Myer Moses
A leader of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim during its first schism
English-born Myer Moses (1735–1787) immigrated to Charleston in the early 1760s and, in about 1772, married Rachel Andrews (1753–1835). He was a successful merchant and a leading figure among the new members of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, who hailed mainly from German-speaking states and were at the heart of a rift in the congregation over religious practices and leadership. A number of the older Sephardic families withdrew and organized a separate “Portuguese” synagogue (see Unveh Sholom), leaving Myer Moses, Emanuel Abrahams, Israel Joseph, and their cohort in control of KKBE.
Moses and his family remained in Charleston during the American Revolution. His infant daughter Rachel, along with her nurse, was killed by a cannon ball in the spring of 1780, during the British siege. The sixth child, Isaac C., was born while Charleston was under British occupation; the seventh, Esther, arrived in 1784, only a few years before the death of Myer Moses. At the time of Moses’ death in 1787, he and his family lived at #1 St. Michaels Alley.
One of Myer Moses’ sons, Myer Moses II (1779–1833), was elected to the South Carolina State Legislature; served in the First Battalion, South Carolina Volunteers, rising to the rank of major during the War of 1812; and published two books. In An Oration delivered before the Hebrew Orphan Society in 1806, he famously declared “the Almighty gave to the Jews what had long been promised them, namely a second Jerusalem! … I am so happy to be a sojourner in this promised land.”
Myer Moses II (1779–1833)
Artist unknown, ca. 1820. Private collection.