Isaac Leeser, in his lifelong struggle to…

Isaac Leeser, in his lifelong struggle to develop Jewish studies, has participated in nearly all the Jewish activities in the United States—examples include the first Jewish day schools, the first Jewish seminary, the first Jewish publication society.

The Occident and American Jewish Advocate, Leeser's monthly magazine, has acquired an international reputation; Maimonides College, the first American rabbinical school, which opens in Philadelphia on October 28, 1867, with Leeser as its provost, will pave the way for future Jewish seminaries in the United States; the Jewish Publication Society he had founded is the predecessor of today's Jewish Publication Society of America; and his translation of the Bible will become an authorized version for English-speaking Jews around the world.