Max Landsberg Papers

Dr. Max Landsberg served as rabbi of Temple B'rith Kodesh for 44 years, from 1871 to 1915. He was born in Berlin, Germany on February 26, 1845, son of Meyer Landsberg, rabbi of Hildesheim, Hanover. He studied at the Universities of Gottingen, Breslau, Berlin and Halle, recieving his Ph. D. from the last in 1866. He also studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau, and served as an instructor at the Jewish Teaching Seminary in Hanover from 1866 to 1871. In 1871, he married (his wife would become a charitable leader in her own right, until her death in 1912) and moved to Rochester to take up his position at Temple B'rith Kodesh.

Landsberg was a liberal reformer within Judaism. His two books for worship, Hymns for Jewish Worship (1874) and Ritual for Jewish Worship (1884) were written for his congregation but found acceptance in many other reform congregations. He was a founder of early ecumenical Thanksgiving celebrations (starting in 1872), along with helping to to found the United Jewish Charities of Rochester and the Jewish Orphan Asylum Association of Western New York. For this work, he was widely recognized and, ultimately, appointed president of the New York Association of Charities and Corrections around 1917. He also served on the board of trustees of the Reynolds Library from 1885 to his death, and was president from 1912 to 1923. He served as a trustee of Rochester General Hospital, and was a member of the Fortnightly Club, Genesee Valley Club and Irondequoit Country Club. He retired from Temple B'rith Kodesh on February 26, 1915, but remained a community leader until his death on December 9, 1927.