Descendants remember first rabbi in U.S.

BALTIMORE, March 15 (UPI) -- Descendants of Rabbi Abraham Rice gathered in Baltimore to remember the rabbi experts say was the first ordained rabbi to practice in the United States.

Jewish Museum of Maryland research historian Deborah Weiner said Rice, who arrived in the United States 170 years ago, was the first ordained rabbi to lead a congregation in the growing country, The Baltimore Sun reported Monday.

After arriving from his native Bavaria in 1840, Rice served as the head of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, offering advice and services to scores of Jewish immigrants.

"People would contact him from all over ... when they had a question of Jewish law," Weiner said.

On Sunday, nearly 50 descendants of Rice's gathered together at the Jewish Museum of Maryland to honor the late rabbi.

"The fact that so many people came together from all over the country -- and some of them didn't even know each other -- is remarkable. It shows something good about their heritage," Harriet Robinson, Rice's great-great-great-granddaughter, told the Sun of the gathering.