohen would let her live according to Jewish law, she would do so with the greatest pleasure and try to act accordingly, it would be better that she should have a Jewish marriage performed. In such a case, if they had children, they would be called Jewish children. Let there at least be the descendants of parents who had been properly married. As in the case of Joseph, who said to Jacob, our father, * “Whom God had given me here”, Rashi says, that Joseph had shown Jacob the document of a Jewish marriage. We do not find that he had made them proselytes, for we find that they were already the proselytes. That is what is written in the case of our father, Abraham. “And the ** souls which they made in Haran” and Rashi says, “Abraham used to proselytize the men, and Sarah, the women”.
Aside from this, I have nothing more to write to you. I hope you will not take it amiss that I burden you with my writing
I remain, your most devoted servant,
3-15-1849 Meyer Manheim
*Genesis 48:9
**Genesis 12:5 - Identifier
- LSDCBx1FF6_21
- Date
- 1849-03-15
Part of Letter from Mayer Manheim to Isaac Leeser;March 15, 1849
Mayer Manheim, “Letter from Mayer Manheim to Isaac Leeser;March 15, 1849”, 1849-03-15, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/65893