COPYRIGHT, 1926 BY THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA Printed at THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY'S PRESS PREFACE The great increase in the number of new synagogue buildings in the United States since the termination of the World War has revived interest in the character and development of the architecture of the synagogue, and aroused a need in many quarters for authoritative information in handy form along these lines. To supply this need is the purpose of the little essay on the architecture of the synagogue by William D. Tachau, Esq., (Diplomé, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris; Ph.B., School of Mines, Columbia University), a practicing architect of New York City who has specialized for a number of years in designing synagogues, churches, and other public buildings. In view of the incidence in 1925 of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and in 1926 of the tercentenary of the purchase from its Indian inhabitants of Manhattan Island by the Dutch, an article on the Jews of Colonial times was deemed to be timely, and we present a brief resumé of the most important events of Jewish interest of that period by Albert M. Friedenberg, the Corresponding Secretary of the American Jewish Historical Society, who has frequently written on this and kindred subjects, and has also made no inconsiderable contribution to our fund of knowledge on the facts concerning the Jews in American history. The Publication Committee of the Jewish Publication Society also deemed it proper to include in the present volume brief biographical notices of four men who were active collaborators in the work of the Society, namely, Israel Abrahams, Reader of Rabbinics at Cambridge University, England, and author of several books issued by the Society, whose biography Mr. Herbert Lowe, of the same institution, a close friend of Dr. Abrahams, was good enough to write; Dr. Kaufman Kohler, formerly President of the Hebrew Union College and a member of the Board of Editors of the Jewish translation of the Bible and of Classics Committee of the Society, whose biography is from the pen of Rabbi H. G. Enelow of New York; Henry Malter, Professor in charge of the Rabbinical Department of the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, also a member of the Classics Committee, and author of "Life and Works of Saadia Gaon" issued by the Society, whose biography was contributed by Professor Alexander Marx, Librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary; and Ephraim Lederer, for many years an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Society, whose life and work are briefly described by Rabbi Julius H. Greenstone. The volume appropriately opens with a Survey of the Year 5688 by Dr. Harry S. Linfield, compiler and editor of the monthly Summary of Events of Jewish Interest, issued by the Bureau of Jewish Social Research for the American Jewish Committee, under whose direction the various recurrent features such as directories and lists have been prepared. Dr. Linfield has also thoroughly revised the article on Statistics of Jews, in the light of the latest authentic data. Readers of the Year Book will find additional topics of interest referred to in the Nineteenth Annual Report of the American Jewish Committee, and in the account of the Thirty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Jewish Publication Society of America, which are printed near the end of this volume. The preparation of this volume was greatly facilitated by the able and cheerful collaboration of Dr. Linfield, to whose contributions reference has already been made; of Dr. Isaac Husik, the editor of the publications of the Society, who read the manuscripts and proofs; of Miss Rose A. Herzog, who painstakingly compiled the lists and directories; and of Mr. Moses Alperovitch in charge of the press of the Jewish Publication Society, who wholeheartedly cooperated. July 30, 1926. Harry Schneiderman SPECIAL ARTICLES IN PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK BIBLIOGRAPHY A LIST OF JEWISH PERIODICALS in the United STATES (published up to 1900), 5660, pp. 271-282; current periodicals are listed in subsequent issues. The Hundred Best Available Books in ENGLISH ON JEWISH SUBJECTS, 5665, pp. 309-317; 5686, pp. 260-273. ONE HUNDRED AVAILABLE BOOKS IN ENGLISH ON PALESTINE, 5666, pp. 153-162. A LIST OF AVAILABLE STORIES of Jewish InteREST IN ENGLISH, 5667, pp. 130-142. A CLASSIFIED LIST OF STANDARD BOOKS ON JEWISH SUBJECTS, 5684, pp. 204-255. BIOGRAPHY URIAH P. LEVY, 5663, pp. 42-45. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF Rabbis and Cantors OffiCIATING IN THE UNITED STATES, 5664, pp. 40–108; 5665, pp. 214–225; 5666, pp. 119-125. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEWS PROMINENT IN THE PROFESSIONS, ETC., IN THE United States, 5665, pp. 52-213. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEWISH COMMUNAL WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES, 5666, pp. 32-118. PENINA MOÏSE, 5666, pp. 17–31. SOLOMON SCHECHTER. A BIOGraphical SketCH, 5677, pp. 25–67. MOSES JACOB Ezekiel, 5678, pp. 227-232. JACOB HENRY SCHIFF. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, 5682, pp. 21–64. ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, 5682, pp. 65-79. ABRAM S. ISAACS, 5682, pp. 80-83. |