I read the last 3 chapters of the biography of Isaac Leeser this Shabbat. Reactions:1) I learned that Beth El Emeth was formed in 1857 as a breakaway of the Leeser faction from Mikveh Israel with the sole purpose of providing Leeser with a pulpit. This meant that for a decade, Sabato Morais and Leeser served simultaneously in Philadelphia, in two bitterly competing congregations.2) Sussman's assessment of Mikveh Israel is bleak, arguing that their factionalism and elitism increasingly sidelined them as a leading congregation on the national Jewish scene. For example, he is particularly negative about the role of KKMI in the Mortara case - apparently they refused to participate in a multi-congregational protest at Beth Israel Emeth simply because it was Leeser's initiative, and opted instead for a rushed one-man delegation to President Buchanan while Leeser was still building up a united communal front. This had the effect of crystalizing the administration's policy - which did not distinguish between the two lobbying efforts - *against interfering with a foreign power, thus clinching the failure of both initiatives. I am now curious to know how the officers of the KKMI perceived these events.3) In total, the book is very well done. Sussman read as many of Leeser's voluminous writings as he could get his hands on, along with a large amount of archival material, all previous attempts at biography, and a healthy list of secondary sources. Like any such work his analysis must be open to criticism, but he seems to have made a sincere effort to be fair, and his admiration for Leeser shines through. I would heartily recommend the book to anyone.