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by
Isaac Leeser
In
the last part of the discussion which we laid before our readers on this
important subject, we treated on the necessity of a ministry fully
qualified to be a light to our people. We had hoped that the discussion
would have been taken up by some of our friends, and that it had sunk
sufficiently deep in the public mind, not to have passed away without
leaving a permanent impression. We regret that, as yet, no one has
stepped forward to offer us his thoughts for publication on our article,
whilst we are sure that it has not been without some effect in drawing
the general attention to this momentous subject. We are not, however,
much disappointed, that as yet we have found no echo in the general
voice; for, grave as the matter may be, it is not easy to apply, or even
to find, the proper remedy. Every thing which is to be permanent must be
of slow growth; and that which is born in a night, is apt to perish in a
night. We are, therefore, not very favourable to a fanatical excitement,
which urges masses on to move in a particular direction—which soon
evaporates by exhausting itself, and leaves matters in a worse position
than it found them. But we still hope that the public mind may be
gradually influenced, and that a state of thought may be ultimately
produced, which will express itself naturally and deliberately in
consonance with its own feelings; and that, then, the remedy for the
evil will be the spontaneous effect of this new state of the public
views. We fear, however, that under present circumstances, perhaps for
years, there will be insurmountable difficulties in the way, which will
repress our energies, no matter how much the individuals may labour; and
these are chiefly owing to want of concert among us, especially in
America. We know not, indeed, whether the election of a new chief Rabbi
in England may tend to produce unity of action there; but, we are sure
that, in this country, we can see such a state only in the dim distance;
and we fear that it will take a long time to bring it into successful
practice.
We
will give our reason for our fears, in the undefined hope that, despite
of our forbodings, they may not be verified, and that the result may
contradict our anticipations. It is true, that in the last twenty years
the number of Jews in America has greatly increased. They have emigrated
from various countries—some, to fly from persecution; others, simply
to improve their condition. But, in place of uniting themselves with the
congregations already existing, or, at least, of coming to an harmonious
understanding with them, they have established independent associations,
generally upon the model of their native land, and without any concert
with other religious establishments already existing. Not alone this:
most of these emigrants are from Germany, and are entirely unacquainted
with the English language. All these circumstances have produced this
effect, that there is an entire isolation between our communities, and
that we are perfectly unacquainted with each other’s positions and
wants. We alluded to this fact in the beginning of this discussion, last
year, and we regret that no improvement has taken place since that time.
We know of no means at present to speak to all our people by the same
organ, owing to the want of a uniform language, and the great difference
of condition discoverable among them, and without this there can be no
thought of union.
The
fault may have been owing, in part, to the Jews originally settled here,
and to the laws of nearly all the congregations, which require some
time, longer or shorter, as the case may be, before any new comer can
become a member of the corporation. Then, the comparative small size of
our old Synagogues, which seem, for the most part, to have been
calculated for the few Israelites formerly in America, and left,
consequently, little room for the many who lately came over. But above
all must the cause be sought in the fact, that all the old
congregations, with but one exception, were of the Portuguese form,
consequently not intelligible to the greater portion of the new
immigrants. We are free to confess, and say so candidly, and hope not to
give offence to those of our readers who belong to the German and Polish
rituals, that, to our view, the Portuguese form is better adapted to the
Israelites in America, owing its greater simplicity and the absence of
the long poetical prayers, than the other two, and that, could our
advice avail, we would honestly counsel every new congregation to adopt
from choice the prayer-book of the Sephardim. But we do
not look forward to such a result, much desirable as it may be, as,
unfortunately, prejudice is, for the most part, too great to allow
persons to think dispassionately, and many would thus look upon the
adoption of a new form of prayer, new, at least, to them, as a change of
religion. Be this as it may, the fact is so, that nearly all the new
congregations have adopted the German or Polish form of prayers, and
have copied, also, the form of government incident to the same in the old
world. The consequence has been, that the new settlers seldom come in
contact with the original inhabitants, and they are unacquainted with
each other as though the ocean were still rolling between them. We
acknowledge with pleasure, that acts of charity know nothing of this
division, and that small as was the number of our people hitherto, the
poor have ever found support and kindness, no matter how many there were
who needed relief. Individual and combined beneficence have sought out
the humble abode of the needy, to replenish their little store, to
kindle a fire upon their cold hearth, and to provide garments for the
sick and the children; but charity, alas! has hitherto been the only
bond, powerful as it may be; and even in this, it is not rare that
different congregations of the same city have established charitable
societies, consisting almost exclusively of their own members, owing to
some alienation of feeling produced by the diversity of interests
necessarily resulting from independent action in the different bodies.
Whilst,
therefore, there are no elements of union, it is impossible to effect
any improvement upon a large scale; and whilst the diversity of language
prevails to the great extent it does now, it will be futile to attempt
to produce a fusion of the masses. Even preachers, as we are now
constituted in this country, unless they could speak both in English and
German, must be comparatively useless, since in mixed congregations some
would not understand the discourse from a want of knowledge of the
language employed by the speakers; and assume that they could express
themselves correctly in both tongues, it would be utterly impossible to
arrange it so that both portions could be benefitted alternately by an
English and German discourse. Besides, were it even practicable, we
should, for one, be opposed to establish a multiplicity of tongues for
the use of our public speakers. The country is essentially English in
its tastes, habits and predilections, and it appears to us absolutely
requisite that Jews should conform as nearly as possible, consistent
with their religion, to the manners of the people among whom they live.
In addition to this, the children of German parents insensibly learn the
English, and know but little of the language of their parents. Hence, it
would be evidently a work of supererogation to gratify the parents who
just come to this country, by providing in the old congregations
speakers, who, day by day, would become less useful to the rising
generation. There are, indeed, some communities consisting entirely of
emigrants from Germany, and among these German preachers may be of
service for the present. But here, too, the progress of change is
constant, though apparently imperceptible. The Jews are nearly all
settled in commercial communities, with but few exceptions in the
agricultural districts; hence the younger members will naturally be
brought in contact with the Anglo-Americans, however much pains may be
taken by parents to instruct them at home in the German language. In a
country like this, where the intercourse between distant parts is so
rapid and general, it is idle to presume that the greatest watching can
preserve a language different from that spoken by the majority; for, if
even the parents should be indifferent to learn the language of the
country whither they have emigrated, be this disinclination owing to a
too greatly advanced age or constant association with their own kin, the
children will have so many inducements to act differently, that they
will sooner learn the language spoken in the streets than the one they
hear, or which is forced upon them, within doors. We believe, for these
reasons, that it would be worse than useless, nay, injurious to our
interests both political and religious, to attempt importing our
religious teachers from Germany, or to do the least to keep up
instruction in that language, elegant and forcible as it is, on the
continent and in the islands of America. We fear that we may give
offence to some of our readers, who are ardently attached to the
literature and language of their fatherland, and who imagine that they
will be able to transplant its characteristics and literature into their
new home. But a little reflection must convince them, that it would be
unwise to attempt it; for they cannot for a moment imagine, that the
natives of the country would forego the use of the English, or to allow
the association of the other in public worship, especially as the German
is to them more inaccessible than the English is to the immigrants. No
one will, however, pretend to say that a uniformity, or an approximation
thereto, is not of the highest importance; and we appeal, therefore, to
the sound common sense of our people to endeavour to do something to
bring about a state as near uniformity as the circumstances of the case
will permit. We have no fear, that that in the course of twenty years
from this a numerous native Jewish population will be spread over
America, who, being born to the soil, will have more congeniality of
feeling and of language than there is found among us now. But we must
not wait so long, although the evil we complain of will then cure
itself; for we must take care that the separate congregational
organization produce not a permanent estrangement of feelings and
interests. We, for our part, cannot help deploring the unmeaning distinction between the Southern or Portuguese, and the
Northern or German rituals. They were the products of the dark ages,
when each division of
Europe, from the very isolation existing between the Israelites residing
therein, developed through its own poets and writers of devotional
works, a separate character for its own Israelites. Had the intercourse
been as unrestricted as it is now, we honestly believe that we should
never have known any thing of the Sephardim and Ashkenazim customs, and
should then have been spared the unnatural divisions which on their
first approximation by the settlement of Spanish refugees in Holland,
Hamburg and London were so palpably developed, and which we, at this
day, when the fusion of these portions of our people has been partially
effected, can scarcely believe to have existed. We moreover believe,
that most rightly thinking persons agree with us in stating that these
sectional differences had better be removed, or that, at least, every
thing ought to be done to lessen their injurious effects. We, therefore,
maintain that we must take care that these differences, transplanted
among us from Europe, and only come to maturity within the last eighteen
years, shall not produce a permanent estrangement of feelings and
interests. But if we proceed as we have hitherto done, especially if
that unfortunate rage for useless reforms should be excited in our
communities to the extent it prevails in a few places in Europe, it
requires no prophet to predict, that we never can have any union among
us in the western hemisphere, and that more still than hitherto, each
little assemblage of Jews will proceed in its own way of action, regardless of what other communities may say or
do. We are not an alarmist: we do not despair of our people; nor do we
believe that they will not ultimately act correctly when they come to
their “sober second thoughts;” for if this were not our settled conviction, we would throw by our pen in utter hopelessness, and
leave the evil unattended to by our advice or interference. No! We go by
the old saying: הנח להם
לישראל אם
אינם נביאים
בני נביאים
הם “Let Israel alone; if they are not themselves prophets
they are the sons of prophets;” and we, therefore, presume to speak to
them on a subject which many, no doubt, have frequently thought upon; and we will persevere in urging their attention, in
the hope, we are almost tempted to say certainty, that something will
ultimately be done. The only misfortune is, that it is no one’s
business in particular. Every body is alike interested, and so every
body leaves it to others to move in the premises, thinking it time
enough to follow after others have taken the lead. But if we wait at
this rate, nothing will ever be done, and year after year will leave us
precisely where we stood, if the flood of circumstances should not have
carried us upon the retrograde track. It is true, that the remedy for
our want of cohesion is not very apparent; but one thing is to a surety
evident to the commonest discernment—that, if the children of our
people be brought in contact, and form bonds of friendship in
early youth, they will when they grow up have a greater degree of
sympathy for each other, than if reared without such friendly
intercourse in early years. Persons may laugh as they please at
school-boys’ friendship; but no one can look back upon the sunny days
of his childhood and boyish years, when he could laugh with unrestrained
mirth, and play at games befitting youth with his school companions,
without emotions of pleasure. Let him call up before his memory the
bright intellects that contended with him for academical honours—let
him revert to the warm hearts, that now are chilled in death—the
friendly bosoms, that now lie still beneath the green mounds in some
distant sepulchre—or let him hear from those who, having with him
entered life, are now among the honoured of the earth: and can he avoid
feeling emotions of sadness, or of pleasure and joy, that such as these
had been his companions, his friends? And who will not feel himself
stimulated to advance upon the thorny path of life, when he knows that
others who know of him and value him, are also advancing, or, at least,
to endeavour not to he left behind in the race for improvement?
Let
us then have such emulation among our own youth in this extensive
republic, where mind will always be valued, whatever the alarmists may
say to the contrary. Here we have a field for development as no
Israelites have in the whole world besides: we are unmolested in our
pursuits, both in religious and civil life, and we too could reach
eminence if we would but advance with judgment and a determined will.
Our Christian neighbours have shown us us an excellent example in their
endeavours to let the benefits of religious education reach every hamlet
and every house in the country; and the very errors which they
occasionally commit, by over-exciting the public mind on abstract
questions of church policy, are almost excusable by the benevolent
motive from which they originate. They wish to propagate what they
believe the truth; and hence, though we do, as we must, condemn the
means, we cannot but respect the undaunted courage and perseverance
which many display in their labours, for which no earthly reward can be
rationally expected by them. Let us imitate them in their endeavours to
diffuse education. The task is not so difficult as it was formerly; we
have at least a few school-books, though they are confessedly, as yet,
too few to be called a system of education; still there are some; and it
is not impracticable to collect the children, at least once every week,
in a body, to give them if even no more than an outline of their duties
and the doctrines of their religion, in the language of the country. A
double benefit will result from this course; first, the children will
receive such education as their parents cannot obtain for them in the
common schools; secondly, by learning their religion from persons
speaking English, they will ultimately, when grown up, be accessible to
the voice of the public teacher, and thus become gradually confirmed in
their duties and faith, as soon as the number of congregations will be
sufficient to demand, and what is next, will obtain duly qualified
ministers, who will be required to expound the law and watch over the
progress of religious education. We do not wish to be understood as
recommending nothing more than one day’s instruction; far from it; we
are well aware that such education must be very superficial and
defective in more points of view than one; but we are not of those who,
because they cannot obtain all, will therefore take nothing. We however
hope, that when people have seen the benefit of religious education, and
the happy results arise from bringing our children together under the
same roof, they will not rest till the one day’s teaching shall be
replaced by a regular school, open to all, where the rich and the poor
alike shall have access, and be instructed in the elements at least of
the sacred tongue, no less than the the other branches of science.
For
the present, we gratefully acknowledge, that in several places, both
here and in the West India Islands, the friends of our religion have
assembled round them the children on the first day of the week, for the
purpose of affording them gratuitous instruction in religion; and we
believe that, in the seven years since the commencement of these
so-called “Sunday Schools,” much wholesome knowledge leas been
diffused, and a greater degree of friendly intercourse been promoted
among the children of various congregations and the different classes of
society. In these efforts have mainly been active the “daughters” of
Israel; and to their unpurchased services, and to their heartfelt piety,
is it owing that in many places a renewed love for our religion has been
excited, which, we fervently trust, will not remain without producing
fruits to correspond with the promises already given. We are well aware
that the progress has as yet been slow, and we may hereafter enlarge
upon the causes; but we speak advisedly when we say that, for all this
it has been sure. At least the effort has been sufficient to encourage
us to hope for better things, and to urge our friends who now labour to
persevere, and to redouble their efforts in the field wherein their
labours are now exerted.
There
are, however, several communities as yet, wherein the number who receive
instruction is far smaller than those who actually are ripe for
education. We urge upon these to arouse themselves to the task, and to
endeavour to do something in the premises. The adults, we know, are not
accessible by the means just spoken of; but the children are. Let them
then assemble these to listen to the word of instruction, and to omit no
efforts till their duty has been discharged in this important matter.
They may find that, at the first outset, the labour will scarcely be
repaid by their success; but a perseverance, constant and unwearied,
will at length overcome difficulties much greater than these.
No
doubt many deplore the little union there is among us; but a community
of education will excite a community of feelings, and, when this is
achieved, we may then proceed to unite harmoniously to develop our
religion on a firm and secure basis. Sectional jealousies will vanish
when people have learned to think and feel alike; and thus a greater
degree of uniformity in religious observance will be produced, when one
friend will urge another by the ties of school-years’ friendship, and
by the bond of love for some revered teacher removed from the earth, to
swear fealty to the law of Heaven, which they both imbibed in those
years, and under the same guide, when their hearts were innocent, and
their aspirations were redolent with purity.
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