Philipson, David

Philipson, David

(1862–1949) rabbi; born in Wabash, Ind. At age 13 he entered the first class of the new Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, where he was ordained in 1883. He was the rabbi at Har Sinai Temple in Baltimore (1884–88) but served most of his career as rabbi at Bene Israel in Cincinnati (1888–1938). A widely published writer, he became a leader in American Reform Judaism. In 1889 he helped found the Central Conference of American Rabbis. An opponent of Zionism, he saw Judaism as a religious, not a political community.