8 14 (AMERICAN-JUDAICA) S[abato] Morais. An Address on the Death of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, Delivered Before the Congregation Mikvé Israel of Philadelphia, at Their Synagogue in Seventh Street…On Wednesday, April 19, 1865. pp. 7, (1 blank). Original printed wrappers. 8vo. [Singerman 1903] Philadelphia, Collins, 1865. $4000 - $6000 ❧ A MOST HISTORIC SPEECH DISPLAYING THE GRIEF JEWS SHARED ALONGSIDE THEIR FELLOW AMERICANS UPON THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "This Congregation, in common with the whole American nation, mourn the loss of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, one of its best and purest Presidents, who, like our own lawgiver, Moses, brought a nation to the verge of the haven of peace, and like him was not allowed to participate in its consummation…(The) Synagogue (will) be draped in mourning for the space of thirty days." (p. 2). A native of Livorno, Italy, Sabato Morais (1823-97) was appointed Minister of Congregation Mikveh Israel in 1851, filling the vacuum created by Isaac Leeser's departure the previous year. During the Civil War, Morais freely expressed his sympathy for the slaves, thus, his grief upon the slaying of Lincoln was not an empty platitude. See A. J. Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, p. 259. 15 (AMERICAN-JUDAICA) Constitution and By-Laws of the Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia. Pencil notations. pp. 58. Few edges chipped. Modern boards. 16mo. [Singerman 1968] Philadelphia, Stein & Jones, 1866. $4000 - $6000 ❧ The Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia was one of the earliest Jewish hospitals in America and the very first in Pennsylvania. The need for Jewish hospitals was confirmed by the fact that other local hospitals performed post-mortem autopsies (expressly prohibited by Jewish law), did not provide kosher food and were a haven to proselytizing Christian missionaries. The Hospital’s founder and Director, Isaac Leeser, was among the first to call for the establishment of Jewish hospitals. Many prominent Philadelphia Jews were involved in the project, including Rebecca Gratz. Indeed, the meeting at which the Hospital was formally organized in 1865 was one of the largest public meetings of the Jews of Philadelphia up to that time. A century later, the Hospital merged with two newer institutions to become the Albert Einstein Medical Center. See M. Whiteman, The Legacy of Isaac Leeser in: Jewish Life in Philadelphia (1983) pp. 37-8.