it taught and researched rabbinics similarly as was done in traditional yeshivas, in contrast to the Reform Hebrew Union College. Twelve years later, in 1896, Mendes was acting president of JTS. He promoted the formation of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (commonly known as the OU, the Orthodox Union). This synagogue umbrella group provided an alternative to the Reform movement's Union of American Hebrew Congregations. As JTS grew, it needed better financing and a full-time head. The seminary moved to its own building, and Mendes was replaced by Solomon Schechter. However, Schechter developed a less traditional approach, which became the basis for Conservative Judaism (called Masorti outside North America). Initially there was considerable cooperation between the Orthodox and Conservative groups but, over time, the divide became clearer. Schechter formed the United Synagogue of America (now the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, or USCJ) to promote synagogue affiliation with his conservative ideology. Shearith Israel remained aligned with the Orthodox tradition. It eventually repudiated its association with JTS. In a sense, Shearith Israel helped create three of the largest and most significant Jewish religious organizations in the United States: JTS, the OU, and USCJ. Shearith Israel remains a member only of the Orthodox Union. Clergy Rabbis Benjamin Wolf Gershom Mendes Seixas (not ordained): Hazzan of the Congregation and an ardent American patriot; he moved the Congregation to Philadelphia after the British occupied the city during the American Revolutionary War. Moses L. M. Peixotto (not ordained) Isaac B. Seixas (1828-1839) Jacques Judah Lyons (1839-1877) Henry Pereira Mendes (1877-1920) David de Sola Pool - two stints (1907-1919 and 1921-1955). He was hired as assistant rabbi in 1907, and left in 1919. A year later, Mendes retired, and the synagogue went through a succession of candidates until de Sola Pool agreed to return in 1921. Herbert Goldstein was announced as rabbi, but did not actually take the pulpit. Reverend Joseph Corcos was appointed interim rabbi. Louis B. Gerstein (1956-1988) Marc D. Angel (1969-2007) Hayyim Angel (1995-2013) Meir Y. Soloveichik (2013-) Parnasim (Presidents) Luis Moises Gomez Moses Raphael Levi (1665–1728) Lyon (Leon) Nathan Dennis Freilich Alvin Deutsch (1997-2001) Hazanim Saul Moreno d. 1682 Saul Pardo (1657–1702) Abraham Haim de Lucena (1703?–1725) Moses Lopez de Fonseca (??–1736) David Mendes Machado (1736–1746) Benjamin Pereira (1748–1757) Isaac Cohen da Silva (1757–1758 and 1766–1768) Joseph Jessurun Pinto (1758–1766) Gershom Mendes Seixas (1768–1776 and 1784–1816) Isaac Touro (1780)