born March 29, 1819, Steingrub, Bohemia, Austrian Empire
died March 26, 1900, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Rabbi and organizer of Reform Judaism in the U.S. After emigrating from Bohemia, in 1854 he accepted a pulpit in Cincinnati, a post he held the rest of his life.
He propagandized tirelessly for centralized Reform institutions and was instrumental in the formation of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, both of which he presided over. In 1857 he compiled a standard Reform prayer book, Minhag America . Though he failed to unite American Jews of all persuasions, he did bring about unanimity among Reform Jews.