Rebecca Gratz was born in Philadelphia into a wealthy and highly esteemed family. She was a devout Jew who devoted her adult life to providing relief for Philadelphia's underprivileged women and children and securing religious, moral and material sustenance for Philadelphia's Jewish Community.

Using the Christian Sunday school as a model, she organized the Hebrew Sunday School Society, which initially served 60 students. The school was opened to children from all parts of Philadelphia without charge.

Gratz believed, like other women of her era, that benevolent work was an appropriate extension of a woman's role. She also felt that women were uniquely responsible for ensuring the preservation of Jewish life in America and worked to create an environment in which women could be both fully Jewish and fully American. She was one of the most noble women of her time.