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Rediscovering Rebecca Gratz

JL;DR SUMMARY Rebecca Gratz, an influential 19th-century American Jewish woman, is often remembered through the lens of legend and philanthropy. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish EducationJewish IdentityPhilanthropyPhiladelphiaJewish WomenAmerican Jewish History19th CenturyRebecca GratzIvanhoeThomas Sully

Places mentioned

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
"Rebecca Gratz attracted all the leading figures in the American cultural life of her day to her wealthy Philadelphia familys home."
Pewee Valley, Kentucky, United States
"When the news of Gratzs death reached the small Kentucky town of Pewee Valley, a local poetess who had known her when she was in school in Philadelphia exalted her in verse."
Lexington, Kentucky, United States
"her brother Benjamin, who left Philadelphia in 1819 to become, for several decades, the only Jew in Lexington, Kentucky, where I have lived for the past four decades."
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
"When her brother Joseph made a trip to Kentucky and New Orleans in 1807, she reminded him of his Jewish obligations."
Virginia, United States
"At the time of the Nat Turner rebellion in 1831, she anxiously asked Maria how your sable population are affected by the accounts of the Virginia atrocities."
Glasgow, United Kingdom
"When she died in 1869, newspapers across America and as far away as Glasgow, Scotland, published obituaries saluting her as the original of Rebecca in Ivanhoe."
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Cairo Item ID 78547
Cairo Source ID 11
Retrieved 2026-03-26 05:41:51 UTC
Curated 2026-03-26 08:30:58 UTC