In 1860 he received a call from the
Reform Jews of
Manchester, England; he went there as rabbi for the Manchester Congregation of British Jews and remained for 13 years. During this time he was connected with the faculty of
Owens College as a teacher of the
German language. Two of his most noteworthy sermons preached in Manchester were on the slavery question, attacking those who had declared the institution to be sanctioned by
Mosaic law. Dr.
Gottheil was a member of the
Synod of
Leipsic in 1871, which took a decided stand on the question of Reform. He left Manchester in 1873, having been elected to succeed the Rev.
J. K. Gutheim as assistant to Dr.
Samuel Adler, the senior rabbi of
Temple Emanu-El,
New York City. When Adler retired about eighteen months later, Gottheil succeeded him. On taking charge he reorganized the religious school, and assisted in founding a
theological school where preliminary training might be imparted to future candidates for the rabbinate. He prepared in 1886 the first Jewish
hymn-book printed in America (with music in a separate volume by A. Davis); it contains not only traditional Jewish hymns, but also others of
Christian origin, and upon it was based the Union Hymnal, which has since been generally adopted by the Reform congregations in the
United States. In 1889 he started the first Sisterhood of Personal Service, a philanthropic organization affiliated with Temple Emanu-El which served as a model for similar institutions elsewhere. Dr. Gottheil was the founder of the
Association of Eastern Rabbis, and when it was assimilated with the
Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1890, he took an active part in its deliberations. He was one of the founders and the president of the (American)
Jewish Publication Society, vice-president of the
Federation of American Zionists, chairman of the Revision Committee for the
Union Prayer Book, and one of the governors of the
Hebrew Union College, in
Cincinnati. Dr. Gottheil's sympathies and interests were broadly universalist, as evidenced by his connection with various non-Jewish institutions as well as by many of his sermons and writings. He was one of the founders of the New York State Conference of Religions, assisting in the editing of its "
Book of Common Prayers"; and a founder and for many years vice-president of the Nineteenth Century Club. In 1893 Gottheil was one of the representatives of the Jews at the
Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago during the
World Columbian Exposition. ==Zionist affiliation==