THE AMERIC~~N JEWS' A.NNUAL.

American Judaism.

'1"'he 400,000 I-Iebre\v men, ,vornen and children \vho chthn the United

States of America as their perrnanent home, n.nd hn.V4j idC:~l1tifi{~d thenl-; ,,'

selves \vith the people of this country,areemphatieuJly J\nH;~rican I·srael ..

ites, exceptin~only those of recent arrival from foreiJ511 lands, \v ho, llo\v­

ever, Arnericttnize as fast as their lnental eulture and nn•.ural :l,ptitude

enable theln to udapt theInselves to the new e(tndit.ions :l.bout thena. 'fhe.y,

are Israelites by birth, religion, mora.l and intellectJual inheritnn(~e; and .

they are Amerieans in their love of freedom, recognition of e.luality, 1'e­

spectful adherence to the ht\~ of the land, loyalty to the eountry, people,

governInent and public institutiolls, and in language.. dClnennor n,l1~.l

enterprise. F~xeept in politicp, in' \vhich they ltre as unBki~Jed 3.S ever\>they are in all respects Americans, so that also those of foreign birth

:rapidly drop their peculi~trities. By historical causes thel·e is ill

the Hebrew character a predominant cosmopolitan adaptability, and by

political ~auses, he embraced enthusiastically the (~ause :l.nd ideals orthe Arnerican people that received and treated hiln well. Wllen we

speak of Alnerican Israelites we mean such A.mericans who by extl·a(~tion

and religion are Israelites.

. No presumption1 can be more errroneOUB than the prevailing opinion

that the State does not infltlence and nlodify the eit,izen's religious be­liefs and ethical sentiments. Man's nature is ehtstic; \vithollt bl'eaki~g

it can ,vithstand a hea.vy pressure, st.ill if the weight is 'too he:1vy, it'

changes the shape of the elastic body. Every' forTH of governlnent, ex­

cept the one based upon ~be principles ?fr(~rs,on~Llfreedonl and eqru:tlity,is Inore or'less oppressive. It is t~ burden ,vhi(~h hinders t,he free cl~vet:..

oprnent of hU111an nature; it inlposes npon hinl ideas a.nd habits, opin­

ions and beliefs \vh~ch educ-ate and train him for that particulal' state of

society and such peculiar traditions upon which that forlll of govern-

36 AMERICAN J UDAlSl\tJ,.

Inent is based.. Only in ~l. free country human nature develops freely,which produces that manhood alld womanhood ,vhich the individuals

by their natural endowments are enabl~d to reach. Therefore after a '

-century of free government we have before us an American race charac­

teristically different from their parental raees. It is the form of govern­

Inellt which changes the character of lnan, and gradually Dlakes those

changes constant. M~o8e8 understood well this principle. \\Then he es­tablished Monotheisrn upon the ruins of J)olytheism and Idolatry, he

planted it upon the soil of free government, personal freedom and

equl1lity.,It, is evident, therefore, that under the s\vay, of liberty the whole con- (

'8titutiol~'ofluan gradually aSSUlnes a new and natunl1 shape and all

hiB'mf~ntal and morali conceptions are modified accordingly; hence'alsohis l"eligio.U8conceptions, habits al1d modes,of thought undergo a cor­

resp,?pding ehange, it'nperceptibl~because they are wrought gradually,,andvisihle after sOIne;length of tilne. All Christian sects in this coun ..

try calling themselves orthodox now would nppear h~retical to the

gra.ndfathers o~ the same faith. None is in form and belief idEntical

\vith wlutt it was fifty years ago. 'rhe Arnerican Israelite could not es­-cape the etlect of this natural law. lIe is positively not rthe same be·lh::ver 'S,8 'his co-religionists elsewhere, or 88 his grandfathers were.

Therefore, speaking of th{~ religion' of l\merican Israelitts, we can only

·call it AiIlerican' .Judair Ill.

'the Jsr~telit'e8'inAmericu,'have no history, because they have no in"

terests ap3/rt' from 'the people ,of the 'United States. American J udaisID

llas a history of its own~, because it is an institution different fran,

-other's of the same kind ~has gone through a process of changes, and,in: accordance with its progressive nature, always produces Bucb

.cllallges.. 'fherefore these progressions and changes only can be the ,:subject of this " Record."

I:.-SPIltITUAI.i 1)ItOGR)~S8.

The spiritual progres8,which after all is most ilnportant, is observa­

lhie in-the fo~lowing vital points:1. The growth of the Sabbath-schools and the confirmation classes,

which grow',rapidly in numbers, and 11ave increased t.en per cent. 01"

more during the past fifteen Inonths. As long as parents seek religious

instruction for their children, however indifferent they are in matters

A MJ4:RICAN JUDAISM. 37

of religion, they delnonstrate thei r appreciation of the religions influ..

ence upon the hUInan being, and are much more .relitliou8 than they

perhaps knolv or are \1villing t.o adlnit. rr~ey feel that an .irreligious..

Inan is under n. moral stignlu, even if they can not OVPfconlC their ()WB"

habits :l.nd preju1lices, and Reek to protect their offspring against it.

The increase in the Sabbath-schools proves a healthy growth of relig­ion, in the parents of the 8cholur~.

2. ?'he increase of telnp0l"ary congregations H.nd t.he:. :l.ttendan(~e ill

pernlanent houses of worship during the autunlna.l holidays on the ODe

hand, and the ne\\1 congregations being established- continua.lly in. dif­ferent parts of the country- It is a rHre ea.se that a J'ewish congre~ation

is, disbanded; during thepu~t yea.r onlJ- one· was disso]ve(l; but-theestablishment of ne\v ones is alIIlost of daily o~currenee, especially'during the autunlnal holidays, \vhcn also those who ~eem to ha.ve sev-

· ered their conn~ction \vith the congrega.tion prove their loyalty and

attachlnent to the religion of their fathers"

8. 'rhe increasing delnand for rahhis\vith H,n aeadernic training. wbic}}

means such rabbis ,vho are accoluplished pulpit Ol"ators and COH1})etent

--,teachers both in the Sabbath-school and in the lecture-rOoID" '~rhe liv­ing word 8upercedes thH steJoeotyped prayer 'in the same ratio as the'

spirit riscs ~l.hove the forIns. There might be ~tdded here the, highsalaries paid to such rabbis, which also denlonstrntcs 1). deeper in­

terest 'taken in the congregatioDul affairs, but the cause thereof luay bethe increasing number of Inembers and the growt.h of wealth· in allparts of the country.

4. 'fhe inquisitive an~ inquisitorial spirit wllich mude itself felt durl.ngthe 'past yenr. By the exertions and assertions of 11 nUlllber of public men:who profeRs to be c?nservatives, and by the bold decln.rations of .otherswho profess to be radicals, the Ininisters as 'a cla.ss, who are not banner;..bearers of the forInal orthodoxy, were suspected of n.ll kinds of lier­cay and faithlessness_ A medical gentlelnan of Phila.delphin., and after

him the Ininister of the IlQrtuguese eongregation of New York. gn.ve p'ublic" " '" .expression to such accusation and inquisit.orial tendoncies, on the p~irt

of the so..called conservatives; and n, gentlema.n of the legal fr~l.te·rnity

in the State of Texas, Leo N. I.Jevi, ]~Aq., being also j'rcsident of ~he' Gal...

veston congregation and President of the South\vest{=-rn 1)i8t.ri'~t of theB. B. Fraternity, expressed in public print the inqulsitivcl1Hs8 l~revail ...

ing in the communi~y, in the inquisitorial forln of direet qne~t.ions ad-

38 AMJ~rtleAN JUDAISll.

dressed to.tlle ulinisters, to elicit from eacll ofthenl H. full confession off~Lith.. 'rile Atnerican Rabbis, with only a felv exceptions,l~aintainetl

their dignity opposite both partie~ and refttsed to reply to the oneor the other. ()utsid(~ of newspa])er writers only Doctors I-tichard

(}ottheil, I{ohler, ]i'elsenthal and the Faculty of the Hebrew lJnion Col­

lege refuted t~le ao(:usntions of the Philadelphia }Jhysician and tIle New):'"()rk Ininiste.·, a.r~d replied to one question of Mr. Levi, viz: What isJudaism? It Jnust be adtnitted that inquisitiveness is the direct oppo­site of ind~neren(:e; the growth of inquisitiveness, as it is before us inthe }Just year, iH ttn evidence of spiritual progress. \\Thenever that

laudab.le inquisit.i veness partakes of tbe inquisitorial fornl, three nlis­takes ~tre atl the) bottOIll. The first is the presupposition that (jvery

R,ahhi has H,n estahlished and firIn conviction on every: point of fait}l~l nd IH·n.ct,ice, the abi lity to (1xpress it in appropriate langua.ge, Il.nd tIle,,·illingries8 to put it on public record, when ,ve know the trnl1sitory

nature of th·is period of our history, the difficulty of forn1l11n.ting ttb­straet heliefs,\,\t!thQut'f::tl}inginto :iii un-Jewish (iogmatiS111, that'v:triety ofstandpoints in different congregations and individuals with Agnostic ..iSlU on o~le side, and the \vorship of forrns .on the other, the uncer­t:lin U.lld IUlfo;afe position of the Itabbis, especially in such congregn,­

tions lvbere the antiqua,ted I><trnassitn despot.ism still prevails. Thesecond rnist.ake is in the expectation that one should be a true Isra.elite,vit.h()llt, liberty of eonscience, and the teacher of a reformu.tory andpr!?~re88'ive congregation without having convictions and opinions of

. his O\vt\ j fl,nd if he h~ts such convictions and opinions he nlust eitherpla,y the h.ypocrite s,nd be silent, or be a hero of self-denial and self­

sacrifice and res~gn the position which gives support to his family. TheInain rnistnJre, however, is that men, earnest and able, overlook the un­deniable fa.ctthat Alllerican I!Tudaism is progressive and reformatory,ftnd in'stead of reckoning \vith its leading nlen from this standpoint.

they start. fronl an ultra conservative gr.ound, \\Thich is hardly conceiv­

able nny' longer, to the ne"v sch901 of theolo~y; and on the other hand

the sjtstenl 'i~ unfinished, which afrords ample opportunity to radical. : thitlk(~r8 to ad vance crude and unt/enable ideas, unripe fruit~, which are

;; .. ·'tn,ken; tll" hy opponents and charged on all teacllers Y and leaders of

Anleriean .J udaistn. 'rhe Corrner method is unfair, and the latter unjust.

5. 1'he biennial session of the Council of the Union of AlnericanI-Iehr(~\\'" (~ongrega'ions, taking place in Pittsburg in J aly last, demon-

Al\lERICAN JUDAISM. 39

slrate,d the progress of tIle spirit visibly and impressively by the num­ber and quality of congregational representatives, the prevailing en­thusiasm and unanimity, the good 'York done and the elninent speecheslllade. It can not be denied that the best Jewisll elements of thecountry were represented in that Council, and that their enthusiasm isa fair criterion of the progress of the spirit.

II.-TH]~ )lA'fERIAL PROGRESS.

t

'The spiritual progress of any cause must manifest itself in its ma...terial phenomena. Every cause 1nust have an effect, if it has none weeould not know its existence. The Inaterial progress of American Ju­daism, during the perio i which \ve record, delnonstrates itself, espe­cially in the follo\ving points:

1. The peace and unanilnity in the congregations and societies affil­iated \vith theIn. The difficulties prevailing in the St. Louis congrega­tionwere :fically and amicably settled before New Year 5647, by theestablishment of the new Temple Congre~ation Israel, \vith Dr. Son­neschein as I~abbi: and Dr. Sale, forrnerly of Chicago, at the head ofthe mother congregation. '"fhat separation did not establish a ne\v prin...-ciple on either side, for the one seems to be as rn.dical and as loyal toJudaism ItS the other, in theQry and practice. Nor is the separation 11

rupture, for both congregations renlain united in all ,yorks of charityand even in the occupa.tion of one and the sn.tne burial-ground. Bothcongregations nourish, grow rapidly in numbers, and rank arnong thernost iInportant in the IJnion of Arnerican Hebre\v Congregations.Hence the separation was 110 more and no less than a peace measure,and as such it ,vas a very successful one. It abounded in a healthygrowth of zeal and enthusiasm in the Je\visll population of that city.

I)eace anel unanirnity prevail no\v in those as in all other AU13rican

JIebre\v congtegations, no difficulties or differences from any havebeconle known during the p 1St fifteen months.

2. The structure~ erected or in course of erection offer visible proofof Inaterial progress. In this connection must be mentioned the Jewish()rphan l\.sylum and the Home for the Aged and Indigent in New 'York,,'vhich are palatial and rnonumental proofs of nlaterial progress. ThreeOrphan Asylum buildings, spacious and p'alatial, are in court e' of erec­tion and approach completion, respectively in Cleveland, Ne\v Orlea.ns t

t.tlnd .A.tlanta, (ta., and every cent spent in those buildings C lmes from

III.-LI1'J4~H.ARY PHOGH1£SS.

"rile American Israelites are a commercial, industrial, charitable andreligious people t but they are no literary people as yet. It nlay CODle here­after; it is alnlost certain that it ,viII come~ for the talent is evidentlythere, but it has not COll1e yet. \l'e lostthis year, Novelnber 19th, EnlUU\I",azarus, the eminent poetess, lV}lose produetions are her indestruet­ible monument. ]}1 the religious and Hebraic departlllents the fol­[owing nlust be noticed: rrhree young gentlemen have taken professional~8itions in the Seluitic depart111ents of Universities, viz.: ])r. ItichardGottheil, at Columbia College, of New York; ])r. Jastrow, Jr., at theUni"ersity of I>ennsylv811ia in Philadelphia, und ])r. Cyrus Adler at theJ'ohns Hopkins university, of Baltimore and have also lvritten a number

of Dlsgazine articles in their re8pective branche~, ,vhich prove tal~~~,

ability and research. I)r. Jastrow, .Jr., rp1ired fron") the pulpit_on

A:M~ERICAN JUDAISM.40

the,,]~,ockets o~.,Uebre,v nlel1 and women, who, in this pal·ticular p,ointare~s liberal.,:~p.d generous as any of the Inost ch8J-itable i~ Americansociely. Palatial temples and school-houses were ert?cted in Albany,Cleveland, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, Birminghanl',Ala:., Goldsboro, N. C., and else,vhere, and active'}lreparations for erect-'ing such buildings are being made in Toledo, 0., Chattanooga, 'fenn., andother citie~. Young Israel establishes clubs, builds handsome clul>houses, like one in Chicago and in Cleveland, and l-Iebre,v "Y"oung 1\ien'sAssociations, whicb gradually improve to considerable social and literaryinstitutions, and, especinJly in New Yorl{ andPbiladelphia, to actually

charitable institutions by tecbnological and industrial schools for youngpeople of indigent parentage. Most all of these societies and associa­tions eI-ect, purchase or inlprove buildings for their specia~purposes, andas such, are demonstrations of matel·ial pro~ress in the Aluerican Juda­ism. Most everyone of the congregations, soeieties and associationsincrease nUlnerically and in their respective spheres of activity. The

so-called secret socie,~es, lodges or orders, are an exception to this rule,they are numerically on the decrease, although their usefulness is by nomeans diminished. 'fbe interest forlnerly taken in those Inatters, para­phernalia, titles, lectures and cerelnonies, seems to vanish, so that manyof those bodies can llardly muster a quorum at their stated meetings.Another generation, it appears, has acquired other tastes and otherideals.

, Al\>IERICAN JUDAISl\f. 41

account of doctrin~tl differences with his learned father, and prefers theteacher's to the preacher·s vocation.

In the periodical field we have gained two ne\v Gerrnan-Hebrew pa­pers, one daily and one monthly in New York, for I=tussian, I>olish, Rou­manian, Hungarian and Ga' ician immigrants and allnost unintelligibleto others. One weekly journal, the Jewish Exponen.t, was started in Phila­delphia, edited and published by lVIessrs. Melvin G. \Vinstock, Henry S.Morais and Charles Hoffman, which is not inimical to the cause of re­form and progress and is intelligently edited. rrhe Ilfenorah, H, lnonthlyperiodical, published and edited by Benjamin F. Peixotto, Esq., in the'Bene Berith interest, works yet under financial difliculties, althou~ll itsliterary matter is quite readable and partly also valuable. The most sub­stantial portion of that journal is an English translation of Karpele'sHistory of Jewish I..Jiterature, from the Gernlan by Dr. l{'ichard Gottheil,which when finished ,yin Inake an excellent book, perhaps the best of itakind in the English language. Dr. Zirndorfs ,\ J ost und seine Zeitgen­ossen " (German) has literary merits and historicnl vnIue, and has Inet\vith a ready sale; its second edition is under contetl1plation. Dr. l\'Iiel­ziner's book, ,. Introduction to the Talmud," is nearlyfinished~but not.

yet in the hands of the printer. Rabbi I.liehnlan Adler's ilJN" n.:J"N~

lGermnn) a book of excellent moral and religious lessons, based onthe Thorah, is not yet complete, five panlphlets of which, to page 200,

have appeared. It promises to be an enlinent devotional book. 1'heBrothers Moses published an abstract of SOIOITIOn·8 I>ro/verbs fof'Sabbath-schools and fanlily reading. One of them, Rabbi Moses, ofNashville, puhlished in Milwaukee, a ne\v prayer-book, Hebre,v and En·glish, also void of originality. Compilations of this }cind, like the little''books called catechisms for children, can hardly. be classed as literaryproductions, 8S scarcely anything is produced in them which ,vas notknown long ago. The best and also most original literature of thiskind is contained in the Sabbath ltr;isilor, edited by Isidor Wise, a 1110nthly ,periodical published by the Bloch Publishing and Printing Co.

Besides the above prayer-book the liturgical literature has been in­creased last year by a IIymn Book, compiled by the llev. Dr. Gott..heil, of New York. It contains a number of original writings by thecompiler, the late James 1(. G'utheim, EmIna Lazarus alnd a fe,v others.The rest is adapted from Christian sources, and the music to the wholecollection, also published in New York) partakes of the same Protestan~

~low and sure character for congregational singing, an entire strangerin the synagogue. Ho\vever, th\ selections made by Dr. Gottheil areexcellent as literarJr productions, although Jewish theology would not'subscribe to all the sentiments they contain.

])r. }{rauBkopfs lectures, published in the A'nu~ricanIsraelite and thellin book form in Kansas City, on the Spanish Jews, and on religionand evolution, are, perhaps, the most readable literary lnatter producedlast year. They are al\vays elegant and full of interest also for those'l\rho disagree \vith llirn in principle.

Rabbi Mag Heller, of Ne\v Orleans, published in a pamplllet t,vo ser­J110nS of Ne,v Year and Day of ...t\tonement, which contHin solelnnthoughts ,veIl lvorded. (luite a nUlnber of 8erll10n8 and lectures werepublished last year, especially in the Ante'rican J8lrael'itc, but accordingto their places they belong to the periodical literature, except those ofDr. I~erkowitz, which were also published in pamphlets in Kansas City.

()f ])r. M'. Jnstro\v's (Philadelphia) Dictionary of the Targum. Tal­lllUd and Midrash: literatures hitherto only the; DI·st nitlety six pages~l,ppeared, reaching to"DCN, but it is an'nounced thut the second instal­J11ent \\'ill sOOll appear. Of Dr. I{ohut's Arttch Oon1pfetu111 no continua­tion appeared, since that gentlernan resided in our country. So we haveno lexicographie suecess to claim during the last year. It suffices tosay that t\VO of the three lexicographers of this kind in the worldl·eside in America~ and are anlong our prorninent Itabbis.

42 Al\'IERICAN JUDAIS~I.

IV.-SCHOLAH'fIC SUCCl~SS.

It has been Inentioned already that the Sahbath-scbools have largelyincreased in establishlnents 8,l1d in the number of pupils. 'J'he sale of

~. text-books for such schools has enormongly increased during tIle lastyear at the Bloch Publishing and Printing Company. 'rhe Sabbath-.. .school Union, ,vhich was so long a visionary project, was at last takenttJnder the protective wings of the Union of American Hebrew Congrega­tions B.nd promises l\"ell to be an organized institution before the nextmeeting of the Council of the Union. The men at the helln of theSabbath-school Union ,viII 1l1ake it a success.

SerlIlons belong to the devotional department., especially the Americanhalf-hour sermons; lectures. discussing a subjec.t in the scientifictrnethod, belong tp the scholastic depal"trnent, if they popularize infor­Illation for the }>eople. The sermon or homily is natuft11ized alnong

'.

AMl~RICAN JUDIASl\I. 43

Alneric.~n,.~ I sraelites.,:J:he slp.~llle~t,:.as the lu,r~est congregations.

the land elect ministers who preach \vell· and cnn conduct the Sab­

~~::tth~sch()oL ~rhe leeture also is rapidly becolning an institution in

Alnerican ..Juch1isln and is delivered in most of the congregations Fri-

evening or on Sunday, since the Pittsburg Conference decided that

lihere ,va~ no vuJid objection to Sundtty lecture8 in ]ocalitieswhere

IJjany people, especially of the working cla'5s, are deprived of the oppor­

tCi!oity if) attend divine service on Snbbath and holy days, The lecture

:'iF a novel feature in the Alnericon Judaism, and certainly does that

rnuch good besides the information \vhich it disseminates. that it sets

the Rabbis to 'York in history, philosophy, theology, natural science,,ethnology, sociology and the kindred sciences. Nobody can doubttha.t this kind of workrn..ises the standard of intelligence and eulture

1\.ulong the Itabbis, and that the public reap the benefit of it,

In the \\Test ana South\\rest the Friday evening lecture is the rule and

11I~e Sunday lecture the exception. In the East the Sundny lecture in

four or n\re congregations is the rule, and the Ifriday evening Jecture

the rare exception. In the Southeast there is no standing rule yet in

1.his matter. 'l'he lectures delivered to Jlebrew Young ~Ien's Associa­

tions a150 belong to this class, and ought to be taken into consideration.

Ii. is a reInarkable fact that in matters of organization and progress initlnerican tJudaisru the West und Southwest are al\vays ahead of the

JF{;a.st, nlthough it is claimed that the \vealth and the brains are near the

Atlantic coast. 'fhe progress ~Lchieved in this scholastic branch is evi­dent from the Friday evening lectures \vhich ~tppeared in print in

journals and books, produci ng a kind of literature of the existence of

wvhich neither the Rabbi nor the congregation of t\venty years ago had

:a.n idea. 'rhis kind of \vork, so conducive to popular enlightenment,

'g-rows rapidly, and increased during the last year both in qUlntity and

(r~uality.

]'he Hebre\\~ IT nion College is the ..!1lina J~[«(;tet of Alnerican .Jud -..ism.

VVithin it.s ,valls sounded the trumpet of ,the angel of resurreetlon for

{~"fi~h literature ~tnd e~thusiasn1. A ne\v spiri ~ hu.s gone forth

front its cla,sfi roorns, reviving and rejuvenating the \vidowed rnother of

Judaisln, Not only by its graduates, but also hy the impulse it has

g:aven, the enthusiasm it has aroused and the light it 1~~tS spread. the ban­

ner of a 'higher intelligence and culture has been unfollled and Judaism

}t,Ui,S gained thousands of adrnil'ers and votaries whe,re cold indifferenoe

\;

A1\'1I~n.ICAN JUDAISM.44

and Inisconception had prevll,iled, This year the College graduated and:

ordained one Rnbbi only, Edward N. Calisch, no\v occupying the pulpit

'at Peoria, Ill. It has none to graduate in 1888, but will JTIost likely'

graduate ten in 1889, and some every year thereafter to be teach~rs in

Israel, worthy colleagues of the graduates. who now occtipy pulpits ill

11hiladelphia, Baltitnore, Bufutlo, Galveston, New Ot"leans, l\'fohile, Chi··

eago, Ft. \Vayne, ~lacon, Peoria, Chattanoo~a, Detroit and St., Paul.

And yet the (;ollege has to record 11 JnarJ\:ed success over that of last yeal~l

as has been proved by the Council nt Pittsburg \v~th its overpo'Nerinf.;

enthusiasrn. Its finances hal:e been \vonderfully 1Jnproved, its number

of students has been increased· to forty-four, a.nd its scholastic activity'

is as sound ana sllccessful as that of any institute of this kind in ]~tlrope".

Young Anlericn etnbraces the IIlinistry of Judais'm ,vith :18 111uch zeaJ~

(~on8istency and assiduity as their gren,t-grn.ndfathers devoured the Tal·· '

luud. This, perhaps, rno1'e than anything else, is a token of the rej tlVH­

nation of Judaism in this country.

For a nUluber of years SOUle gentlemen in the ]~astern eit.ies of oureountry, who elaitn to be the orthodox or conservative Inen· among

the Ameriean Israelites, or even the only true Israelites, JHl.Ve been 8/t

work to antagonize the lJnion of Anleric~n Hebrew Congregations and.the Jlebrew Union' (;ollege. IJ8st year these gentlemen succeeded in

interesting the Ne\v York I)ortuguese Congregation in a sehetne of

establishing a theological seminary in New York. That congregatio[l~

holds funds years ago bequethed for the establishnlent of a rtabbinics,L

institute, and ne,"er did anything to earry out the wills of the testators..

It ,vas resolved to contribute one thou~and dollars per allnurn to the'

new sem.inary. The Portuguese congregation, of Philadelphia, 11.n([·

such other congregations who had either never affiliated thelllseives ,,"ith

tlle lInion or had left it previously, ,vere obligated to contribute twenty­

five dollars or nlore per annUlll each toward the maintenance of such

seminary. A. soeiety \vas organized, and a so called orthodox }'abbinical

seminary was formally opened at the beginning of the year 1887, \vith

one teacher for one class, an adequate number of officers and the antaf~­

onistic Reverend Doctors and Ileverend Hazani1n as protectors,.patrona.;,

examiners, directors or securities, that the said selnina.rjl \vill remain

genuinely orthodox, or \vhat is called so in that region of the land. The.Rev" 8. Morais was made its President, and he is, perhaps, the only con.·~·

servative luan in that conlpnny. All the other gentlelnen are very (s.cl

A I\'I~:RICAN JUDAISl\f. 45

distant froru the conservative standpoint. 'fhe said seminary can notand will not be for any length of tinle an orthodox Itabbinical institute.~No orthodox institution holds out long among Anlericnn Israelites.~ut that is of no importance. It is certainly a scholastic progresft thatsuch a school exists, however small it is now, ho\vever short its exist­ence may, be; it is, and it has the object in vie\v to teach Jewish liter..fi.tnre; it is a scholastic progress.

V --CHANGgS A~IONG ItABBIS. .

One of the fraternity, the Rev. Dr. Goldammer, died in Cincinnati;two young men entered in his stead, viz. : Calisch in !>eoria, and Harrisin Brooklyn. A number of Rabbis changed poaitionEl, viz.: Drachman

from Newark to Ne\'v York; Browne stepped down and out and doesprivate work; Heller went from Houston to New Orle1.ns; Stolz from

: ]~ittleRcck to Chicago; I(rauskopf from I(ansas City to Philadelphia;Schanfarber frorn Toledo to Ft. \Vayne; Moses fronl ~{ilwaukee toNashville;: ]~Ikin from Evansville to flartford; Aaron from .Flt. Wayne

to Buffalo; I.Jevy from Augusta to Selma; Chumaciero, of Philadelphia,lost his congregation by dissolution of that body; Sessler from Wheelingto Providence~R.1.; Dr. Jastrow, Jr, resigned his position in the RodephShalom, of Philadelphia, and is now Professor of Semitic languages;ICppstein has ~one frorn Louisville, to Owensboro; Fluegel, returningfronl Europe, ,vent to Paducah; Itosenstein came from Erie to Cincin­nati; I(uttner changed from Cincinnati to I"ouisville; I1Jisenberg from '"''New Orleans to 13irminghaln. ()ther changes have not come to our

'notice. The nlost important in this connection is the retiring fromoffice of the Rev. 1)r. Samuel IIirsch, of I>hiludelphia, who since 18::10was a leading and prominent Rabbi, both in Europe and here, and a dis­\ingu!shed author. Alnong the new Rabbis coming from Europe wenotice l~a,bbi Drexler, of Cleveland, who seems to be nn ordainedRabbi) which we can not Sf1Y of other immigrants who call th'em­selves, or Bre called, Rabbis and Doctors. The demise of RabbiAsh, in New York, occurred during the past year. He was reputedas an orthocloxman well versed in I~abbinical literature. He wasnot the Rabbi of any organized congregation. 'fhe marriage anddivorce cases which he undertook dirnmed his reputation and limited

his usefulness.

46 l\M}i~n.ICAN JUDAISM.

VI.-ME}t~TINGS.

Besides the annual meeting of the represenf atives of different s(}·called secret orders, \vhose transactions do not belong t.o the histo~v ()If, ..Judaif.lm, there occurred during the past yeal'-

1. T\vo Ineetings of the Rabbinical Association, of Ne\\T ):ork and

.neighboring cities, ,vhose proceedill'gs; although very" interesting, offet~

no historical matter. History can but record that which \vas -done, DI)t

that which was said, however instructive it ,may be.

2. The ll1eeting of the Council of the Union of Arnerican l-Iebre~1r

Congregations, July 13th and 14th, in Pittsburg, 1)a., in which the 81th..

bath-school Union \VUS adopted as an institution to be supported aIldprotected by the Union; the College and other inst.itut.ions of the UniOI[~

were auglDellted and strengthened; a cOlllmittee ,vas appointed to reporto the Executive Board, 1\ 111onography on Je,vish authors in the U'nitedStates and Canada; and Ininor points of generul interest, ,,"ere discussed

and resolved upon.3. 'rhe Conference of the Rabbis in the South took place in }Iont­

gomery, Ala., November 27-29th, an abstraet of whose proceedings Wit..~

received too late ror this publication, but appeared in the c'olunn18 of theAmc'rican Is'raelitc.

CONCJ~USION.

We are no l1€arer to a union of all American congregations than We

were last year; nor did \ve retrograde in any essential rnn.tter. Forsome tinle it was Illade to appear by the publication of the self-styledorthodoxy that we retrograded; but it only resulted in a reaction in favorof progressive lllen and lIleasures. 'Ve are not going to retrograde.'The proselytizing Inissionaries sent anl011g our people at a heavy ex:..

pense by foolish enthusiasts, mostly good-natured ,\\"omen, meet \vith n.j>

SUCC€SS ''lhatever. 'rhe Israelite, it seems, is well stl.tisfied with his own~

religion; if he does change he becoIlles an agnostic for the tirne being+never a Christian of any denomination. The Sunday-Sabhuth agitation.amo~nted to nothing; the Jew IDay be atS1tbbath-brea~er)but never aSabbatll-changer; he never changes a genuine article for u counterfei t.We may rest satisfied that Judaism stands higher now in the estiInationof the intelligence of our country than it did at any time in the palmiestdays of its long history. We do not refer to the appointment of M~

Al\JIJ~nIGAN J UDAI8lVI. . 47

Strauss, of New York, as ambassador to 'furkey, or to other Israelitessuccessful in obtaining office by election or appointment-fLndtheil'"number is legion-nor do 've point. to the position of the AlnericanIsraelite in the financial, commercial or artistica.l world, \vhich is. verylofty; for all this only proves the lIebre\v~s talent and aptitude in tl1evarious occupations which he embraces, ftnd perhaps also his prudenceand uprightness. We point to the tone of the press" and 'the expressionsof authors, whicll have changed from the petulant, malicious andcareless to a tone of acknowledgment and appreciation of \vhat the"Iearaelite is and what he does. 'fhis seems to be t.Ile expression of thepeople, and we are satisfied. The religious Israelite is t1:e truly en­lightened and liberalized man-this is the opinion of Inany-:"and the'daughters of Israel are too much distinguished for virtue, chastity andj'domestic eXt'ellencies to pass unnoticed. Judaism takes a high posi­tion and, I hope) will have taken a still higher on~; when I shall agaitl!

tell you the history of the past year in the AMI~RICAN ~JE\VS' ANNlJAL.