Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

crime, and therefore the offended majesty of the law seldom consigns them to the public dungeon. In the criminal records of rape, robbery, murder, arson, and other heinous crimes, the Hebrews rarely, if ever, figure. This is another attribute of Hebrew education; and the lesson of being temperate in all things, and to refrain from idleness and vice, is instilled constantly into the minds of their youth. In London, where the population is so mixed, it has been definitely ascertained that the lower classes of Jews were vastly superior to the same class of other people by reason of their industry, temperance, and cleanliness.

Another succinct reason why the poverty of Jews is not brought to public view lays in the fact that their immediate wants are quietly relieved by their fellows, no matter whether they be worthy or not. If they are unworthy of continued charity, they are so informed, which frequently operates to cure the evil. If they are worthy, their cases are immediately brought to the notice of benevolent societies, which generally exist, or where there are no such societies, then to the attention of individuals. The result of charity thus bestowed is eminently practical, and many instances are extant, in this country and elsewhere, where the timely but silent relief afforded has culminated in the accumulation of wealth and honor by the recipient. Recognizing this fact, the education of charity is always remembered by the Hebrews as the most honorable of all virtues.

Owing to the superior benefits of their education in temperance and cleanliness, insanity is comparatively rare among the Hebrews. This is accounted for by the fact that the predisposing causes seldom exist. They are rarely afflicted with mania, idiocy, or dementia, such as aidoiomania, pseudomania, and the like. Female chastity and rectitude are especially remarkable among this people, the statistics of vice and crime being almost void of examples of dissolute Hebrew women. That this is the result of education, no one can doubt; for ignorance generally leads to crime, although vice does not always confine itself to the uneducated. Depravity does not exist in any immediate extent in Jewish communities; their ancient laws and customs forbade and punished it severely. Jewish women do not labor under certain general disadvantages, which frequently operate to drive other females into crime and vice. Their homes are, by the effect of education, rendered happy and contented; they are always treated with respect by their male associates, and the hidden charity of their race prevents them from suffering the tortures of extreme poverty, and the consequent temptations. From the same causes, it is worthy of remark that conjugal infelicity is extremely rare among the Israelites, and the laws of divorce are seldom invoked in that behalf. Should a Jewish female go astray, and the fact be brought to the attention of her people, every effort is made at once to reclaim the lost one; her crime is hidden from sight, and she is sustained and encouraged in all efforts at well-doing. Reparation is sought to be enforced for her, should she have been wronged, and depraved in heart and soul must be that Hebrew woman who continues in her evil ways, despite her people.

Gratitude forms a prominent feature in Jewish education, for they are taught that gratitude is first due to God for his many blessings, and then to man for such favors as may by him be rendered. Ingratitude is appropriately stigmatized as one of the venal sins, and is contemned as such by every just person. Nevertheless, it is so common a crime that modern philosophy asserts that, in certainty, "death and ingratitude go hand-in-hand." The Hebrews ever keep before them the proverb that " a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold." Therefore they teach that ingratitude is a crime which may not be tolerated.

The famous address of the Hebrews of New York and Philadelphia to George Washington is a marked example of their national gratitude. No Americans, of other nationalities and creeds, venerate General Washington more than the Israelites; and when he was gathered to his fathers, they mourned in their synagogues, repeating the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, that "the lamp of the world had gone out." The tribute to the moral worth and intellectual excellence of the Hebrews, which has been recently paid by Mr. James Parton, will never be forgotten. They will remember him gratefully, and as one who, even at this late day, has sought to do them justice, and to disabuse the prejudices of the world; for the true Jew appreciates the value of kind words and gracious favor more than silver and gold.

The Hebrews are extremely careful to inculcate in their youth an aversion to profanity. "The name of the Lord shall not be taken in vain," is a commandment which is probably obeyed, by them, with greater rigor than by any other people. But especially does Hebrew education operate healthfully upon the home circle, and it is refreshing to witness the intense respect which is ever manifested by husband to wife, and by children toward parents. They are ever mindful of the Divine command to "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Frequent evidences of this respect are shown by the fact that in these days of progress, many Hebrews consent to the obliteration of certain unnecessary customs, adopted in the early, or mediæval ages, both as to ritual and education. Notwithstanding their adverse judgment and opinion, they will religiously adhere to the old ideas

during the lifetime of their parents, lest they accuse themselves of disrespect. Whatever are the desires and opinions of their aged parents, they will always give way, and conform to them, even at the expense of seeming dissimulation. It is enough for them to feel that their parents are opposed to these reforms for them to pass them by. Education, to Israelites, in the Hebrew language, now is purely secondary, and is only taught for the purpose of enabling them to participate in the various religious ceremonies which are given in Hebrew. Modern American reforms, introduced in synagogue worship, do away with the exclusiveness of the Hebrew, and sermons, or lectures are now commonly preached in the English and German languages. Some reformers insist that all the services should be conducted in English, or German, so that all the congregation should understand; for it is true that the percentage of Hebrews attending synagogue, and employing the Hebraic understandingly, is very small. In other words, it is evident that the Hebrew language is fast losing its importance among the Jews, it being no longer necessary to employ it hermetically, although the orthodox Israelites cling with great pertinacity to the old habits and customs, and refuse to be separated from the ancient landmarks. It is but a question of time, however, with orthodox Judaism-it must give way to the reformatory spirit of the age.

The Talmud is no longer taught in Jewish schools as an exclusive study. It is referred to and interwoven with other school exercises, but is not a specialty. The Israelites do not, as heretofore, compel their children to an exclusive study of Hebrew, and of Hebrew law, at the age of five and six years; but they impart to them a generaĺ knowledge of Hebrew, so that they may read it fluently, even if they understand it but imperfectly, to the end that when they become Bar-mitzvah, or thirteen years of age, (the Oriental age of manhood, when parental authority is considered to cease,) they may read their portion of the Torah, or the law of Moses, in the synagogue, as the first witness and exhibit of their entry into the mystic rite of manhood. The Hebrew has been heretofore wrongfully classified among the dead languages. It has never expired, but has constantly had life. When it is considered, however, that the Hebrew youth are no longer compelled to master it, or to use it as a language of conversation, it is fast going into decadence, and, like the Latin, will only serve the purposes of a language of religious ceremony.

It is not uncommon, however, in Germany and Poland to use the written Hebrew for the purposes of record and correspondence, and letters in the German vernacular are even now frequently written and spelled in Hebraic characters. This is a custom, however, which has obtained among the Hebrews by reason of their peculiar civic condition, being inhabitants, but deprived of civil rights. Fearful of their letters miscarrying, and the consequent exposure of family secrets, they have adopted the use of the Hebraic to avoid the probable consequences of accident.

But the important question arises as to how the Hebrews, notwithstanding their exile, their persecutions, the constant destruction of their schools of learning and of science, their deprivations of civil rights, their compulsory nomadic habits, their merging into all the nationalities of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, have preserved their advanced literary culture, their morals, their education in all the arts and sciences, and their individuality from the date of their delivery from Egyptian bondage to the present hour? It must be because of the superiority of their education, mental, moral, and physical; of the love, reverence, and respect which they entertain toward their teachers, and for the further reason that the influences of the home circle have ever been maintained as paramount. The children are obedient to their parents, who neglect no opportunity to instruct and guide them, and between the old and young their exists a perfect accord; the elders to teach, the youth to listen and learn, and this has been pursued from generation to generation, and from father to son, from the days of the prophets to this era of advanced civilization. Educated nations have sprung into existence and power, and have passed away, leaving but imperfect history to chronicle their life. Rome, both pagan and Christian, with all her grandeur, and one hundred and sixty millions of subjects ruling the European world, and carrying conquest into Asia and Africa, has become a people and an empire of the past. But the Hebrews, notwithstanding all these social throes and volcanoes, and to the confusion of ethnologists, still preserve their identity as a people, never having failed in their worship of God, maintaining their habits and customs, possessing and teaching the laws of Moses intact, as they were originally given, without permitting the change of a solitary word, the dotting of an "i," or the crossing of a "t." They are the only pure Caucasian race that inhabit the globe, and no other reason can be assigned for their remarkabe preservation than the never-deviating practices of their moral education. They are the living proofs of the Bible, and without whose existence certainly history would be but chaos and confusion. It certainly follows that Hebrew education, which promotes and perpetuates social happiness, enforces implicit obedience to the laws of God and man, encourages a high standard of morals, a large amount of learning in all the essentials, a constant demonstration of the proprieties of virtue, and the improprieties of vice, fosters industry, the arts and sciences, and teaches the necessity of order and cleanliness, must be superior, and to this superiority can be attributed the

[ocr errors]

peculiar preservation of the Jews as a people. It is not surprising, therefore, that the education of the Hebrews should begin to impress the world with its importance and its superiority.

No one but a Jew can commensurately appreciate the intense happiness of the Hebrew people in this country. Free America is the modern Moses who has delivered them from European bondage, perhaps far worse than the Egyptian. They have not been made to drink the bitter waters of Marah in this land; they have not thirsted in the wilderness of Shur, nor hankered after the flesh-pots. They have sped to this hospitable province, this modern "Elim," where there are more than "twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm trees," and they are wanderers no more.

Although the names of Hebrew scholars are legion, it may not be amiss to indicate a few, such as Josephus, the ablest and truest of all ancient historians, Maimonides who lived in the twelfth century, and as a law writer and philosopher surpassed all cotemporaries, Jehuda Hallevi, the rival of King Solomon as a poet, the noted traveler, Benjamin, of Tudela, and Immanuel, the Italian poet and imitator of Dante. In the eighteenth century the two greatest writers of the age on philosophy were Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn, and Wessely, Euchel, Lowe, and Friedländer are foremost in the ranks of German poets. In later days may be mentioned the names of Disraeli, Cremieux, Montefiore, Börne, Auerbach, Heinrich Heine, Jules Janin, Grace Aguilar, and Fould, and in the United States, Messrs. Noah, Raphael, Wise, Lilienthal, Leeser, Einhorn, and Isaacs, all noticed by modern encyclopedists. To enumerate the Hebrew Talmudists, divines, poets, philosophers, philologists, historians, publicists, linguists, mathematicians, astronomers, physiologists, ichthyologists, and orators of ancient and modern days, would occupy too much space in this necessarily limited "paper." Politics, law, medicine, the fine arts and the drama have many representatives, and in music Meyerbeer, Halezy, Herz, and Gottschalk have become as immortal as has Rachel in tragedy. In finance and commerce, special mention is absolutely unnecessary, for in these essentials they lead the world.

It is a historical fact that, notwithstanding the federal Constitution, the State of North Carolina once forbade the election of any Jew to office. An eminent Hebrew patriot by the name of Henry was, despite this law, elected to the State Senate. He was, however, denied his seat, but was allowed the privilege of addressing the House on the main question. The speech he made on that occasion was at once eloquent and reproachful, creating such an impression upon the minds of the people of North Carolina, that public sentiment demanded and procured a repeal of the disgraceful prohibition.

In America, as well as latterly in Europe, the Israelites have been honored with, and creditably filled, the highest official stations. They have held seats in the French Chamber, the British Parliament, and in the Senate and House of Representatives; have been governors of States and Territories, attorneys general, sat upon the "woolsack," and in fact hold and have held prominent public positions in common with other eminent and praiseworthy citizens.

Although the Hebrews are not naturally politicians, they carefully note and give countenance to every species of legislation, every doctrine of political economy, and every public act calculated to extend liberty and to diffuse education. Nothing in this regard escapes them. The Hebrews throughout Europe and America purchased our bonds liberally, and aided in their negotiation, thus manifesting their confidence in American securities. It is believed that they hold fully one-fifth of our outstanding indebtedness in Europe and America.

It is not possible to give any extended statistics appertaining exclusively to Hebrew schools, for since the recent emancipation of the Jews from their previous civil disabilities, their education has been gradually merged into the general community system. In many eminent universities, in Germany, France, and Great Britain, professorships are now given to Hebrews in the various chairs of science and learning, and at Göttingen no less than nine of these preferments are filled by Jews. Jewish students consequently now largely derive educational advantages in common with others. In Rome, however, the Hebrews still labor under great educational and personal disadvantages, which they are endeavoring to have relieved by appealing to the liberality of the new Italian government. A petition was presented in 1860 to a proposed congress of European powers for the settlement of international questions, in which the Jews in Rome asked the consideration of an amelioration of their condition in that city. The address of grievances sets forth that no Jew in Rome can be an artist, nor be a pupil in a school of art, nor frequent a public gallery for practice; nor could any college, medical school, law university, or other scientific institution receive Jewish students. None of their people can follow any other mechanical trade but cobbling shoes, and they are not permitted to sing or play on any instrument in public. They are confined to the Ghetto, or Jews' quarter, on the low ground of the Tiber, admitted to be the most unhealthy and wretched portion of the city.

In the United States exclusively Jewish schools are not looked upon with great favor, nor to be as much desired as formerly. This is explained by the fact that the

American Hebrews are extremely proud of their citizenship; and although they are anxious to advocate and inculcate, in our common schools and other institutions of learning, the superiority of their education in many essentials, they are rnwilling to retard or in any manner complicate the progress of free education. They are satisfied at being permitted the unrestricted use of our common-school system, particularly as religious instruction is now being confined to the different denominaticas, and the school-room made free to all shades of religious sentiment.

Although the Hebrews still worship on Saturday, or the seventh day, they entertain reverence and respect for Sunday, and are loth to violate the Sabbath of the Christian. For many years, in several of our large cities, Jewish congregations have regularly maintained Sunday-schools, and Hebrew children may be seen regularly wending their way to the Sunday-school exercises of their synagogues. In Philadelphia the Portuguese congregation, formerly presided over by the late Rev. Mr. Leeser, has maintained a Sunday-school for the past thirty years or more.

In the new "Temple Immanuel," one of the grandest edifices in New York city, on the Fifth avenue, a thoroughly organized Sunday-school is maintained. Each class has a separate room set apart for its use, and competent teachers are employed and liberally paid for their services. Order is maintained in the most thorough manner, and no confusion or noise is permitted. The assembly of scholars is had in the main hall, and one of the scholars recites a prayer, the congregation remaining standing until the "Amen" is given; after which, to the music of a measured march, the classes separate and retire, each to its appropriate apartment. About two hours are employed in religious instruction, when, returning to the assembly room, a prayer is offered and they are dismissed, retiring in the most perfect order.*

The Hebrew Sabbath or Sunday schools are founded solely to impart religious instruction to Israelitish children. The scholastic year begins after the feast of the Tabernacles, (Succoth,) the commencement of the Jewish New Year, in the latter part of September or first of October, and continues until the last Sunday in June; and it is usually requisite that children should have attended some other school for a year prior to admission. Pupils are required to enrol their names in advance; and a programme of studies for the scholastic year is presented for inspection and adoption by the board of trustees. Corporal punishment is interdicted, and punishment is only in the mildest form, at worst, resulting in suspension, and, in extreme cases, in dismission. Records of punishment and absence are carefully kept, and a public examination and distribution of prizes annually celebrated. Every effort is made to conduce happiness and to attract, rather than repel, the pupils to the school.

PHILADELPHIA.

The Rev. George Jacobs, of Philadelphia, writes:

J. J. NOAH.

In the city of Philadelphia there are seven Jewish synagogues. The benevolent associations number eleven lodges of the order of "B'nae Brith," ("Sons of the Covenant,") numbering 1,025 members, and with funds on hand to the amount of $38,850 39. There are also seven lodges of the "Free Sons of Israel," numbering 800, and with a fund of $10,000. The United Hebrew Charities, consolidated from five separate benevolent organizations, received, from September 1869 to February 1870, $14,773 22, most of which was distributed in relieving 682 persons. The Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society, organized in 1819, receives and disburses about $1,100 per annum. The Jewish Foster Home numbers some 28 inmates. In addition to these is the Jewish hospital, open to all patients, which has cared for 91 patients during the year, at an expense of nearly $8,000.

Of distinctive Jewish schools there are three, with 10 male and 3 female teachers, and with 454 pupils, 264 male and 190 female.

The Maimonides College, recently established, and in which, in addition to the usual classical and modern studies, the higher branches of the Hebrew are taught, numbers 6 professors. The Hebrew Sunday-school, founded in 1838 by Miss Rebecca Gratz, was the first Hebrew Sunday-school in the United States. It numbers 115 boys and 110 girls, and 5 male and 18 female teachers. The majority of Jewish children attend the State public schools in the city. Very few, if any, Jewish children fail to attend some school.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

There are three Hebrew benevolent associations exclusively for the assistance of the poor, and seven for the relief of the sick and the care of widows and orphans. There are five Jewish schools where some 300 children receive religious instruction. It is estimated that some 500 Hebrew boys and girls attend the public high and normal schools.

*Mr. Parton, in the Atlantic Monthly.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Rev. S. Deutsch says that in Baltimore, as elsewhere, a large majority of the Jewish children attend the public schools of the city.

There is one exclusively Jewish private school of 150 pupils, and also a German private school where Hebrew and religious instruction are given if desired. There are two Sunday-schools, with a total attendance of 260 pupils. There are three Jewish charitable associations.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Rev. Dr. Sonneschein has furnished the following information:

There are four Jewish charitable associations: two for the assistance of the poor, one for the support of widows and orphans, and one for the interment of the poor. A Jewish hospital is in progress.

There are no Jewish private schools. It is estimated that 1,120 Jewish children attend the public schools, 630 male and 490 female. There are three Jewish Sabbathschools, with an aggregate attendance of 398: 215 male and 183 female.

The following are the rules adopted for the management of one of these schools, and will serve to show the general plan of their organization:

"Rules for the Sabbath-school of the congregation 'Shaare Emeth,' in St. Louis, Missouri.

"I. The Sabbath-school is founded solely to impart religious instruction to Israelitish children belonging to above congregation.

"II. The scholastic year begins on the first Sunday after the feast of the Tabernacles and closes on the last Sunday in June.

"III. Such children only who have attended some other school at least one year can be admitted to the Sabbath-school.

"IV. Names of pupils must be enrolled fourteen days prior to commencement of the scholastic year.

"V. The teachers shall, during the aforesaid fourteen days, draught a programme and a course of studies for the ensuing scholastic year, and hand the same, for adoption, to

the school board.

"VI. Pupils desirous of attending the school during the scholastic year can be admitted only after having first obtained the consent of the school board.

"VII. The school board will hold regular monthly meetings during the scholastic year on the Sunday after the 15th day of each month.

"VIII. The acting superintendent of the school shall preside at the meetings of the school board.

"IX. At the regular meetings of the school board the teachers shall attend to act in an advisory capacity; they shall not, however, be entitled to vote upon any question. "X. The superintendent is entitled to vote only when a tie occurs.

"XI. Whenever two members of the school board shall desire, or the superintendent deems it necessary to call a special meeting of the school board, the members thereof shall be convened.

"XII. It shall be the duty of every member of the school board to attend the Sabbath-school during hours of instruction at least twice each month.

"XIII. Corporal punishment is strictly prohibited.

"XIV. Punishment in the third, or mildest, degree shall be, 'Removal of the pupil from his bench during the hours of instruction;' in the second degree, 'Removal of the pupil from the school room to that of the superintendent during same time;' in the first degree, 'Suspension of the pupil from school for two weeks."

"XV. The consent of the superintendent must first be obtained ere the pupil can be dismissed from the school.

"XVI. Pupils punished with the first, or highest, punishment three times, can bo dismissed from the school entirely, provided a resolution to that effect has been passed by the school board.

"XVII. Every teacher shall keep a correct record of punishments meted out to pupils, for monthly communication with the parents.

"XVIII. Each absence of the pupil from school must be accounted for by a written excuse from the parents.

"XIX. Every teacher shall keep a correct list of the attending pupils and report the absentees to the school board.

"XX: The superintendent only shall have the right to interrupt the regular school exercises by asking questions or imparting information.

"XXI. A public examination and distribution of prizes shall take place at the close of the scholastic year."

(Adopted at a meeting of the trustees of the congregation held May 8, 1870,`

« PreviousContinue »