Isidore Singer


Isidore Singer was an Austrian-born American encyclopedist, editor, and activist. He is best known as the managing editor of The Jewish Encyclopedia.

Biography

Isidore Singer was born to Charlotte and Joseph Singer in 1859 in Weisskirchen, Moravia, in the Austrian Empire. He was raised in an observant Jewish household with seven children, where Yiddish was the primary language. At the time of Singer's birth, the Jewish community in Weisskirchen comprised approximately 800 individuals, making up about 13% of the town's total population. He attended the gymnasia of Ungarisch-Hradisch, Kremsier, and Troppau.
Singer was later educated at the Universities of Berlin and Vienna, receiving his Ph.D. from the latter in 1884. Alongside his university studies, Singer pursued Jewish religious and textual studies at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin and the in Vienna, where he came under the influence of Adolf Jellinek. During this period, Singer also met Theodor Herzl, who was at the time studying law at the University of Vienna.
In 1884, Singer established the Allgemeine Österreichische Literaturzeitung, which he edited and published in Vienna. Singer discontinued the publication after being appointed secretary and librarian to Count, the French ambassador to Vienna, in 1887.

France

After relocating to Paris with Count Foucher de Careil, Singer joined the French Foreign Office's press bureau. While in France, he was active in the campaign on behalf of Alfred Dreyfus. In 1893–1894, Singer founded and served as editor-in-chief of La Vraie Parole, a biweekly journal created to counter the antisemitic narratives promoted by Édouard Drumont's La Libre Parole.

New York

Singer moved to New York City in 1895 where he aimed to publish a comprehensive "Encyclopedia of the History and Mental Evolution of the Jewish Race". Despite facing numerous challenges in securing support, he eventually succeeded in launching the project. The Jewish Encyclopedia was published in 12 volumes between 1901 and 1909 by Funk & Wagnalls, with Singer serving as managing editor.
Singer later served as managing editor of the 7-volume International Insurance Encyclopedia and co-editor of the 20-volume German Classics of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Over the course of his career, Singer proposed a large number of projects which never won backing. These included an Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, a Young People's Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge, an Encyclopedia of Prayers, and a 25-volume series of Hebrew classics. He corresponded with W. E. B. Du Bois about creating an encyclopedia of the African diaspora. Singer also proposed creating a unified Jewish university in the United States by merging existing seminaries.

Religious views

Singer became disillusioned in his later years with what he saw as insufficient support for scholars within the American Jewish community. His "confrontational personality and wild ideas", including his vision for the future of Judaism, often put him at odds with American Jewish leadership.
Singer called for discarding traditional Jewish ceremonial practices and envisioned a liberal, universalist Judaism. Singer believed this approach could form the basis for a global religion rooted in humanism and scientific scholarship, fostering international peace. To advance these ideas, he founded the Amos Society in 1922, an interfaith, monotheistic organization aimed at promoting global understanding. Through messages sent under the banner of the Society, Singer promoted the idea that Jews and Protestant Christians—who both faced rising religious indifference and materialism as common threats—should focus on their core similarities rather than theological divisions, and embrace the ethical teachings of the Prophets as a shared foundation.

Selected publications