James Koppel Gutheim

Gutheim's move from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Orleans was given flowery coverage, saying that "The Crescent City has robbed the Queen of the West of one of the brightest jewels in her diadem."

After his first term at Shangarai Chasset ended, Gutheim served as the New Orleans' Portuguese Synagogue Nefutzot Yehudah's Rabbi/Hazan, where he encountered both religious and political controversy.

(Touro, a wealthy New Orleans businessman, left an estate of $200,000 which provided funds for every existing traditional synagogue in America and $50,000 for the relief of poor Jews in the Holy Land.

According to the website of Temple Beth El of San Antonio, Texas, on September 10, 1875, Gutheim was engaged as a guest rabbi to lead the inaugural services at the congregation's new structure.

Despite reportedly having devoted himself to Jewish studies late in life, he was referred to as being "...one of the most eloquent and learned men in American Jewry," particularly in connection with his service as the New Orleans Reform Temple Sinai's spiritual leader, and his adherence to the principles of Tikkun Olam.