Samuel Mendelsohn was a rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and scholar born near Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. He was educated at the rabbinical college in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, at the rabbinic school in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, and at Maimonides College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. In 1883 he received the honorary degree of doctor of law from the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

. Mendelsohn served as rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 of the Congregation Beth-El, Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 from 1873 to 1876; he then served as rabbi of the Congregation Temple of Israel

Temple of Israel (Wilmington, North Carolina)

The Temple of Israel is a Jewish house of prayer located on the corner of Fourth and Market Streets in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. Built in 1876, the Temple of Israel is the oldest synagogue in North Carolina and one of the earliest Reform synagogues in the American South...

, in Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

, until 1922.

Mendelsohn published The Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews (Baltimore, 1891), in addition to several pamphlets and a large number of articles on subjects of general Jewish interest and Talmudical research, in Ha-Ẓofeh, the Jewish Messenger, Jewish Record, South Atlantic Magazine, American Israelite, and Revue des Etudes Juives. Dr. Mendelsohn was also a collaborator in the completion of the Jewish Encyclopedia

Jewish Encyclopedia

The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...

.

In 1879 he married Esther Jastrow, niece of the Rev. Dr. Marcus Jastrow

Marcus Jastrow

Marcus Jastrow was a renowned Talmudic scholar, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive A Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature....

. He had one son, Charles Jastrow Mendelsohn; the latter was fellow in classics in the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 (1901–1903), where he also received the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1904.

Rabbi Mendelsohn was active in a number of fraternal and charitable organizations, including the Cornelius Harnett Council, Royal Acanum, Odd Fellows

Odd Fellows

Odd Fellows is a name broadly referring to any of a large number of friendly societies, fraternal and service organizations and/or Lodges.-Societies using the name "Odd Fellows" or variations:...

, B’nai B’rith and the Fraternal Mystic Circle. He also served as supreme president of the U.S. Benevolent Franternity.

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia article for Samuel Mendelsohn, by Cyrus Adler
  Cyrus Adler
  Cyrus Adler was a U.S. educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar.-Biography:Adler was born in Van Buren, Arkansas, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania in 1883 and gained a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1887, where he taught Semitic languages from 1884 to 1893...