Gutheim, James K. (1817-86). Autograph Letter Signed written to Isaac Leeser, in English.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

June 7th

New Orleans

1860

Gutheim tells Leeser that he has prepared a lengthy rebuttal to Isaac Mayer Wise’s article “Monument for Judah Touro” (The Israelite, June 1, 1860, p. 382), and asks Leeser to withhold publishing any letters reacting to Wise until he has seen his.

ᴥ Shortly after the great American Jewish philanthropist Judah Touro died (1854) a proposal emerged to memorialize him with a monument in the form of a bronze statue and a Touro Memorial Association was founded for this purpose. In time the proposed monument was to be placed on the grounds of the Congregation K. K. Nefuzoth Yehudah, the Portuguese synagogue led by Rev. James Koppel Gutheim. Never before had Jews memorialized another by a statue, which was presumably forbidden by the second of the Ten Commandments - hence a great controversy arose as the affiliation of the society and synagogue was ostensibly Orthodox. The Jewish traveler Benjamin II was in New Orleans in 1859 and was shocked at the entire scheme. He wrote to rabbinic authorities in Europe to ask their opinion, and received responsa from all four - and in so doing providing a window into how European rabbis viewed mid-19th century America. In what is perhaps a surprising twist, Reform Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise not otherwise known for opposing innovations with halachic objection, took a vigorous stance against the statue citing numerous traditional rabbinic authorities in his defense. See J. Sarna, The Touro Monument Controversy, in: Essays in Honor of David Ellefson (Detroit, 2014). New Orleans’ Rev. Gutheim, in whose synagogue Judah Touro prayed, shared with Leeser a similar biography, geographic background and even childhood Talmud teacher. Gutheim defended the monument and its statue in a learned essay, see The Jewish Messenger, June 29, 1860, pp. 196-97.