{{Short description|American rabbi (1879–1923)}} '''Martin Abraham Meyer''' (January 15, 1879 – June 27, 1923) was an American rabbi.

== Life == Meyer was born on January 15, 1879, in [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]], the son of Charles Meyer and Louisa Silberstein.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4PwlDpRLoQC |title=The American Jewish Year Book, 5664 |publisher=[[The Jewish Publication Society of America]] |year=1903 |editor-last=Adler |editor-first=Cyrus |editor-link=Cyrus Adler |location=Philadelphia, P.A. |pages=82 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Meyer attended public school in San Francisco and graduated from [[Lowell High School (San Francisco)|Lowell High School]] in 1895. He was a disciple of Jacob Voorsanger, the rabbi of [[Congregation Emanu-El (San Francisco)|Congregation Emanu-El]], and with his encouragement he went to [[Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion|Hebrew Union College]] in [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]]. He graduated with an A.B. degree from the [[University of Cincinnati]] in 1899, where he graduated with honors and was a member of [[Phi Beta Kappa]]. In 1901, he was the honor man and valedictorian of his class when he graduated from Hebrew Union College with a B.D. After graduating, he became a Fellow of the [[American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine]] in [[Jerusalem]]. He was there from 1901 to 1902, studying archaeology, ethnology, and Semitic philology while writing several important articles for Jewish periodicals on the condition of Jews in the Holy Land.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLYSAAAAIAAJ |title=The American Jewish Year Book, 5686 |publisher=[[The Jewish Publication Society of America]] |year=1925 |editor-last=Schneiderman |editor-first=Harry |editor-link=Harry Schneiderman |volume=27 |location=Philadelphia, P.A. |pages=246–259 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He also received a Ph.D. from [[Columbia University]] in 1906, where he was a student of Professor [[Richard Gottheil]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Newman |first=Louis I. |author-link=Louis Israel Newman |date=1925 |title=Martin A. Meyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Usk8AAAAIAAJ |journal=[[Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society]] |publisher=[[American Jewish Historical Society]] |volume=29 |pages=179–181 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Meyer was rabbi of [[Congregation Beth Emeth]] in [[Albany, New York]], from 1902 to 1906, Temple Israel in [[Brooklyn]] from 1906 to 1910, and Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco from 1910 until his death. While serving as rabbi in the latter congregation, he became one of the leading rabbis of the Pacific Coast. He was president of the California Conference of Social Work, the [[Big Brother Movement]] of San Francisco, the Pacific Coast Branch of the [[Jewish Chautauqua Society|Jewish Chautauqua]], and the [[Young Men's Hebrew Association]]. He was a member of the California Commission of Charities and Corrections from 1911 to 1920, serving as its president for eight years, and a vice-president of the [[Jewish Publication Society|Jewish Publication Society of America]]. During [[World War I]], he served with the [[American Red Cross]] in France from 1918 to 1919. He was also a member of, among other national Jewish committees, the [[American Jewish Congress]], the [[Zionist Organization of America]], and the Palestine Restoration Fund.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9pwYAAAAIAAJ |title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. |year=1942 |editor-last=Landman |editor-first=Isaac |editor-link=Isaac Landman |volume=7 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=517 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Meyer's 1907 dissertation, ''History of the City of Gaza'', was a scholarly work on Arabic Semitic culture. In 1904, he wrote the article "Jerusalem-Modern" for ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]''. He also wrote an introduction to I. M. Wise's ''Sermons and Addresses by Jacob Voorsanger'' in 1913, a pamphlet for the Central Conference of American Rabbis called ''Jew and Non-Jew'' in 1913, and a sketch of "Jews in California" that was in A. M. Voorsanger's ''Western Jewry'' in 1916. He was one of the few Reform rabbis at the time to openly support Zionism. Deeply interested in social service problems, he and I. Irving Lipsitch founded the Jewish Committee for Personal Service in State Institutions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer12amer/page/588/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Dictionary of American Biography |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |year=1943 |editor-last=Malone |editor-first=Dumas |editor-link=Dumas Malone |volume=12 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=588 |language=en |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> He also wrote the two-volume ''Methods of Teaching Post-Biblical History and Literature'' in 1915. He helped organize small Jewish communities in the San Francisco area, and was a director of the Jewish Education Society of San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meyer, Martin Abraham |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/meyer-martin-abraham |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=[[Encyclopedia.com]]}}</ref>

Meyer was a director of the [[Congregation Beth Israel (Berkeley, California)|First Hebrew Congregation of Berkeley]], a lecturer of Jewish history at the University of California from 1911 until his death, chairman of the North California branch of the [[National Jewish Welfare Board|Jewish Welfare Board]], editor of ''Emanu-El'' in 1911 and an editorial contributor from 1913 until his death, and a member of the [[Commonwealth Club of California|Commonwealth Club]], the Faculty Club, the Concordia Club, the Beresford Club, the [[American Jewish Historical Society]], the [[Society of Biblical Literature|Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis]], and the [[American Oriental Society]]. He was the commencement speaker at the University of California in 1920, and in 1921 he delivered the convention address at the biennial [[Union of American Hebrew Congregations]] convention and the baccalaureate address before the graduating Hebrew Union College class.<ref name=":1" />

Meyer was an organizer of the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities. He lectured at [[Stanford University|Leland Stanford University]], the [[University of Nevada, Reno|University of Nevada]], and [[Hahnemann Medical College]] several times. He cooperated with the Menorah Society at the University of California in arranging its cultural programs. He gave special seminars in Berkeley and San Francisco for students planning on entering the rabbinate. His library of Judaica and general religious and philosophical literature was one of the largest private collections in the country. He was a director of the San Francisco branch of the [[Archaeological Institute of America]] and a member of the board of consulting editors of the ''Menorah Journal'' when it was launched in 1915.<ref name=":2" />

In 1905, Meyer married Jennie May Haas of Cincinnati. Their children were Adolph and Louise.<ref name=":1" />

Meyer died at home in his study on June 27, 1923.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 June 1923 |title=Sudden Death of Rabbi Martin A. Meyer |volume=LVI |page=1 |work=Emanu-El |issue=9 |location=San Francisco, C.A. |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/jweekly/1923/06/29/article/2/?srpos=2&e=27-06-1923-15-07-1923-192-en-20--1--img-txIN--------------1 |via=[[Historical Jewish Press]]}}</ref> It was initially believed he died from heart disease, but his physicians said his heart was fine and the autopsy revealed he died from cyanide poison. Murder was suspected as the cause, but it was later concluded he was accidentally poisoned after mounting a Mexican butterfly he received that day; he was an amateur entomologist with one of the largest collections of giant moths and butterflies in the Pacific coast, and at the time a solution of cyanide was used to preserve insects after mounting them.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 July 1923 |title=Believe Butterfly Drug Killed Rabbi |page=a |work=[[The Washington Star|The Evening Star]] |issue=28916 |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1923-07-02/ed-1/seq-1/ |via=[[Chronicling America]]}}</ref> Hundreds of people attended his funeral at Congregation Emanu-El. He was buried in the [[Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California)|Home of Peace Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 June 1923 |title=Rabbi Meyer Buried With Simple Rites |volume=CXVIII |page=5 |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |issue=181 |location=San Francisco, C.A. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/457871550/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Shortly after Meyer's death, his friends collected $25,000 for the Martin A. Meyer Memorial Fund for needy Jewish students in the University of California.<ref name=":0" />

== References == {{Reflist}}{{Authority control}} [[Category:1879 births]] [[Category:1923 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American Jews]] [[Category:20th-century American rabbis]] [[Category:American Reform rabbis]] [[Category:Rabbis from California]] [[Category:Rabbis from New York City]] [[Category:Clergy from San Francisco]] [[Category:Lowell High School (San Francisco) alumni]] [[Category:University of Cincinnati alumni]] [[Category:Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni]] [[Category:Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:Contributors to the Jewish Encyclopedia]] [[Category:American Jewish Congress members]] [[Category:Jewish encyclopedists]] [[Category:Deaths by cyanide poisoning]] [[Category:Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California)]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Martin A.}} [[Category:Zionist Organization of America members]]