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Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (German, 1800–1882)

Lavater and Lessing Visit Moses Mendelssohn


Germany, 1856, Oil on canvas
Gift of Vernon Stroud, Eva Linker, Gerda Mathan, Ilse Feiger and Irwin Straus in memory of Frederick and Edith Straus
75.18, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

This much-celebrated (and widely reproduced) paint- is inscribed with the Hebrew blessing: barukh atah
ing includes many intertextual references to German be-voekha u-varukh atah be-tzetekha, or “Blessed
and Jewish literary, visual and material cultures, which shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt
in this exhibition are illustrated through the books, thou be when thou goest out,” (Deuteronomy 28:6).
manuscripts and objects drawn from the combined This biblical quotation likely refers to the friendship
Magnes and Bancroft collections. between Mendelssohn and Lessing, as well as (in a
rather ironic turn) to the transience of the conflict-
The shape of Mendelssohn’s profile may have been ual relation­ship between Mendelssohn and Lavater
inspired by the silhouette included in Lavater’s (whose hat and walking stick appear on the lower
­Physiognomische Fragmente (1775–1778). The chess right of the painting). On the back wall at the left of
board at the center is likely a visual quotation of the scene hangs a framed mizrach (the Hebrew word
­Lessing’s drama, Nathan der Weise (1779), in which the for “East” is faintly legible), a wall-hanging indicating
main character, who is engaged in a game of chess, the direction being faced during prayer according to
was modeled after Mendelssohn. The chess board is the Jewish ritual.
also a “visual pun”: red (on Lavater’s side) has been
put in checkmate by white, in reference to the intellec- The wall hanging, along with the Sabbath lamp ­hanging
tual superiority attributed to the asso­ciation between from the ceiling, the Hebrew inscription on the door
Mendelssohn and Lessing over Lavater’s stance. The frame, the head-covering anachronistically placed
open book held by Lavater bears the title, “Bonnet,” in over Mendelssohn’s head (no contemporary icono-
reference to Lavater’s German translation of Charles graphic source depicts Mendelssohn ­wearing any
Bonnet’s La palingénésie philosophique (1769), which form of head-covering), and possibly the tall ­untitled
the theologian used to  obtain from Mendelssohn a volumes, remini­scent of Talmudic tractates, on the
reply concerning the “essence of Christianity.” shelves in the background, can be seen as attempts
on the part of the painter to interpret ­Mendelssohn’s
The brass lamp hanging from the ceiling combines a attachment to Judaism through the lenses of the
chandelier (on the top section) with a ritual oil lamp canons of Jewish observance that ­dominated the
for the Sabbath and festivals (on the lower section). mid-19th century, when the painting was made.
The door frame above the woman entering the room
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (German, 1800–1882)
Servant with Tray. Study for Lavater and Lessing
Visit Moses Mendelssohn, 1856
Germany, n.d. (ca. 1856)
Pencil on paper
Gift of the Magnes Museum Women’s Guild
75.156, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library
Germany - tall case

Hanging Synagogue or Domestic Chandelier with eight


removable branches
Germany, 17th–18th centuries
Pewter
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
67.1.5.5 a-i, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanging Sabbath and Festivals Lamp with six oil wells,


drip pan, and decorated suspension bar
Germany, 18th century
Brass
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
67.1.5.6, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Hanging Sabbath and Festivals Lamp with six oil wells,


drip pan and suspension bar
[Germany, 18th century]
Cast, repoussé and chased brass
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Moses
68.23 a–c, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanging Sabbath and Festivals Lamp with eight oil


wells, decorative medallions and knobs
Germany, 19th century
Bronze
Rozin Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase through the
Goor Fund
78.78.32 a–b, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanging Sabbath and Festivals Lamp with six oil wells


and double-eagle shaped shaft
Central Europe, 19th century
Brass
Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
93.55 a-b, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanukkah Lamp with engraved Hebrew inscription


(letters heh, lamed, mem) and decorations
Germany, 18th century
Cast, cut and engraved pewter
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
67.1.4.29 a-b, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library
Germany - tall case

Hanukkah Lamp shaped as four chairs, with relief


Hebrew inscription (chanukah) and geometric designs
Germany, 18th century
Cast and chased lead or soft pewter
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
67.1.4.42 a-d, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanukkah Lamp decorated with shield containing a


seven-branched candelabrum, a crown, rampant lions
and floral motifs, with removable servitor and man-
shaped figurine
Germany, mid-18th century
Silver
Gift of Gerda Rau
79.1 a–b, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Hanukkah Lamp decorated with shield engraved with


Hebrew inscription (Talmudic poem, hanerot halalu,
“These lights”), a crown, and rampant lions, with
removable servitor held by a man-shaped figurine
Germany, 18th century
Brass
Gift of Cantor and Mrs. Reuben R. Rinder
64.0.1 a–c, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Hanukkah Lamp with engraved Hebrew inscription


(letters chet, nun) and circular ring around hanging
perforation
Germany, 18th century
Pewter
Gift of the Estate of Charlotte Stein Pick
91.12.4 a–b, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library
1. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781)
Laokoon: Oder über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie
(Laocoon: or On the Limits of Painting and Poetry)
German
Stuttgart, G.J. Göschen; imprint: Berlin, C.F. Voss, 1766, first edition
N64 .L38 1766, The Bancroft Library

Lessing’s widely influential work on the theory of art


described poetry as the art of time and sequential
narra­tive, in contrast to painting, the art of space and
static representation. This work, which was extensively
discussed in the correspondence between Lessing and
Mendelssohn, represents the aesthetic foundation of
Oppenheim’s 1856 painting, in which different historical
narrative planes are staged within a single compositional
structure.

2. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781)


Nathan der Weise, Ein dramatisches Gedicht, in fünf
Aufzügen (Nathan the Wise. A Dramatic Poem in
Five Acts)
German
Berlin, C. F. Voss, 1779
PT2399 1779, The Bancroft Library

Set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, Lessing’s


drama about the virtues of intellectual exchange and
religious tolerance staged a Jewish merchant, Nathan,
in a meeting with the enlightened sultan, Saladin, in
which the game of chess is prominently featured. The
character of Nathan was modeled after Mendelssohn. In
turn, the game of chess is at the center of Oppenheim’s
1856 painting, as a visual reference to Lessing’s work
and to his friendship and intellectual association with
Mendelssohn.
3. Charles Bonnet (1720–1793)
Herrn C. Bonnets, verschiedener Akademieen Mitglieds,
Philosophische Palingenesie, oder, Gedanken über den
vergangenen und künftigen Zustand lebender Wesen:
als ein Anhang zu den letztern Schriften des Verfassers,
und welcher insonderheit das Wesentliche seiner
Untersuchungen über das Christenthum enthält, aus
dem Französischen übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen
herausgegeben von Johann Caspar Lavater
(Philosophical palingenesis, or thoughts about the
past and future state of living beings by Mr. C. Bonnet,
member of various academies: including the latest
writings of the author, containing as a special feature his
research on the essence of Christianity, translated from
French, edited and annotated by Johann Caspar Lavater)
German
Zurich, Bey Orell, Gessner, Füssli und Compagnie, 1769–1770, vol. 1
B1943.P352 G4 1769, The Bancroft Library

The publication of the translation of Swiss naturalist and


philosopher C. Bonnet’s La palingénésie philosophique
(1769) by Lavater was the pretext that prompted him to
approach Mendelssohn. The book is directly quoted in
Oppenheim’s 1856 painting, where it is depicted open on
the table in Mendelssohn’s living room. On one of the two
visible open pages the word “Bonnet” is faintly legible.

4. Johann Caspar Lavater (1741–1801)


Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der
Menschenkenntniß und Menschenliebe, verkürzt
herausgegeben von Johann Michael Armbruster . . .
mit vielen Kupfern (Physiognomic Fragments for the
Promotion of The Knowledge and Love of Mankind,
Abridged Edition by Johann Michael Armbruster . . . with
many engravings)
German
Winterthur, Heinrich Steiners und Compagnie, 1783–1787, vol. 2, 136
BF843 .L274 1783, The Bancroft Library

Originally published 1775–1778, Lavater’s studies on


physiognomy included a silhouette of Mendelssohn’s
profile (seen from the left side) which may have been the
source for his portrait in Oppenheim’s 1856 painting.
5. Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786)
igrot me-he-chakham ha-kolel ha-mefursam ba-‘olam
rabi mosheh de‘sa . . . mi-berlin (Letters of the World-
Famous Sage, Moses [from] Dessau . . . from Berlin)
Hebrew
Vienna, Anton Schmid, 1794
Gift of Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger
B2693.A4 I37 1794, The Bancroft Library

Posthumous edition of Mendelssohn’s Hebrew


correspondence. The title credits the author as
mosheh de‘sa, or “Moses [from] Dessau,” indicating
Mendelssohn’s birthplace.

6. Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786)


Phädon, oder, Über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele
(Phaedon, or On the Immortality of the Soul)
German
Reuttlingen, Johann Georg Flieschauer, 1784
B2691.P42 E5 1784, The Bancroft Library

Originally published in 1767, this philosophical work


inspired by Plato brought Mendelssohn to the attention
of Germany’s intellectual elites.

7. Johann Caspar Lavater (1741–1801) and Moses


Mendelssohn (1729–1786)
Antwort an den Herrn Moses Mendelssohn zu Berlin, von
Johann Caspar Lavater. Nebst einer nach erinnerung
von Moses Mendelssohn (Response to Mr. Moses
Mendelssohn in Berlin, by Johann Caspar Lavater.
Followed by a memoir by Moses Mendelssohn)
German
Berlin and Stettin, Friedrich Nicolai, 1770
B.2693 L3, The Bancroft Library

In 1770 the controversy between Lavater and


Mendelssohn went public. Lavater’s “Response,”
accompanied by a “memo” written by Mendelssohn,
was published by Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811). Nicolai,
a writer and publisher, was a longtime associate of both
Mendelssohn and Lessing. A former occupant of the
home at Spandauerstraße 68, Berlin, where Mendelssohn
lived and worked, and where the meetings with Lavater
had taken place as portrayed in Oppenheim’s 1856
painting, Nicolai published many of Mendelssohn’s works,
including his German translation of the Hebrew Bible
(1780–83).
8. Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819)
Ueber die Lehre des Spinoza in Briefen an den Herrn
Moses Mendelssohn (Concerning the Doctrine of Spinoza
in Letters to Mr. Moses Mendelssohn)
German
Breslau, G. Löwe, 1789. 440 p.; 19 cm.
Bancroft Library B3998 J33 1789.

Friedrich Jacobi’s work, originally published in 1785,


attacked both Mendelssohn and Lessing, accusing the
latter of “Spinozism,” or pantheism and thus, implicitly,
of atheism. Its second edition was introduced by two
vignettes engraved by Ernst Carl Gottlieb Thelott
(1760–1834). The first portrayed the philosopher Baruch
Spinoza (1632–1677). The second was a “double portrait”
of Mendelssohn and Lessing after Pierre Joseph Langer
(1759–1824), in turn similar to a watercolor attributed
to Johannes Pfenninger (1765–1825), kept at the
Österreichisches Nationalbibliotek, Vienna. The way
Mendelssohn is depicted in these sources is reminiscent
of the anti-Semitic iconography developed in Europe
since the early-modern period. In his ‘Kunstkabinett,’ a
collection of annotated prints and drawings related to his
research on physiognomy, Lavater thus commented on
Pfenninger’s drawing: “Deeper, more delicate, cleverer,
and more elegant, the Jew—manlier, sturdier, more
cheerful, and more foursquare, livelier, Lessing” (1793).
Anonymous
Über die Haupgrundsätze der schönen Künste
un Wissenschaften (On the Main Principles of the
Fine Arts and Sciences)
Germany [1781–82]
Engraving
Gift of William P. Wreden
75.2, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

Engraved portrait of and allegorical tribute to Moses


Mendelssohn, titled after his essay, On the Main
Principles of the Fine Arts and Sciences, originally
published in 1757 as Betrachtungen über die Quellen
un die Verbindungen der schönen Künste und
Wissenschaften and reissued as Über die
Haupgrundsätze der schönen Künste un Wissenschaften
in the second volume of his Philosophische Schriften
(Berlin, C. F. Voss, 1771: 95–152). The portrait is
surrounded by German excerpts from Mendelssohn’s
essay, allegorical images of the Arts (laurel, art tools
and musical instruments, referring to poetry, painting,
sculpture and music), images of open books that
include the Bible in Hebrew (with mirrored Hebrew
script, caused by a printing error) and German,
Mendelssohn’s Philosophical Writings and Phädon
(1767), and banderoles with Latin quotations from
various authors, including Seneca.
Anonymous
Moses Mendelssohn Holding a Book
n.d.
Steel engraving
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum
purchase
67.1.10.22, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Portraits of Mendelssohn became somewhat


common since the last quarter of the 18th century.
Commenting on a similar one, a profile miniature
by Daniel Chodowiecki (before 1787, Österreiches
Nationalbibliotek, Vienna) in his ‘Kunstkabinett,’ a
collection of annotated prints and drawings related
to his research on physiognomy, Lavater wrote:
“Refinement, cunning, intellect, taste and need
for clarity; but no greatness of soul, no genius,
no courage, no grandeur” (1787).
Anonymous
Moses Mendelssohn Holding a Book
n.d.
Steel engraving
Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, Judah L. Magnes Museum purchase
67.1.10.22, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Portraits of Mendelssohn became somewhat common


since the last quarter of the 18th century. Commenting on
a similar one, a profile miniature by Daniel Chodowiecki
(before 1787, Österreiches Nationalbibliotek, Vienna) in
his ‘Kunstkabinett,’ a collection of annotated prints and
drawings related to his research on physiognomy, Lavater
wrote: “Refinement, cunning, intellect, taste and need for
clarity; but no greatness of soul, no genius, no courage,
no grandeur” (1787).

Wimpels

Koppel ben Moses Heller Segal (German, 18th–19th


centuries)
Wimpel (Binder for Torah Scrolls made from a
Circumcision Cloth)
Munich, Germany, 1814
Silk embroidery on linen
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Lilienthal
80.83, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Wimpel commissioned by the Lilienthal family of Munich,


Germany, in honor of their son, Menachem Mendel (later
Rabbi Max) Lilienthal (1814–1882), to an artisan named
Koppel Heller. The embroidered Hebrew inscription
recites: “Menachem, called Mendl, son of the kohen
Yehudah Leyb [from] Schnaittach, born under a good
sign on the fifth day [of the week], the [1]3th of [the
Hebrew month of] marcheshvan [5]575 according [to
the] Minor Era [i.e., Thursday, October 27, 1814]; may the
Lord allow him to grow to Torah [i.e., reach Bar Mitzvah
age] and to the wedding canopy and to good deeds;
amen, selah. Made by Koppel ben Moses Heller, Segal,
of the congregation of Bretzfeld, residing in Munich.”
The words of the inscription are illustrated with images
of plants and animals—including a scorpion, symbolizing
the newborn’s Zodiac sign, and a lion, above the
father’s name, Leyb (or “Leon”)—crowns (symbols of
the Hebrew Bible), and scenes from the Jewish life cycle
(birth, childood, Bar mitzvah and marriage). This is the
only wimpel in the Magnes Collection that includes the
maker’s name.
Wimpel (Binder for Torah Scrolls made from a
Circumcision Cloth)
Germany, 1742
Silk embroidery on linen
Gift of Charles Michael
2000.38.3, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The
Bancroft Library

Wimpel for a child named David, born in 1742, made


by an anonymous embroiderer. The Hebrew inscription
recites: “David, son of Joseph known as yozeleh (may he
live for many long days), born under a good sign on the
morning of the fourth day [of the week, the] 24th [day
of the] first [month of] adar, [5]502 according [to the]
Minor Era [i.e., Wednesday, February 28, 1742]; may he
grow to the Torah [i.e., reach Bar Mitzvah age], to the
wedding canopy, and good deeds, amen selah.” The
embroidered decorations include various flowers, a bird
(shaping the Hebrew letter lamed of the word, yozeleh),
fish (symbolizing the Zodiac sign of Pisces, under which
the child was born), a crown (positioned between the
Hebrew words, keter torah, or “Torah’s crown”). The
Hebrew letters lamed and qof are also embellished
throughout.

Wimpel (Binder for Torah Scrolls made from a


Circumcision Cloth)
Germany, 1901
Tempera, gold metallic paint and graphite on linen, silk grosgrain
Gift of Charles Michael
2007.3.2, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Wimpel for a child named Eleazar, born in 1901, painted


and embroidered by an anonymous maker. The Hebrew
inscription recites: “Eleazar son of Jacob (may he live for
many long days, amen), born under a good sign on the
second day [of the week, the] 20th [day of the month
of] av [5]661 according [to the] Minor Era [i.e., Monday,
August 5, 1901]; may he grow in Torah, to the wedding
canopy, and to good deeds, amen, selah.” The painted
decorations include motifs inside most of the letters of
the Hebrew inscription, leaves, a crown, and an open
Torah scroll (inside which are the words, torat mosheh
emet, or “the Torah of Moses is the truth”). A mistake in
the Hebrew date (a letter mem) was only partially erased,
and the graphite marks are left visible.

‘Mendelssohn, Moses’ and ‘Oppenheim, Moritz Daniel’


in the Jewish Encyclopedia
Cyrus Adler and Isidore Singer, eds.
The Jewish encyclopedia; a descriptive record of the
history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish
people from the earliest times to the present day
New York-London, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1901–06, volumes
8–9
DS102.8 .J4, UC Berkeley University Library
Anonymous
Lilienthal Family Portrait
Germany, ca. 1816
Oil on canvas
Gift of Theodore and Wendy Lililenthal
2006.10, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Portrait of the Lilienthal family in Munich, Germany,


ca. 1816. From left to right: Max (Menachem) Lilienthal
(1814–1882), Leyb Seligmann (Lilienthal) (1777–1850),
Dina Lichtenstein (1795–1824), and Samuel Lilienthal
(1815–1891).
lilienthal

Five Reproductions of Early Lilienthal Family Portraits


[San Francisco], n.d.
Matted paper facsimiles
Lilienthal family papers and photographs, 1840–1961, BANC MSS
2010/614, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The
Bancroft Library

From left to right: Jacob Lichtenstein (1740–1825);


Edel Jafe Seligman (died 1790); a reproduction of the
Lilienthal Family Portrait (Magnes Collection, 2006.10),
featuring Leyb Seligman, Dina Lichtenstein, Max and
Samuel Lilienthal; Leyb Seligman (1735–1805); Gletel
Lichtenstein (1747–1842).

The Lilienthal Brothers and Cousins


[San Francisco], n.d.
Sepia-toned photographs
Lilienthal family papers and photographs, 1840–1961, BANC MSS
2010/614, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The
Bancroft Library

From left to right: Ernest Reuben Lilienthal (1850–1922);


James Lilienthal (1844–1895); John Leo Lilienthal
(1854–1893); Philip Nettre Lilienthal (1849–1908); Albert
Lilienthal (1859–1910); Theodore M. Lilienthal (1847–1891);
Jesse W. Lilienthal (1855–1919).

Sophie Lilienthal
The Lilienthal Family Record
English
San Francisco, “Privately printed” by the H. S. Crocker Co., in an
edition of 50 copies, 1930
CT275.L437 L4 1930, The Bancroft Library
1. Samuel Lilienthal (1815–1891)
n.d.
Photograph
Ernest Lilienthal photograph collection, 1880–1921, BANC PIC 2011.011,
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

2. Rev. Dr. M[ax] Lilienthal (1814–1882)


San Francisco, Thomas Houseworth, 1876
Cabinet Card Photograph
Haas and Lilienthal family photographs, ca. 1890–1950, BANC
PIC 2011.008, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

3. Samuel Lilienthal Memorial Book


1891
BANC MSS 2010/605, Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

The Memorial Book for Dr. Samuel Lilienthal (1815–1891),


a leading homeopath who moved from New York
to San Francisco in 1880, contains photographs and
newspaper clippings with eulogies from the Jewish and
non-Jewish press and homeopathic journals in America,
Germany, and England, including this supplement and
clipping from The Medical Argus of Kansas City, Missouri.
Dr. Lilienthal was father to Ernest Reuben Lilienthal,
founder of Crown Distilleries, and grandfather to Samuel
Lilienthal, whose 1909 wedding to Alice Haas united
the Haas and Lilienthal families. Samuel and Alice made
their home in the famed Haas-Lilienthal House at 2007
Franklin Street in San Francisco.
Defaced Portrait of Rabbi Max Lilienthal
New Orleans, May 28, 1861
Lithograph
Lilienthal family papers and photographs, 1840–1961, BANC MSS 2010/614
(lithographic reproduction of WJHC 1996.001, drawing on stone by
S. Schuster, printed by Nagel and Weingartner, New York, gift of Dorothy
Schnier; original on loan to the National Museum of American Jewish
History, Philadelphia), The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

In the middle of the 19th century, lithographic portraits


of Rabbi Max (Menachem) Lilienthal (1814–1882) were
printed, sold and displayed in homes across the United
States. Jacob A. Cohen of New Orleans wrote a letter
on a copy of the portrait and mailed it to Lilienthal. In
his statement, signed and dated May 28, 1861, Cohen
attacked Lilienthal’s abolitionist ideals, arguing that
he had “discarded the Lord and taken up the sword
in defense of a Negro government.” A Captain in the
Army of the Confederate States of America in the
10th Louisiana Regiment, Mr. Cohen was later killed
in the Civil War (Second Battle of Bull Run, or
Manassas, 1862).
1–7
Haas Family Vacation to Bavaria, Germany
Reckendorf and Bamberg, Bavaria (Germany), circa 1911
Silver gelatin photographs
Richard N. and Rhoda Haas Goldman papers, 1863–1996, BANC MSS 2010/687,
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

1. Bamberg, Family Picnic in the Hain City Park

2. Reckendorf, Synagogue Exteriors

3. Reckendorf, Synagogue Interiors

4. Reckendorf, Jewish Cemetery

5. Reckendorf, “The Well”

6. Reckendorf, Schoolhouse

7. Reckendorf, Haas Family Home

8. William Haas on Horseback


California, circa 1900
Photograph
Edward and Cathryn Bransten family papers and photographs,
1880–1980, BANC MSS 2010/615, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art
and Life, The Bancroft Library

9. Letter from Jacob Haas to William Haas


Reckendorf, Bavaria (Germany), July 1, 1869
English
Haas family papers, 1863–1869, BANC MSS 2010/512, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

10. German Emigration Certificate for Wolf (William) Haas


(Born in Reckendorf, Bavaria, 1849)
Ebern, Bavaria (Germany), March 23, 1864
German
Haas family papers, 1863–1869, BANC MSS 2010/512, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

11. Travel Pass for Wolf (William) Haas


(Born in Reckendorf, Bavaria, 1849)
Ebern, Bavaria (Germany), March 23, 1864
German
Haas family papers, 1863–1869, BANC MSS 2010/512, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

12. Zur Erinnerung an die Sterbetage meiner seligen Eltern


Koppel u. Fanny Haas . . . (To Commemorate the Day of
the Death of My Blessed Parents, Koppel and Fanny Haas
. . .)
Memorial calendar and mizrach
[1897]
German and Hebrew
Haas family papers, 1863–1869, BANC MSS 2010/512, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

Memorial Calendar for Koppel Haas (1800–1867) and


Fanny Haas (1810–1875), including handwritten dates of
the anniversaries of their deaths for the years 1897–1921.
This item was also meant to be used as a mizrach (the
Hebrew word for “East” appears in a medallion at the
center, between two “angels”), a wall hanging marking
the direction to be faced during prayer.

13. Scenes From a Visit to the Haas Family’s Ancestral


Home, from the Haas Family Photo Album (1880–1920)
Reckendorf, Bavaria (Germany), circa 1911
Photographs
Edward and Cathryn Bransten family papers and photographs,
1880–1980, BANC MSS 2010/615, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art
and Life, The Bancroft Library
Augusto Ferran (Spanish, 1813–1879)
View of Harbor at San Francisco, California
1850
Oil on Canvas
Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western
American Pictorial Material, BANC PIC 1963.002:1356--FR, The Bancroft Library
Augusto Ferran (Spanish, 1813–1879)
View of Bay from Hills Above San Francisco,
California
1850
Oil on Canvas
Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western
American Pictorial Material, BANC PIC 1963.002:1357--FR, The Bancroft
Library
BUSINESS

Letter from Julius Eckman to Solomon Nunes Carvalho


San Francisco, March 15, 1855
Julius Eckman letter, 1855, BANC MSS 2010/513, The Magnes Collection
of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

Julius Eckman (1805–1874), a graduate of the University


and the Rabbinical College of Berlin, was the first Rabbi
of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco (1854–55)
and the publisher of the Jewish journal, The Weekly
Gleaner (1857–1863). In 1855, he wrote to Solomon
Nunes Carvalho (1815–1897), the official photographer
of explorer John C. Fremont’s “fifth expedition” to
the American West in 1853–1854, discussing the living
conditions and the religious customs of the Jews in the
city. In his letter, he mentions the celebration of a Jewish
wedding feast in a San Francisco beer house.

Israel [ben] Joseph Benjamin, II (1818–1864)


Drei jahre in Amerika, 1859–1862. Von. I.J. Benjamin II . . .
German and Hebrew
Hannover, Selbstverlag des verfassers, 1862, 2 vols.
F864. B46, The Bancroft Library

Three-part travelogue bound in two volumes, published


in German by Rumanian-born 19th-century Jewish travel
writer, I. J. Benjamin, II (whose nom de plume evoked
the famed 12th-century Jewish travel writer, Benjamin
of Tudela), after his three-year visit to the United States,
and specifically to California and the American West
(1859–1861). In the first part of the work, Reise in den
östlichen Staaten der Union und San Francisco, Benjamin
described Jewish life in Northern California. He focused
on the Jewish communities in the Gold Country,
Sacramento and San Francisco, devoting chapters to
San Francisco’s two main congregations, Sherith Israel
and Emanu-El.
1. John Elkund, Wholesale and Retail Oyster Dealer,
Invoice
San Francisco, April 29, 1891
Adolph Sutro papers, 1858–1993, BANC MSS 2010/613, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

The date of purchase on the invoice from John Elkund


(April 29, 1891), which details a list of foods that evade
traditional Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), coincided with
Adolph Sutro’s 61st birthday.

2. Friedman and Wolff, Matzo Makers, Invoice for the


purchase of Passover foods
San Francisco, February 2, 1892
Adolph Sutro papers, 1858–1993, BANC MSS 2010/613, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

3. Haas, Baruch & Co Invoice for the purchase of groceries


December 15, 1894
Richard N. and Rhoda Haas Goldman papers, 1863–1996, BANC
MSS 2010/687, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

4. Hellman, Haas & Co. Letter


October 22, 1880
Richard N. and Rhoda Haas Goldman papers, 1863–1996, BANC
MSS 2010/687, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

5. Levi Strauss & Co. Cloth Wrapper


San Francisco, 1873
Courtesy Levi Strauss & Co. Archives

Levi Strauss had an extensive dry goods inventory in his


headquarters (and warehouse) in San Francisco. This is a
wrapper from a bolt of cloth called California Prints.

6. Hellman, Haas & Co. Invoice for the purchase of


groceries
San Francisco, October 7, 1887
Richard N. and Rhoda Haas Goldman papers, 1863–1996, BANC
MSS 2010/687, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

7. Loupe & Haas Invoice for the purchase of groceries


San Francisco, July 23, 1869
Marks and Company invoices, 1857–1869, BANC MSS 2010/519, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

8. H. Browne, Fish dealer, Invoice


San Francisco, January 31, 1898
Adolph Sutro papers, 1858–1993, BANC MSS 2010/613, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

9. Levi Strauss & Co. Invoice for the purchase of clothing


San Francisco, February 25, 1858
Courtesy Levi Strauss & Co. Archives

Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco in 1853 to open


a western division of the family wholesale dry goods
business, though he named it after himself.
Stereographic Cards of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco
San Francisco, circa 1865–1880
Magnes collection on Congregation Emanu-El, 1850–2002, BANC MSS
2010/612, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

4. Alfred A. Hart, San Francisco from Nucleus Hotel

5. Watkins’ Pacific Coast, No. 1769, View from California


and Powell Streets, S.F., circa 1870

6. Thomas Houseworth & Co., no. 521, Jewish Synagogue,


Sutter St., San Francisco, circa 1865

7. Thomas Houseworth & Co., No. 162, From Pine and


Powell Streets—Towards Mission Bay, between 1866 and
1906

Emanu-El, founded in San Francisco as an Orthodox


congregation following a meeting held on April 6, 1851,
catered to the German (mostly Bavarian) Ashkenazi Jews
who had arrived to the city following the Gold Rush.
It joined the Reform movement around 1860. Its first
synagogue was located on Broadway Street, between
Mason and Powell (1854–1864). A new building, on Sutter
Street between Powell and Stockton, was dedicated on
March 23, 1866, costing approximately $200,000. The
architecture, by William Patton, blended a Gothic plan
with Moorish features found in contemporary German
synagogues. Severely damaged in the 1906 earthquake
and fire, the building was reopened on September 1,
1907. It remained in use until the dedication of the
congregation’s current synagogue in 1926.
1. Orphanage, 600 Divisadero Street and Home of Aged,
Silver Avenue and Mission Street, in San Francisco
Engravings
Second Annual Report of the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and
Home Society For the Fiscal Year 1872–3, and List of Members of
the Society on November 30th, 1873
Eureka Benevolent Society records, 1850–1977, BANC MSS 2010/606,
Box 3 Vol 6, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The
Bancroft Library

2. Hellman Building, Mount Zion Hospital


San Francisco, circa 1918
Photograph
Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center records, 1887–1994,
BANC MSS 2010/616, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

3. Laying the Cornerstone of the Hellman Building,


Mount Zion Hospital
San Francisco, 1912
Photograph
Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center records, 1887–1994,
BANC MSS 2010/616, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life,
The Bancroft Library

Members of the Jewish community of San Francisco founded


the Mount Zion Hospital Association in 1887 “for the purpose
of aiding the indigent sick without regard to race or creed, to
be supported by the Jewish community.” In 1896, after it had
received $37,000 in donations, the Association opened its
first hospital.
Early Records of the Eureka Benevolent Society,
San Francisco
Eureka Benevolent Society records, 1850–1977, BANC MSS 2010/606,
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

8. Constitution und Neben-Gesetze der Eureka


Wohlthätigkeits-Gesellschaft in San Francisco, Cal.
Gegründet im October 1850 (Constitution and By-Laws
of the Eureka Benevolent Society in San Francisco, Cal.
established in October 1850)
German
San Francisco, Press of Leo Sloesser, 414 Clay Street, September
1870

9. Constitution and By-Laws of the Israelitischer Frauen-


Verein (Hebrew Ladies’ Benevolent Association) of San
Francisco, California. Organized Aug. 12, 1855
San Francisco, n.d.

10. Constitution and By-Laws of the Eureka Benevolent


Society of San Francisco, Cal. Organized October, 1880
San Francisco, after 1873

11. Eureka Wohlthaetigkeits-Gesellschaft (Eureka


Benevolent Society) Resolution for Henry Regensberger
German
San Francisco, October 18, 1865

12. Eureka Benevolent Society Receipt to Adolph Sutro


San Francisco, 1859
Adolph Sutro papers, 1858–1993, BANC MSS 2010/613, The Magnes
Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library

13. Eureka Benevolent Society Annual Ball Dance Card


San Francisco, 1855

The Eureka Wohlthätigkeits-Gesellschaft, one of San


Francisco’s earliest philanthropic organizations, was formed
in 1850 to “afford aid and relief to indigent, sick, and infirm
Jews; to bury the dead; and in general to relieve and aid
co-religionists who might be in poverty or distress.” In 1907,
the organization changed its name to the Eureka Benevolent
Society. As the city’s Jewish population grew in numbers
and diversity, the Society was joined by other social service
agencies to form the nucleus of the San Francisco Jewish
Federation.
1. Two 18th-century Prayer Books for women bound
together, with handwritten annotations about the
Greenebaum, Gerstle, Sloss and Haas Families
Greenebaum family genealogy and prayer books, 1767–1769 and 1914,
BANC MSS 2010/524 volume 1, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art
and Life, The Bancroft Library

a. seder tefilot sefatai renanot . . . (Order of Prayers “Sefatai


Renanot”)
Hebrew and Judeo-German
Fürth, Yosef Petschau and Mendel Beer, [5]529 (1768–1769)

b. seder tehilim. mesudar ve-nechlaq le-shiv‘ah chalaqim


le-mispar yeme ha-shavu‘a . . . (Order of the Psalms.
Ordered and subdivided in five parts according to the
number of the days of the week . . .)
Hebrew and Judeo-German
Fürth, Yosef [Petschau] and Mendel Beer, [5]528 (1767–1768)

Members of the Greenebaum family began moving from


Bavaria to the United States in 1838, initially settling
in Philadelphia and Chicago. In 1850, brothers Leon
and Herman found work in the dry goods industry in
San Francisco. Leon was killed in the great fire of 1851.
Herman relocated to Sacramento in 1851 and started
a clothing business with his brother Jacob. They were
joined by their brother, Moses, in 1853. Another brother,
Abraham, also moved to Sacramento in the early
1850s and opened a tobacco business on J Street. The
Greenebaum sisters, Sarah and Hannah, also came to
Sacramento from Philadelphia as the brides of Louis
Sloss and Lewis Gerstle. Bertha, daughter of Herman and
Rosalie Cauffman Greenebaum, married William Haas in
1880.

2. Yehudah Leyb Ben-Zeev (1764–1811)


talmud leshon ‘ivri. kolel yesodot diqduq ha-lashon
(Study of the Hebrew Language. Including the
Fundaments of Grammar)
Hebrew
Vienna, Anton Schmid, 1805
PJ4556 .B4 1805, The Greenebaum Collection of the Semitic Library of
the University of California. Gift of Alfred Greenebaum. January,
1897
3. Portrait of Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger
From The Chronicles of Emanu-El, being an account of
the rise and progress of the Congregation Emanu-el,
which was founded in July, 1850, and will celebrate its
fiftieth anniversary December 23 1900
San Francisco, 1900
F869.S3 E53, The Bancroft Library

Born in Amsterdam, Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger (1852–


1908) immigrated to the United States in the early 1870s,
and was a pulpit rabbi in Washington, D.C., Providence,
Rhode Island and Houston, Texas. He was Assistant
Rabbi, then Senior Rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El
in San Francisco between 1886 and 1908. A founding
editor of the newspaper, The Emanu-El, and a founder
of the Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service, he was
a professor of Semitic languages at the University of
California (1894) and a chaplain and special lecturer at
Stanford University.

4. Joachim Heinrich Campe (1746–1818)


masa‘ qolumbus, o galut ha-aretz ha-chadashah ‘al
yede qristof qolumbus . . . (Columbus’ Journey, or The
Discovery of the New Land by Christopher Columbus,
Hebrew translation by Mordecai Aaron Günzburg)
Hebrew
Warsaw, Sh. A. Peshes, 1883
E123 .C2, Voorsanger Collection of the Semitic Library of the
University of California. Gift of Rev. Jacob Voorsager, D.D., 1906
5. Mosheh bar Nachman Gerondi
sefer ha-emunah ve-ha-bitachon (The Book of Faith and
Trust [Biblical Commentary])
Hebrew
Warsaw, D. L. Sklower, 1842
BM729.F3 G47 1842, The Sloss Collection of the Semitic Library of the
University of California. Gift of Louis Sloss. February, 1897

6. Lewis Gerstle, Louis Sloss, and Gustave Niebaum in


the San Francisco offices of the Alaska Commercial
Company
Black and white photograph, n.d.
Ernest Lilienthal photograph collection, ca. 1880–1921, BANC PIC
2001.011, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library

Louis Sloss and Lewis Gerstle, both from Bavaria, arrived


in Sacramento around 1850 and entered into the dry
goods business together under the name of Louis Sloss
& Co. They married Sarah and Hannah Greenebaum,
sisters from Philadelphia whose brothers were also
in business in Sacramento. In the wake of the floods
that devastated Sacramento in 1862, they moved to
San Francisco. Five years later, when the United States
purchased Alaska from Russia, Sloss and Gerstle saw a
potentially lucrative business opportunity. They formed
the Alaska Commercial Company in the fall of 1868 and
were immediately rewarded by the federal government
with the exclusive right to take fur seals from the Pribilof
Islands. The company would become a commercial
powerhouse all along the Pacific Coast over the next
twenty years.

7. Letter from the Acting Secretary of the Board of


Regents of the University of California to Levi Strauss &
Company Concerning the Levi Strauss Scholarship Fund
June 28, 1904
Records of the Regents of the University of California, CU-1,
University Archives, The Bancroft Library

8. University of California, “Levi Strauss Scholarship”


Balance Sheet
June 30, 1904
Records of the Regents of the University of California, CU-1,
University Archives, The Bancroft Library

9. Levi Strauss Advertising Flier


1899
Color print
Courtesy Levi Strauss & Co. Archives

Born in Bavaria, Levi Strauss (1829–1902) immigrated to


New York with his mother and sisters around 1847 to join
his brothers’ dry goods wholesale business. In the early
1850s he went to San Francisco to represent J. Strauss
Brother & Co. on the West Coast. In 1853, he founded
Levi Strauss & Co. In 1873 his company revolutionized the
clothing business by introducing the worlds’ first blue
jeans. In 1854, less than a year after starting his business,
he made a donation to a local Protestant orphanage; in
1897 he provided funds to establish scholarships at the
University of California. When he died in 1902, obituaries
and books about San Francisco praised him as both an
honorable businessman and a generous philanthropist.

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