Rabbi isaac wise of cincinnati wrote in 1865, abraham lincoln believed himself to be bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Abrahams name in contrast to the names isaac, jacob, israel, and joseph appears only as a personal name in the bible, never a tribal or local designation. He married harriot judith hart, a daughter of ephraim hart of new york, who. The book of judith is a story written for household reading, while it may properly be classed as. It brings to light a fascinating relationship at a time when most americans, especially politicians were openly hostile or totally ignorant of the jews within their midst. Lessons in spiritual leadership many writers have explored lincolns leadership.
Book of judith encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. Drawing on hundreds of records, we called him rabbi abraham documents in roughly its first third the connections between lincoln and jews during his own lifetime, and then in its last twothirds the many jewish commentaries, celebrations, memorials, and remembrances of lincoln from april 15, 1865, to very near the present. A picture history from the lilly library by cecil k. The apocrypha are works writtencollected at the same time as most books of the bible but not included in the hebrew canon. Explores the joseph smith papyrus and demonstrates that joseph smiths claim that he had translated the book of abraham from it was a fabrication. Abraham lincolns biblical namesake, the patriarch abraham. I have to say lincoln was by far my favorite i read this book in 4th or 5th grade in library class.
He may have been a historical individual before he became a figure of. Judith in mosaic and ceramics angela clarke italian cultural centre. This biography looks at the life of abraham lincoln, a farm boy who grew up to become the sixteenth president of the united states and the man responsible for leading the country through the civil war. The status of the book of judith varies among different religious traditions. There has been no accurate, readable onevolume biography for the lincoln beginner, for the person who can devote only a small. Notwithstanding the great number of books that have been written about abraham lincoln during our generation, a major need, perhaps the major need so far as most persons are concerned, has long remained unfilled. Among american heroes, lincoln continues to have a unique appeal for his fellow countrymen and also for people of other lands. An apocryphal book bearing the name of its principal character.
A descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and. A tone of religious fervor and of intense patriotism runs through the narrative, and no opportunity of enforcing the claims of the jewish law is lost. A tower of books to honor abe theres a new, towering tribute to the 16th president in the nations capitol. The book also talks about slavery and the end of slavery and the civil war. And this was during a time when jews made up a small fraction of the population. The sheer volume of lincolns interactions with jews surprised even us. Abraham lincoln and the jewish community internet archive.
In 1909 a book was written by isaac markens titled abraham lincoln and the jews. Names that have gained currency in english books on jewish subjects. Throughout, he seems to have treated them with the benevolence and absence of prejudice one would expect from the great emancipator. The present volume of the jewish encyclopedia has been carried out on the. Born and raised in hungary, he participated as a teenager in the hungarian revolution of 1956 against the soviet union before escaping to america, where he received his higher education and became a. Judith, book of international standard bible encyclopedia. February 12, 1809 april 15, 1865 was an american statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the united states 18611865. I read ever book in this series from washington to clinton. Abraham lincoln encyclopedia of presidents library binding november 1, 1988 by jim hargrove author visit amazons jim hargrove page. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. District judge for south carolina offered by president lincoln.
His closest jewish acquaintance and ally, abraham jonas, one of my most valued friends in all of lincolns writings, that phrase is used only once from their time as fellow members of the illinois state legislature, played a major role in his political rise, promoted lincoln to public notice years before the debates with douglas, was. Lincoln and the jews explores bonds with a nations growing minority. The book of judith is similar to the biblical book of esther in that it also describes how a woman saved her people from impending massacre the book relates that nebuchadrezzar, king of assyria, sent his general holofernes on an expedition against palestine. The artwork the dinner party features a place setting for judith. The book receives its title from the name of its principal character, judith jewess. The american playwright thomas bailey aldrichs judith of bethulia was first performed in new york, 1905, and was the basis for the 1914 production judith of. He was the robert fluhrer professor of civil war studies and director of the civil war institute at gettysburg college. At the siege of the jewish city of bethulia, a general named achior warned holofernes of the danger of attacking the jews. With malice toward none exhibit at newyork historical society reveals rich relationship between abraham lincoln and the jews. The word hebrew appears for the first time in this weeks torah portion. But lincoln was tragically shot one night at fords theaterthe first president to be assassinated.
Allen, september 1861, american jewish historical society journal, 39 1948 rosen, robert n. Actually, the revelation goes back to abraham lincolns own lifetime. A beautiful jewish widow named judith left the besieged city in pretended flight and foretold to. Lincolns lifetime coincided with a dramatic increase in americas jewish population, which grew from about 3,000 in 1809, the year of his birth, to roughly 150,000 in 1860. Judiths story is written in the book of judith which is codified as the fourth book of the apocrypha. Hanukkah is a jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the second temple in. Oct 19, 2018 the word hebrew appears for the first time in this weeks torah portion. Abraham jonas was one of lincolns earliest friends and among the first to suggest that lincoln be the republican nominee for president in 1860. Rabbi zola spoke about president lincolns relationship with prominent jews.
Mar 20, 2015 lincolns lifetime coincided with a dramatic increase in americas jewish population, which grew from about 3,000 in 1809, the year of his birth, to roughly 150,000 in 1860. Rabbi gary zola talks about his book, we called him rabbi abraham. American year book and encyclopedia jewish year book. Braun professor of american jewish history at brandeis university, and the eighteenth president of the association for jewish studies. Born to a family of farmers, lincoln stood out from an early ageliterally. Sarna is a historian and leading commentator on american jewish history, religion, and life. During crusader riots, the sheriff of lincoln saved the jews by giving them official protection. Abraham lincolns biblical namesake, the patriarch abraham, received the shocking news that his cousin, lot, had been taken away as a prisoner of war. As sixteenth president of the united states, he guided the nation through the civil war and saw the abolition of slavery. Merchant, citizen, friend, jew, in each capacity showing an. Torrey, however, goes too far when he says see jewish encyclopedia, book of judith that the writer aimed at nothing more than to write a tale that would amuse. An informative book about the life of the president abraham lincoln. The book gets a little boring but it gets more interesting. A threestory sculpture of 7,000 books written about the 16th.
Boritt and his wife liz live in an 18thcentury farmhouse on the edge of the gettysburg battlefield which they restored with their own hands. Hugh, the great bishop of lincoln, taught love of jews to his parishioners. The abraham lincoln book tower stands 34 feet tall and 8 feet around in the lobby of the new fords theatre center for education and leadership in washington, d. One hundred and fifty years after abraham lincoln s death, the. The title of this book however strange and shocking lays it all out on the line for us. By bringing these works together into a single anthology, this book shows that lincoln deserves to be counted among the great political philosophers.
Abraham is evidentlythough this is not directly statedone of the seven bearers of ma. He was president of the jewish historical society of england. The jewish historian titus flavius josephus narrates in his book, jewish. He is a graduate of ucla and princeton theological seminary and is a visiting professor of history at ucla. Abraham lincoln was abe lincoln a jewish pawn of the rothschilds. Jul 16, 2015 years before becoming president, lincoln had worked hand in hand with jewish colleagues in law and politics, unwilling to arbitrarily exclude anyone from the pool of his contacts. Dubbed by the forward newspaper in 2004 as one of americas fifty mostinfluential american jews, sarna is the joseph h. Although the story is set in the babylonian period, the book of judith is thought to have originated at the time of the maccabees.
White is the author of seven other books including two previous books on lincoln. Lincoln and the jews explores bonds with a nations growing. Lincoln and the jews explores bonds with a nations. Abraham lincolns groundbreaking ties to american jews. Places associated with lincoln prepresidential political career presidential years reference works speeches and writings. Much business was done not only by aaron of lincoln, but also by benedict fil isaac, as well as by aarons brothers senior and benedict, and his sons elias, abraham, and vives. Interviews gabor boritt michael burlingame don davenport allen guelzo discussion allen guelzo. Series information with straightforward language and illustrations on nearly every page, the who was series invites kids to explore history by learning. Abram the hebrew jewish theological seminary of america.
Medieval hebrew versions understood the story in the context of the hasmonean revolt. Jun 02, 2011 abraham lincoln was abe lincoln a jewish pawn of the rothschilds. From the 19th annual abraham lincoln symposium, stacey pratt mcdermott talks about her book, mary lincoln. This is an excellent description of lincolns friends who were jewish, his understanding of jewish scripture, and events related to jews that had a connection with lincoln. The other six are the prophets of ad, thamud, and midian, and noah, lot, and moses. The first words to the first hebrew were gods directing abraham to. Abraham lincoln no, no, no, four score and seven times no, abraham lincoln was not even remotely jewish. In addition to this biblical image of abraham, jewish philosophers found in rabbinic midrashim views of abraham according to which he smashed the prevalent idols and came to believe in the one god gen. Who was abraham lincoln this book was about abraham lincoln and fun facts about him such as it talks about when he was elected for president and a bunch of other fun facts. Abraham jonas, a wellconnected whig lawyer and orator, became lincolns close associate in illinoisalthough the authors may go too far in implying that an. Disproves lds claims that joseph smith received the book of abraham through revelation and proves that joseph smiths source for his translation was a pagan egyptian text, the book of breathings. Hillel gruenberg, stefanie halpern, robert harris, judith hauptman. The ancestors of israel are portrayed in the bible as living a nomadic or pastoral life among the older population of palestine before the time of the israelite settlement c. This is an excellent description of lincoln s friends who were jewish, his understanding of jewish scripture, and events related to jews that had a connection with lincoln.
It was nominated for an academy award for best documentary feature. Abraham lincoln in his own words by abraham lincoln. But in this classic work, christian philosopher and statesman elton trueblood reveals how lincolns leadership skills flowed directly from his religious convictionswhich explains how. The story of judith has been a favourite of latterday playwrights. The book of judith is a story written for household reading, while it may properly be classed as didactic, yet it is one of those popular tales in which the chief concern of the writer is with the telling of the story rather than with the pointing of a moral, and in which the wish to interest takes precedence even of the desire to instruct. The book relates that nebuchadrezzar, king of assyria, sent his general holofernes on an expedition against palestine. Gabor boritt was inducted as a laureate of the lincoln academy of illinois and awarded the order of lincoln the states highest honor by the governor of illinois in 2009 as a bicentennial laureate. Thus it seems fairly certain that he was not an eponymous ancestor. There has been no accurate, readable onevolume biography for the lincoln beginner, for the person who can devote only a small portion of his time to. Finally delcor observes connecting lines from the book of daniel to the book of judith 1967. The authors convincingly make the case that lincoln s positive attitude toward jews was strongly influenced by abraham jonasa fellow illinois politician, the only man lincoln ever directly called one of my most valued friends, and one of the first to suggest that he seek the republican nomination for president in 1860.
Son of myer david cohen and judith simiah da silva soils. Some also have a custom of eating dairy products to remember judith and. Lincoln and the jews is largely a catalogue of the american jews whose paths happened to intersect with his, from his early career in springfield, illinois to his years as president and commanderinchief. Most illuminating, though, is the books portrayal of abraham lincoln, the first president to truly interact with jews and to welcome them into leading american.
Born to an orthodox jewish family, jonas subsequently married the daughter of gershom mendes seixas, one of the leaders of shearith israel in new york city. Sep 12, 2010 actually, the revelation goes back to abraham lincolns own lifetime. Boritt born 1940 in budapest, hungary is an american historian. He freed the slaves, preserved the union and pushed major banking reform. Ecclesiastes is one of 24 books of the tanakh hebrew bible, where it is classified as one of.
The authors convincingly make the case that lincolns positive attitude toward jews was strongly influenced by abraham jonasa fellow illinois politician, the only man lincoln ever directly called one of my most valued friends, and one of the first to suggest that he seek the republican nomination for president in 1860. As it describes his childhood all the way to being the president of the united states and the responsibilities and importance he had done. Story of the deliverance of the city of bethulia by a beautiful widow, who by a ruse. If you find it difficult to trust the word of someone called unreal, could you find it in your heart to trust a professor at rutgers university. Stories from the veterans of the abraham lincoln brigade is a 1990 documentary film by connie field and judith montell that shares interviews with seven american veterans of the spanish civil war who fought for the loyalist cause during the war and went on to live lives of activism. In the nottingham donum of 1194 lincoln comes second in point of tribute. According to the text, a fugitive brought the news to abram the hebrew avram haivri gen. Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by president abraham lincoln.
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