Raphall, Morris Jacob (1798-1868). Autograph Letter Signed written to Isaac Leeser, in English (two words in Hebrew).

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

12th April

New York,

1860

Rabbi Raphall asks Isaac Leeser to confirm if a certain Mr. Hyneman, the ex son-in-law of a Mr. Hyman, is in fact in Philadelphia, and if this is so, would Leeser see him to discuss matters pertaining to the divorce of Hyman’s daughter. He also requests the ex son-in-law’s address. Raphall extends Passover greetings in Hebrew.

ᴥ Morris Jacob Raphall was a Swedish-born scholar and rabbi, who served as personal secretary to London’s Chief Rabbi Solomon Hirschel, and translated a substantial part of the Mishnah and other rabbinic works into English before emigrating to America in 1849. He was given the honor of being the first non-Christian to offer a prayer before a session of Congress in 1860. Although a Unionist, Raphall became notorious in 1861 when he defended the institution of slavery in the United States as having biblical basis. Although he chastised Southern slave owners for treating slaves as things rather than as people, and deviating from the biblical manner of slaveholding, he also took a stance against the Abolitionists. While today Raphall is mostly remembered for little but these views, this letter to Leeser represents the nuts-and-bolts of rabbinic functioning in America, clarifying personal and family matters for American Jews.