Board of Delegates of American Israelites. Endorsed by Henry Hart, Alexander Saroni and Isaac Leeser.

Opposing federal legislation recognizing only Christian military chaplains and not Jewish ones. “The formation of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites in 1859… proved somewhat effective in representing Jewish interests in the Union during the Civil War… Leeser was at the forefront of nearly all the major campaigns involving the protection of Jewish rights in the United States during the Civil War.” (See L.J. Sussman, Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism (1995) p. 180 and 22-24). The first important Jewish issue of the war was the “legal disability preventing the commissioning of Jewish chaplains in the Union army.” According to the Volunteer Bill only a Christian minister could hold the position of regimental chaplain. A Jew, Michael Allen was appointed as chaplain of the Sixty-fifth Regiment of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, which had a large Jewish contingent, despite the legal disability. A YMCA worker contested Allen’s position and under protest Allen resigned his commission. Leeser was a childhood friend of Allen and actively worked with the Board of Delegates of American Israelites to pressure Washington to change the law to allow for Jewish chaplains. He assisted Dr. Arnold Fischel in preparing for his mission as the representative of Board of Delegates of American Israelites in Washington. Fischel’s lobbying and a petition drive organized by the board generated enough political pressure and influence to get Congress to change the law and allow for non-Christian clergymen to be appointed as military chaplains.