2009-04
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/31/2009
On the morning of Rosh Hashana, 1850, at Temple Beth-El, Albany, New York, the long-serving, respected president of the congregation LOUIS SPANIER, after a lengthy simmering argument with reform Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, actually mounted the platform before the Ark (Bimah) and, as Rabbi Wise was about to remove the scrolls, and without saying a word, struck him hard in the face, knocking his hat off ! The story and details surrounding it are described in the L. J. Sussman biography of Leeser (1995) and also well detailed in a biography of Wise by M. B. May (Putnam's, N.Y. 1916). Almost an entire chapter is devoted to the long simmering feud and fight in a third biography "ISAAC M. WISE; HIS LIFE WORK AND THOUGHT" by J. G. Eller, (pub. by U.A.H.C. 1965). Photostats of all three accounts go with this single page (8 x 10) letter, entirely in German with only the address, dateline and signature in English; penned entirely in the hand of LOUIS SPANIER; Albany August 2, 1848 to Isaac Leeser, Phila. Exc.+. Accompanied with a later English translation in which Spanier sends a check requesting Leeser to cash it, advising it is for two years dues for the "Occident," asking him to deduct the amount he owes and send the balance. Although message is trifling it is a memento of that widely reported incident of 150 years ago, which still makes fascinating reading!
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