ABSTRACT
Isaac Mayer Wise is described in Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology as having put forth the ideology and practical means of religious and cultural change that enabled the influx of Jewish immigrants from Central and Western Europe to acculturate and become Americans. The masthead of issue one reminds us that Deborah was, indeed, a supplement to Wise's Israelite dedicated to the daughters of Israel. Central in the opening editorial is its reflection on the linguistic medium of the German language that is employed throughout: 'Deborah will form a connecting link between America and Germany; it will perform an important service to those who cannot read English. Like the German language, Judaism is an essential feature of Deborah and religion also symbolizes continuity. There are numerous articles and poems about religious holidays, about Jewish communities in other American cities, and about new synagogues and much about the movement that surrounds the creation of Reform Judaism.
