Pape, Gabriel

Pape, Gabriel an American rabbi, was born in Germany about 1813. He came to this country about 1843, and, though then a young man, found favor at Philadelphia, and was at once made rabbi of the congregation Beth Israel. Arriving in Philadelphia when the Jews were few in number, he was enabled to continue his ministrations to a time when the local Jewish population was extensive and influential, possessing a half-dozen spacious synagogues, many charitable institutions, and a name for probity and intelligence unexcelled by any in the land. He died in 1872. In his last years of the ministry Mr. Pape did not appear much in public, limiting his efforts to mere congregational work; but he was always one of the most energetic and useful of the Jewish citizens of Philadelphia. He figured prominently in the Board of Jewish Ministers, and, was beloved by his flock and esteemed by the entire community. He was a mild, estimable, and pious gentleman, of deep erudition, unaffected worth, and unobtrusive ways. See Jewish Messenger, N. Y., Jan. 8,1872. (J. H. W.)