Isaac M. Wise. Judaism: Its Doctrines and Duties.

Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900) was the dominant force behind the creation of American Reform Judaism. From his arrival to the United States in 1846, Wise was devoted to modernizing and Americanizing Judaism. His most enduring contributions lie in the institutions he established, which included those that fostered Reform Judaism: Hebrew Union College and The Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Through their creation, Wise advanced his aim of drawing American Jews together around a modern brand of their religion better suited, as he saw it, for the New World. The present volume is a conscious reworking and expansion of Wise’s earlier “The Essence of Judaism” (1861) into a format more suitable for use as a catechism for students and teachers. Among the added improvements are Scriptural citations and guided questions on each page. One of the more interesting pedagogical innovations called for by Wise is his insistence that two thirds of all instruction time be devoted to the study of the Hebrew language.