Voorsanger, Jacob

Voorsanger, Jacob

(1852–1908) rabbi, scholar; born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Educated in Amsterdam, he came to the U.S.A. in 1873, serving congregations in several major cities. From 1889 until his death, he was rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He was a Semitic scholar who helped found the Semitic department at the University of California. A gifted writer, speaker, and public figure, he helped organize relief after the earthquake of 1906.