Justice Samuel Kalisch, a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court bench since 1911, when he was appointed by Woodrow Wilson, died yesterday at St. Luke’s Hospital after an illness of several weeks. He was 78 years old. Although the son of the noted Reform Rabbi, Rabbi Isidore Kalisch, the Judge began taking what may be termed an active interest in Jewish affairs only during the past four or five years.
Judge Kalisch served as City Attorney of Newark in 1875 and until his appointment to the Supreme Court bench, was a leader of the New Jersey Democratic Party. His first years in the Supreme Court were marked by the legal war that he waged against the corrupt politicians of Atlantic City.
One of the first movements to claim his attention and bring him into closer contact with Jewish life was the United Palestine Appeal, despite the fact that he was a non-Zionist. He took an active part in the 1927 drive of the Appeal as honorary chairman of the New Jersey Lawyers’ Division. Both as judge and lawyer, Judge Kalisch was one of the best known men of New Jersey.
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