Gaster , Moses , 1856-1939 , scholar and Chief Rabbi (Haham) of the Sephardic community in England

Born in Bucharest, eldest son of Abraham Emanuel Gaster, who was attached to the Netherlands legation in Bucharest, and his wife Phina Judith Rubinstein, 1856; Bachelier dès lettres et sciences, University of Bucharest, 1873; PhD, Leipzig, 1877; returned to Rumania, 1880; Rabbinical Diploma, Theological Seminary, Breslau, 1881; lecturer on Rumanian language and literature and comparative mythology, University of Bucharest, 1881-1885; a versatile scholar, his publications included the first translation of the Jewish liturgy into Rumanian, 1883, and his seminal work on the study of Rumanian language and literature ('Chrestomatie Românk'), 1891; his agitation on behalf of persecuted Jews in Rumania led the government to expel him, and Gaster became domiciled in England; Ilchester Lecturer on Slavonic and Byzantine literature at Oxford, 1886, 1891; appointed Chief Rabbi (Haham) of the Sephardic community in England, 1887; married Leah Lucy, only child of Dr Michael Friedlander (d 1910; Principal of Jews' College, London, 1865-1907), 1890; chosen Principal of the Judith Lady Montefiore College at Ramsgate, 1890; naturalized, 1893; a prominent member of Anglo-Jewry and active in many of its principal institutions; serious differences of opinion over the management of the College at Ramsgate led him to resign as Principal, 1896; for a time after his arrival in England he continued to support the Choveve Zion movement in which he had been active in Rumania, but later supported Theodor Herzl's Zionist movement, and was a founder and President of the English Zionist Federation and Vice-President of Zionist congresses in Basel and London, 1898-1900; his house was the venue for talks between prominent Zionists and the Foreign Office before the issue of the Balfour declaration, 1917; failing eyesight compelled him to retire his rabbinate, 1919; honorary member of the Rumanian Academy, 1929; Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, 1930; Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society, Anglo-Jewish Association, and Jewish Historical Society of England; Vice-President and President of the English Folk Lore Society; holder of Rumanian Orders "Bene merenti" 1st class, for literary achievements, and Commander of Rumanian Crown; an outspoken leader in public causes, often involved in controversy, and an arresting orator; as an eminent Jewish linguist, literary historian, folklorist, and pioneer of the study of Rumanian literature, accumulated a large library of printed and manuscript material in his fields of interest, namely Hebraica and Judaica, Samaritana, and Rumanian and related studies; died, 1939. Publications include: 'Literatura Populara Romana' (1883), on Rumanian popular literature; 'Ilchester Lectures on Greeko-Slavonic literature' (1887); 'Chrestomatie Românk' (2 volumes, 1891); reports of the Montefiore College (1891-1896); 'The Sword of Moses' (1896); 'The Chronicles of Jerahmeel' (1899); 'Geschichte der rumanischen Literatur', in 'Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie', vol ii (1900); 'Hebrew Illuminated Bibles of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries and a Samaritan Scroll of the Pentateuch' (1901); 'History of the Ancient Synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, the cathedral synagogue of the Jews in England, situate in Bevis Marks ... 1701-1901' (privately printed, 1901); edited 'The Book of Prayer and Order of Service according to the custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' (6 volumes, 1901-1907), a new edition of the Sephardic service books with revised English translation; 'The Hebrew Version of the "Secretum Secretorum"' (1907-1908); 'Das Buch Josua' (1908), on the Samaritan Book of Joshua; 'Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories' (1915); 'Children's Stories from Roumanian Legends and Fairy Tales' [1923]; 'The Exempla of the Rabbis' (1924); 'The Samaritans' (Schweich lectures, 1925); 'The Asatir: the Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses' (1927); 'The Story of Chanucah' (1928); 'The Tittled Bible' (1929); 'The Story of Passover' (1929); 'The Story of Purim' (1929); 'The Story of Shavuoth' (1930); 'The Story of the High Festivals and the Feast of Tabernacles' (1931); 'Ma'aseh Book' (1934), translated from the Judeo-German; various Biblical Apocrypha in 'Proceedings of the Society for Biblical Archæology'; contributions to the 'Encyclopædia Britannica', 'Hastings' Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics', and other journals and reviews. 'Gaster Centenary Publication' (1936) provides a 'List of Publications of Dr M Gaster', by Bruno Schindler.