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Rabbi Yitzhak Julius Samuel - Courtesy Ester Samuel-Cahn
RABBI YITZHAK JULIUS SAMUEL
Rabbi of Norwegian Jewry 1930-1942
Rabbi Isaak (Julius) Samuel was born in the small town of Freudenburg, 1902, son of Samuel Samuel and of Yocheved (Ida), nee Weil. During World War I and after, 1915-1922, he studied in Trier, at the Kaiser Wilhelm Gymnasium.
After completing the Matriculation Exams, he chose to devote his time to the study of Torah, in Frankfurt am Main, 1925. In the summer of the same year he moved to Berlin, to study at the Hildesheimer Rabbinerseminar, from which he was ordained as a Rabbi.
Rabbi Samuel published several articles in the journal ‘Zion’, published by the Misrachi in Berlin, and in Judischer Rundschau. Some of his articles were published using the pseudonym ‘Ben Yocheved’, (son of Yocheved, his mother’s name).
Rabbi Samuel met his wife, Henriette-Jetty, born in Berlin, 1907, to Leah (nee Wechsler) and Nathan Pollak.
At the end of his studies at the Rabbinical Seminary our father was offered a position as a Rabbi in Oslo, the capitol of Norway, and soon after their wedding they settled in Oslo, where he started his rabbinical duties.
RELIGIOUS
NORWAY
During his years in office, our father, rabbi Yitzhak Julius Samuel tried to bring the Jewish community closer to Judaism in daily life. Often Halachic questions, about matters of community life arose.
Our father gained full knowledge of the Norwegian language. His sermons and lectures on Judaism and other subjects were given in Norwegian, and he also lectured on various topics to the Norwegian public in general.
He continued his literary work in Oslo, published articles in ‘Hatikwoh’, the monthly journal of the Jewish community and published booklets on Jewish topics for use in the ‘Cheder’ (a school for children, on Jewish subjects) which was active in the localities of the Synagogue in the afternoons.
He translated from Norwegian into German Henrik Wergeland’s poems ‘The Jew’ and ‘The Jewess’. (Der Jude und die Judin, Oslo, 1935.)
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CANTOR GRABOWSKI