Call Number:

ARC MS 8

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Archives at the Library of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

Extent:

11.5 linear feet (22 document boxes)

Preferred Citation:

Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Sabato Morais Papers, Box 1, File Folder (FF) 1.

Date:

1845-1897 (inclusive) and 1851-1897 (bulk)

Creator:

Morais, Sabato

Form:

Printed ephemera, Manuscripts (documents), Correspondence, and Sermons, English -- 19th century

Abstract:

Sabato Morais was born on April 13, 1823 to Samuel and Bonina Morais in the northern Italian city of Leghorn (Livorno), in the grand duchy of Tuscany. Morais was the third of nine children, seven daughters and the older of the two sons. The Morais family descended from Portuguese Marranos. Morais' mother, Bonina Wolf, was of German-Ashkenazic descent. Morais' father, a man of limited means, was an ardent Republican and a proud supporter of the cause of Italian nationalism, for which he was once imprisoned. Morais' mother is reputed to have been a woman of great piety, from whom Morais is said to have gained a devotion to Jewish tradition. Among his siblings, it is known that Morais' sister Virginia married Dr. Caesare Lunel Bey, the Attorney General of Egypt. Morais' brother's name was Leone, and several other family members' names, including those of several of his sisters and their children, appear scattered throughout the correspondence (written in Italian) found in the collection.

Morais received rabbinical training from the Chief Rabbi of Leghorn, Abraham Baruch Piperno, as well as from Rabbi Abraham Curiat, Rabbi Isaac Alveranga, and Rabbi Angiolo Funaro. In 1845, Morais was presented with a rabbinical ordination, signed by the first three aforementioned rabbis. Morais himself preferred not to be addressed by the title "rabbi" -- his degree, some have argued, was only a teaching certificate. In addition to his rabbinical training, Morais also studied Semitics with Professor Salvatore De Benedetti, of the University of Pisa and was thoroughly versed in the full range of the broader European cultural and intellectual heritage.

From an early age, Morais felt impelled to earn a livelihood due to the financial situation of his family. In 1845, at the age of 22, Morais chose to leave Italy and his studies for London to seek the position of "Second Reader" at the largest Sephardic congregation in London, "Sha'are Shamayim" at Bevis Marks. While failing initially to secure the position, primarily because of his lack of fluency with English, Morais would return to London the following year to work as the Master of the same Congregation's Orphan's School, a post he held through 1850.

In addition to his work as Hebrew instructor at the Orphans school, Morais privately tutored Hebrew and Italian, while also working diligently to acquire a mastery of the English language for himself. During his five years in London, Morais was befriended by the famous Jewish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore, who was (like Morais) a native of Leghorn in Italy. Morais also claims to have "pressed the hand" of Giuseppe (Joseph) Mazzini, the exiled Italian nationalist, and according to one account helped Mazzini return surreptitiously to Italy by lending him his passport.

In 1851, after some hesitation, Morais left London for the United States to apply for the position of Hazan (Cantor and Reader) at Philadelphia's oldest and one of America's most prestigious congregations, the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation Mikveh Israel. Morais arrived in New York on March 14, 1851 and in Philadelphia three days later. On his birthday, April 13, 1851, Morais was elected Hazan of the Congregation, and sixteen years later on September 18, 1868, he received a life-time contract. In assuming the office of Hazan, Morais succeeded the Rev. Isaac Leeser, the controversial traditionalist, after a vote taken by the board, 20-11. On May 17, 1854, Morais became a United States citizen and the summer of that year returned to Italy for a brief visit, apparently the last time he would travel back to his family and to his native home.

Morais married a school teacher in Philadelphia named Clara Esther Weil the following year in 1855. She gave birth to seven children before her death in 1872, which not only left Morais tremendously bereaved but also burdened with the task of raising the seven children by himself. Morais never was to re-marry. Of the children, Henry Samuel Morais became a founder of the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, a contributing editor to the Philadelphia Jewish Press and an author of two books. Morais' daughter Nina, the oldest child, was a respected literary figure and civic leader, who eventually would move with her husband Emmanuel Cohen from Philadelphia to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Morais' other children were his daughters Rebecca (who married Eugene Lyon), Gentile (who married Hermon Loeb), Esther, and Miriam, and his son Leon. Neither Henry, Leon, Esther, nor Miriam is known to have married.

As a communal and religious leader, Morais played an active role in virtually every civic and charitable cause in the city of Philadelphia and carefully followed the political issues of his day both throughout the United States and around the world. He first gained lasting fame for his outspoken support of President Lincoln during the Civil War -- a stance that later would result in his receiving an honorary membership in the Union League of Philadelphia. Morais maintained his public advocacy of the cause of abolition and the preservation of the Union in the face of tremendous pressures, a one year suspension of his preaching privileges, offers of bribes, and threats of dismissal from the board of his own congregation. Notable among Morais' other controversial stances as minister of Mikveh Israel was his support of the right of women to vote on all congregational issues, a policy which was adopted by vote in 1882.

Morais supported Jewish causes not only in Philadelphia and in the United States but also throughout the world, as evidenced by his participation in the Alliance Israelite Universelle, of which he was vice-president of the Philadelphia chapter. Morais played an active role in responding to the persecution of Jews in Morocco and Romania and spoke out against the notorious abduction of Edgar Mortara, and later of Joseph Coen, Italian Jewish children who were taken from their parents and baptised, with the consent of the Vatican. In 1868, Morais petitioned both the president of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites as well as the United States Secretary of State to appeal to the provisional government in Madrid to revoke the infamous 1492 edict of expulsion of the Jews from Spain. In 1870, following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, Morais urged the United States to intervene to prevent the burning of Paris and to negotiate peace.

As a communal leader, Morais is perhaps best remembered for his efforts to re-settle in the United States Russian and other Eastern European Jews fleeing the pogroms which had erupted throughout Eastern Europe beginning in 1881. In 1890, when a strike was declared by the Philadelphia clothing makers union, pitting many of these same immigrants against some of the most prominent members of his own congregation, Morais played an instrumental role in resolving the dispute. Morais was involved in many other types of public battles, including his defense of the principle of the separation of state and religion, and his efforts to combat the Christian missionary movements which were so strong in his day.

Morais was deeply involved in the development of higher Jewish education in the United States. From 1867 through 1873, he was professor of Biblical Exegesis of Maimonides College, the so-called "first American Jewish Theological Seminary," and later served as an examiner for the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati before his eventual break with this central institution of the Reform movement. Morais also tutored children throughout his life, often for little or no remuneration, and regularly taught for the Hebrew Sunday School movement, started by Rebecca Gratz.

Morais is perhaps most famous for his role in founding the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (1886), of which he was a member of the executive Board, president of the faculty and of the advisory board, and professor of Bible. Morais not only founded the institution, but also conceived its motto: "To Learn and to Teach, To Observe and To Practise (lilmod u-lelamed lishmor ve-la'asot)" [an Hebrew epigram which had first appeared in America on the cover of Isaac Leeser's journal The Occident and American Jewish Advocate (1843)]. A more complete listing of the various institutions and organizations with which Morais was affiliated is found below.

Morais was a frequent contributor to local and regional newspapers, often championing humanitarian causes such as, for example, the treatment of the Chinese in the West, Native American Indian rights, and the persecution of Armenians. He was called upon regularly to deliver public lectures (in addition to his regular regimen of weekly Synagogue sermons) on a variety of subjects, addressing such topics as the prevention of cruelty to children, the prevention of cruelty to animals, the need to give to the poor and needy, and the improvement of the status of women. Less publicized were his frequent visits to aid the infirmed, the destitute, and the imprisoned.

Morais' literary contributions have not yet been assessed. In his day, he was renowned as a translator and master of Hebrew literature. Of particular note in this regard are Morais' translations from Italian into English (for the first time) of several works of Samuel David Luzzatto (ShaDaL), the famous leader of Italian Jewish learning, including Luzzatto's critical introduction to the Pentateuch. Morais also translated for the first time from Hebrew into English two of the medieval Jewish leader Maimonides' famous epistles: the "Letter to Yemen" and the "Treatise on Resurrection." Shortly before his death, Morais completed an English translation of the Biblical book of Jeremiah for the Jewish Publication Society (during the early stages of its efforts to produce a new translation of the entire Hebrew Bible). Morais's son Henry attests that his father wrote a short commentary on the Book of Esther but no specific bibliographical information about this work has yet been found. Morais' mastery of both English literature and classical Jewish texts is evidenced throughout his many published and unpublished translations and studies.

In addition to his translations and commentaries, Morais composed several biographical and historical studies, many of them dealing with the Jews of Italy. Among his many shorter publications was a study of the history and status of the Ethiopian Jewish community, the so-called Falashah, which was published in the Penn Monthly in April of 1880. Morais also engaged in polemical exchanges on aspects of religious reform which were published in the various newspapers and journals of his day.

Morais' many unpublished sermons and writings, whose publication he opposed during his lifetime, were principally concerned with Biblical and exegetical topics. Morais also composed many explanatory lectures and addresses on post-Biblical Jewish history and theology. He also composed many funeral orations and wrote on contemporary questions of Jewish ritual practices.

Morais died in Philadelphia on November 12, 1897, at the age of 74, after several bouts of illness. He was buried in the Mikveh Israel cemetery located at 10th and Federal St. in Philadelphia.

The following preliminary list, based on information contained in the Morais Papers and in the bibliography provided below, presents all of the organizations in which Morais had either a formal membership or role or an informal but contributing relationship:

Alliance Israelite Universelle (Vice-president, Philadelphia chapter)

American Jewish Historical Society

American Historical Association (elected member)

Association of Jewish Immigrants (appointed to the committee on membership)

Bevis Marks (Master of Hebrew at the Orphans' school)

Carmel Colony (Baron de Hirsch Fund)

Chaplaincy of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Pennsylvania (declined)

Chautauqua System of Education

Doreshe Da'at Society of Philadelphia

Freemasons, Order of (member)

Gratz College (helped to found)

Hebrew Charitable Association

Hebrew Education Society (volunteer instructor)

Hebrew Immigrant Society of Philadelphia

Hebrew Literary Society (first president and lecturer)

Hebrew Sunday School Society (instructor)

Hebrew Union College (examiner)

Hospital and Immigration Society

Hyman Gratz Trust (member of Board of Trustees, ex officio)

Human Freedom League

Indian Rights Association (supporter)

Jeshurun Lodge

Jewish Alliance of America (Treasurer)

Jewish Foster Home (and Orphan Asylum) (founder and board member)

Jewish Hospital Association (member)

Jewish Maternity Association

Jewish Minister's Association (member)

Jewish Publication Society (on the consultation committee)

Jewish Summer School of Atlantic City

Jewish Theological Seminary (founder, president of the faculty and of the advisory board, and member of the executive committee)

Jewish Theological Seminary Association (President)

Literary Association of Philadelphia (honorary member)

Maimonides College (founder and faculty member--Professor of Bible)

Mikveh Israel (Minister, Hazan, superintendent of its congregational school [1892])

Mikveh Israel Association (member and honorary president)

National Council of Jewish Women

National Farm School (Baron de Hirsch Fund)

Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (member)

Rappaport Benevolent Association (member)

Society Esrath Nashim (Helping Women)

The Society for the Extension of University Teaching (elected member)

Southern Hebrew Sunday School (volunteer, lecturer)

Union League of Philadelphia (elected honorary member)

United Hebrew Charities (member and contributor)

United Hebrew Relief Association

Universal Peace Union (officer)

University of Pennsylvania (honorary degree, "Doctor of Laws")

Young Men's Hebrew Association (President "for awhile" and member)

Young Women's Union

American Hebrew

American Israelite

American Jewish Historical Society, Publications

Asmonean

Association Bulletin

Association Review

Boston Traveller

Daily Mercury

Episcopal Register

Evening Herald

Evening Telegraph

Hebrew Standard

Jewish Exponent

Jewish Index

Jewish Messenger

Jewish Record

Jewish Tribune

Ledger and Transcript

Menorah Monthly

Mirror and Keystone

Mose Antologia Israelitica, Corfu

North American and United States Gazette

Occident and American Jewish Advocate (also was a subscriber)

Penn Monthly

Philadelphia Inquirer

Public Ledger

Sunday Dispatch

The Age (Philadelphia)

The Times (New York Times?)

Morais also made charitable contributions, often anonymously, to many other organizations, including Miss Moss' Infant School, and the Touro hospital.

The Morais Papers can be divided roughly in half primarily between correspondence and writings. The earliest materials in the collection date from 1845 and the latest from just before Morais' death in November of 1897. The bulk of the collection is concentrated from after the time when Morais came to the United States in 1851 through 1897, and especially after 1876. The collection contains valuable information on Jewish life in Philadelphia in the second half of the nineteenth century, and provides new insight into Morais' role in the development of the Historical school of nineteenth century Judaism in American (precursor of American Judaism's modern Conservative movement) and the founding of its central institution: the Jewish Theological Seminary, in New York. Morais also maintained a life-long correspondence with family members, friends, and teachers from Italy, whose letters (in Italian) are rich in number and variety.

Several personal items, such as a copy of Morais' will as well as his certificate of membership in the Order of Free Masons, from Italy, are found in the collection. In addition, Morais' ordination discourse written in his own hand as well as his (rabbinical) ordination certificate from Italy are also held; the original ordination certificate, written on parchment and signed by Rabbis Piperno, Curiat and Alveranga, explicitly describes Morais as ordained, employing the language of "semikhah" (ordination).

The collection also contains numerous manuscripts and drafts of Morais' various sermons and lectures. As noted above, Morais was an outspoken supporter of a wide variety of causes such as abolition, (Native American) Indian rights, the protection of the Chinese working in the United States, protection of children and animals, supporter of the improvement of the status of women. Morais also received numerous appeals to help indigent Jewish communities, especially from Palestine.