Sutro, Abraham

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SUTRO, ABRAHAM

SUTRO, ABRAHAM (1784–1869), German rabbi. He was appointed by the *Kassel consistory as a teacher in Reichenbach in 1811, and became one of the first rabbis to preach in German. In 1815 he became rabbi of *Muenster, and in 1828 of *Paderborn as well. An opponent of *Reform, Sutro objected to the introduction of the organ into the synagogue. However, he supported vocational training for Jews and persuaded A. *Haindorf to found a pedagogical institution bearing his name in Muenster. In 1853 he began to organize petitions to the Prussian authorities against discrimination in the appointment of Jews to governmental, particularly juridical, offices. Sutro wrote an anti-Reform work, Milḥamot Adonai (4 vols., 1836–65).

bibliography:

Der Israelit, 10 (1869), 829–31; F. Lazarus, in: mgwj, 58 (1914), 550ff.