Isaac Mayer Wise

Isaac Mayer Wise was born in Steingrub, Bohemia in 1819. After studying in various yeshivot in Prague, Czechoslovakia and Vienna, Austria he became a rabbi in Radnitz, Bohemia. Because of the poor prospects in Europe at the time, Wise immigrated in 1846 to New York. He shortly thereafter became the rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Albany. There he became an advocate for reforms such as confirmation, choral singing and mixed pews. Moving to Cincinnati, Ohio,in 1854, he remained at …