to brood over the ancient lore, the Psalms of David, the prophets’
messages from God, the law of Moses and the sayings of the sages. Day
and night, while hunger gnaws and poverty oppresses, they look to
Jehovah and fast and mourn and believe.
Minsk, Wilna, Kovno, and Warsaw contain Jewries in which from 80,000 to
200,000 souls are living--no one knows how; two-thirds by manual labour,
the commonest and the coarsest, for the lowest wage. To-morrow’s bread
is always an unknown quantity, and these people do “Walk by faith and
not by sight.” No labour is too heavy or too dirty; and the mournful
Jewish face will look out at you from the pit of a mine, from under a
burden of wood or water, from the margin of the river as boats are
unloaded, or from the seat of a miserable cab, whose horse and driver
are alike most pitiable. Because of their weak bodies they are not
regarded as good labourers, except at tailoring.
Locked in the city, hampered in their movements by unreasonable laws,
groaning under taxes too heavy to be borne, the government, labour,
religion--life itself a burden, they are living Egypt over again,
waiting and praying for their deliverance. Why are they persecuted? Can
any one answer that question? Has any one yet found the reason for blind
hate, that blindest of all,--the hate of race? They are hated because
they are supposed to be rich; yet seventy-five per cent. of them are
poorer than Chinese coolies.
They are hated because they have strange customs, because they hold
themselves, in a large measure, aloof from the common life. How can they
be anything but strangers to the adherents of a religion who choose a
holy day, the day of resurrection, to kill them? Easter time is almost
invariably the time of persecution. How can they be other than strangers
to a church, the ringing of whose bells marks the carnage of hundreds of
thousands--murdered for the glory of Jesus--a Jew.
How can they be anything but strangers to a government whose officials
will step among the mobs to encourage them, shouting: “Steady boys, keep
it up.”
They are hated by the government because they are supposed to be
revolutionists. If only they were! The masses of the Jews are so cowed
by fear that they are unmanned. They do not know the use of a weapon.
Here and there a Jew, alert and keen, sees his misery and is brave
enough to defend himself. Many of them advocate Socialism; it attracts
them because it knows no race, because it preaches a certain kind of
peace, because it is a brotherhood. The Jew does not find in the
orthodox church the meek and lowly Nazarene, because the Messiah whom
the church preaches, is masked behind church millinery; because the
representative of the lowly Nazarene sits upon the throne of the
haughtiest autocrat, and because the cross is an ornament and not an
element in the salvation of men.
The Jew in Russia is persecuted because he is supposed to use the blood
of Gentile children for his passover. This false accusation has followed
him through the years, in spite of the fact that those who promulgated
it knew that it was false. The shedding of human blood was never one of
Israel’s crimes, and killing is a desire which the Jew lost long ago,
having never been a master in this art.
[Illustration: ISRAELITES INDEED.
The root of the persecution of the Russian Jew is found in his superior
ability to cope with the difficulties of existence, in his thrift and
shrewdness which know no bounds.]
Frankly, the root of this persecution of the Jews is found in their
superior ability to cope with the difficulties of existence in Russia,
in their thrift and shrewdness which know no bounds and which have
almost crushed in them their spiritual longings, making them a byword
among the nations.
But a new inspiration has come to the Jews of Eastern Europe through the
Zionistic movement; a revival of Jewish nationalism, a desire to win
back the lost Palestine,--the Fatherland of their spiritual sires.
The way back to Palestine is a difficult one and neither their Maccabean
spirit nor the wealth they accumulate may avail them as a nation, to
reach their goal. But the way there is beautiful, the dream is glorious
and the spiritual and physical miracles wrought among the wealthiest and
the poorest of them are remarkable. A new literature and a new psalmody
are being born, a new Maccabean spirit is filling the emaciated bodies
of these sons of Israel, and one of them sings and he but one of
thousands:
“Arise, and shine, Jerusalem,
In costly jewelled diadem;
Put off thy ash strewn garb of gray,
In glorious dress, thyself array.
“Jehovah made thy people free;
Now that they long for liberty.
At end is all thy suffering night,
Jerusalem, send forth thy light.
“A note of ancient psalmody
Fills heaven and earth with melody;
A sacrifice of grateful praise
From altars old, we now upraise,
“And God looks pleased from glory down,
His smile oh! Israel is thy crown.
Put off thy ashen garb of gray,
Jerusalem, see thy glorious day.”
But for a long time to come, this Jerusalem will have to be New York,
and their Palestine, America.
One can but hope that the Jew will so live and act, as to become one
with the highest ideals of his new country, and so unwrap himself from
ancient faults that in the truest sense, Jerusalem will be the “Bride
adorned for her bridegroom,” and the city come down from heaven among
men, in whose midst the reign of God will be an acknowledged fact.
X
THE NEW EXODUS
In a little studio on the West side of New York, a Jewish sculptor
modelled the clay for a medal upon which he was to engrave for grateful
Israel, the memorial of its settlement in America two and a half
centuries ago. The face of the medal bore the veiled form of Justice,
casting the evil spirit of Intolerance from his throne and placing upon
it the Goddess of Liberty, who is bestowing on all alike the rich gifts
in her keeping. On the reverse side of the medal, Victory is engraving
the date 1655, the year of the landing of the Jewish forefathers. The
Victory modelled by this Jewish genius is not the triumphant,
over-bearing, conquering spirit; but in her noble form are embodied
graciousness, determination and a sincere gratitude.
At the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the landing of the Jews
in America, held in Carnegie Hall on Thanksgiving day, November 30,
1905, these feelings were given utterance in various ways by various
persons; but by none more truly than by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Silverman,
in his opening prayer.
“We thank Thee for America, this haven of refuge for the oppressed of
the world. We thank Thee for the blessings of a permanent home in this
country, its opportunities for development of life and advancement of
mind and heart, for its independence and unity, its free institutions,
the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We reverently
bow before Thy decree, which has taught us to find enduring peace and
security in the sure foundation of this blessed land.”
The Jewish pioneers were cultured and far travelled men, who came from
Portugal, Holland and England and their provinces. They were imbued by
the adventurous spirit of the people whom they had left, in order to
seek the undiscovered paths of the sea which led to fabled wealth.
It is no wonder if, at that early period when Jewish persecutions were
at their height and the Jewish name under the darkest cloud, they had
difficulty in gaining free entrance to their desired haven, and that the
charter which was granted them was given grudgingly. It reads thus:
_“26th of April, 1655._
“We would have liked to agree to your wishes and request that the
new territories should not be further invaded by people of the
Jewish race, for we foresee from such immigration the same
difficulties which you fear, but after having further weighed and
considered the matter, we observe that it would be unreasonable
and unfair, especially because of the considerable loss sustained
by the Jews in the taking of Brazil, and also because of the large
amount of capital which they have invested in the shares of this
company.[1] After many consultations we have decided and resolved
upon a certain petition made by said Portuguese Jews, that they
shall have permission to sail to and trade in New Netherlands and
to live and remain there, provided the poor among them shall not
become a burden to the company or the community, but be supported
by their own nation. You will govern yourself accordingly.”
These Jews, true to their religious instincts, built synagogues wherever
they settled and were called Sephardic Congregations. Until the
beginning of the nineteenth century, they were the dominating religious
and cultural type, and while yet retaining certain racial
characteristics, they blended into the national life, having no small
share in its development.
With the coming to this country of the German peasantry, there was
brought from the villages and towns a not inconsiderable number of Jews,
who scattered through the North and South upon all the highways of
commerce, and who finally became the second strata of the Jewish life
in America. At first, they were more or less amalgamated with the
Portuguese Jews, but as their numbers grew overwhelmingly great, they
developed their religious and social life after their own traditions and
were distinguished from their Sephardic brethren by the generic name
“Ashkenazim” (Germans).
Within this group developed the German Reform movement, which has in
greater or less degree attracted all the Germanic Jews, and from which
the merely traditional and ritualistic element has quite disappeared; so
that at the present time it is not far removed from Unitarianism in
faith and practice. Later, when the population of the Eastern portion of
Europe found its way across the sea, under the impulse of great
nationalistic movements in Austria, Hungary and Poland, a new factor was
introduced into the Jewish communities, which brought with it
Rabbinistic lore and faithfulness to the traditions of the Elders, and
this factor tended to strengthen the Jewish consciousness. In after
years a good portion of this group attached itself to the Reform
movement and cannot be differentiated from the Germanic group; while the
residue has become the link between it and the overwhelmingly large mass
of Russian Jews, which was to come and which now forms the greatest
proportion of the Jewish population.
This Russian Jewish group is not easily analyzed; it is neither
heterogeneous nor homogeneous; it is Polish, Roumanian, Lithuanian,
Bessarabian and Galician. It is steeped in traditionalism, overburdened
by ritualistic laws, loaded by the fetters of Rabbinism, held under the
spell of Kabalism and Wonder Rabbis, swayed now by this teacher and now
by that one. It has no common centre or common aim, and has not analyzed
itself nor its environment. Strongly individualistic, its members are
united to one another and to the other groups, only by their common
misfortune, an indefinable racial consciousness; intellectually and
culturally, far below the other groups, it bears the marks of oppression
and of the oppressor in its thought and in its action. Nevertheless, it
is destined to be the determining influence in the future of Judaism in
America, and as such, deserves special study and consideration.
The Jewish population may be divided into four large groups, some of
which are subdivided. I. The Sephardic or Spanish-Portuguese Jews, who
have not retained their native speech, but who have preserved certain
peculiarities in their worship, and distinctive ritualistic forms which
are dignified and stately. The Hebrew language which they use in their
service is pronounced in a peculiar way and in better harmony with the
spirit of the language than one hears elsewhere. They are the real
aristocracy among the Jews; rarely poor, with much of old time Spanish
pride remaining in their bearing and expressed in their attitude towards
the other Jewish groups. They are centred almost entirely in the Eastern
cities, where they are found in the upper world of finance and in
business and professional life.[2] The second group, the “Ashkenazim” or
German Jews, has most quickly adjusted itself to the life in America and
has developed what might be called an American Judaism, in which liberal
tendencies have prevailed and have played havoc with the traditions of
the past, very often at the expense of the spirit of Judaism. Some of
these congregations have made Sunday the Sabbath of their week, and the
service is conducted in the English language with the Hebrew almost
entirely eliminated. Out of this group have come most of the prominent
Jews in the United States, and in nearly every community of any size we
find German Jews, engaged in reputable business, most often owning dry
goods or clothing stores.[3]
The third group is composed of Austrian and Hungarian Jews many of whom
have remained orthodox without being slavishly attached to Rabbinism;
while their congregations are usually upon what is called the “Status
Quo” basis, which is neither extremely orthodox nor reformed, and
consequently is sterile.
They are apt to be more clannish than the German Jews, grouping
themselves into centres according to the districts from which they come,
strongly retaining the characteristics of the races among which they
lived so long, and bringing with them many of the antagonisms engendered
in that conglomerate of nationalities, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
This is especially true of the Hungarian Jews who have become convivial,
like the Magyars, and are not over fond of work. The coffee houses of
“Little Hungary” in New York, draw their revenue largely from these
Jews, to whom life without the coffee house would not seem worth the
living, and for whom each day must hold its pause for a friendly game of
cards or billiards, and a pull at a long and strong black cigar. Among
them are shrewd traders, pawn-brokers and a very small proportion of
peddlers; although the occupation of peddler entails a position not
agreeable to their proud spirits. In a larger degree than the other
groups mentioned, they are engaged in mechanical labour, being wood and
metal workers, and makers of artificial flowers and passementerie. In
these trades they have attained real proficiency. They are not so well
distributed as the German Jews, and are found largely in New York with a
slowly increasing number in Chicago and St. Louis. They have brought
with them many of the looser ways of such cities as Vienna and Budapest;
therefore they are less thrifty than the Russian Jews and less
intelligent than those from Germany. Their Judaism is apt to sit very
lightly upon them, as they have neither the spiritual vision of the
first group, nor the ethical conception of religion which the second
group possesses. Racially they are also less conscious of Judaism, and
easily intermarry with Gentiles or lose themselves among them where
their physique does not betray them. A Hungarian Jew usually prefers to
be called a Magyar; yet I know of many instances where that fact was
stoutly denied, though undoubtedly the Magyar spirit was grafted upon
Semitic stock.
The last and largest group, the Russian Jews, the youngest army of the
immigrants, is ultra orthodox, yet ultra radical; chained to the past,
and yet utterly severed from it; with religion permeating every act of
life, or going to the other extreme, and having “none of it”; traders by
instinct, and yet among the hardest manual labourers of our great
cities. A complex mass in which great things are yearning to express
themselves, a brooding mass which does not know itself and does not
lightly disclose itself to the outsider.
More broken into individualistic groups than the Austrians and
Hungarians, they have the strongest racial consciousness, and perhaps
are also the depository of the greatest Jewish genius. The synagogue is
the centre of each provincial or village group gathered in some Ghetto
and, being subject to no ecclesiastical law outside of itself, is
thoroughly Congregational. These synagogues vary in size and untidiness
as the services vary in monotony and disorder. Each man prays or chants
as fast or as slowly, as high or as low, as he pleases. Naturally, the
effect is not harmonious, neither is there much harmony in the
administration of ecclesiastical affairs.
Rabbi, Cantor and Shochet (the official slaughterer) are usually out
with each other and with various members of the congregation, and
quarrels during service are not unknown. While the worship seems
fervent, it is often spiritless, and only a small portion of the Russian
Jewish population works seriously at the business of its organized
religious life. The younger generation has much unsatisfied longing for
the real spiritual life, and there are a few Jewish Endeavour Societies
entirely apart from the synagogues, in which this spirit expresses
itself. A still larger number of the young people have slowly but surely
drifted into complete antagonism to the faith of their fathers, and here
lies the great conflict as well as the great problem.
Nothing in the whole story of immigration is so pathetic as this
growing breach between the old and the new; this ever widening gulf
which is not being bridged.
The Ethical Culture Society has a hold, although not a very vital one,
upon a small number; and here and there one or the other of the young
people drifts into a Christian church, but this makes no serious
impression upon the mass.
Zionism has become the strong rallying point for many of them, and has
gathered into its various lodges much of the radical element, which is
coming back to the law and the prophets by the way of an awakened
consciousness.
The Russian Jews are the busiest of our alien population, and although
at first among the poorest, a respectable middle class is growing up,
and is marching towards wealth, if not as yet enrolled among the
millionaires.
Of the total of 600,000 Jews in New York City, nearly 100,000 are
engaged in various branches of the clothing industry, and in mechanical
and manufacturing pursuits. This is a remarkable showing for people who
nearly all had to adjust themselves to manual labour for which they were
not physically fitted, and which they had no opportunity to perform in
Russia.
In the trades which they have entered they usually maintain a
satisfactory wage, and cannot be regarded as a serious economic menace.
If they remain crowded in the Ghettos of the Eastern cities, it is due,
not so much to their gregarious habits and to the needs springing from
their religious observances, as it is due to the fact that the trades in
which they find readiest employment are here concentrated, and the wages
most satisfying. The needle above all else is to blame for the
congestion of the Ghetto, and a great transformation must come over
Israel both physically and mentally, before the needle will be exchanged
for the plow.
XI
IN THE GHETTOS OF NEW YORK
At last we are free, although still upon Uncle Sam’s ferry boat, which
carries those of us who have passed muster, to the Battery, the gateway
into the gigantic city and the vast country which lies beyond where,
“sans ceremonie,” we are landed.
Boarding house “Runners” call out the names of their hostelries, express
men entreat us to entrust to them our belongings, the voice of the
banana peddler is heard in the land, and through the babel of sounds
there arise the joyous shrieks of those who welcome their dear ones.
Over in Hoboken, where the cool-blooded Anglo-Saxon awaits his wife, who
“toiled not neither did she spin” during her year abroad,--the joy
remains unexpressed. She may say to him: “Hello, old man!” and he will
reply: “How are you, old girl?” and that is all, so far as the public
knows. But here on the Battery, where Jacob meets his Leah, for whom he
has toiled and suffered these five years, for whose sake he ate hard rye
bread and onions that he might save money to bring her to him;--when
Jacob meets his Leah, there are warm embraces and kisses through the
tears. Here, men embrace and kiss each other, and children are held up
to the father’s gaze,--fathers who left them as infants and now see them
grown.
Half a dozen stalwart men and women will almost crush a little wrinkled
“Mutterleben,” their mother, coming to them for the sunset of her life,
which is to be bright and beautiful after many dark mornings and cloudy
noondays.
I attached myself to a young Russian Jew of about my own age, who had no
relatives waiting for him, but who had the address of his parents’
friends. They had come here a few years before, and now served as the
clearing house for that particular district in Russia, of which their
native town was the centre.
We went up Broadway, and after plunging into the whirlpool of its
traffic, emerged safe at the City Hall, crossed the Bowery and were at
the edge of the great Ghetto, the heart of the largest Jewish community
in the world. It numbers now nearly 700,000 souls, scattered through all
parts of Greater New York, and massed in four centres, commonly called
Ghettos; of which the one through which we are passing is the “Great
Original” one. It is less dirty, less suspiciously fragrant than the
Ghetto which my comrade has left, and in spite of squalor and visible
signs of poverty, a certain air of joyousness pervades its life which is
lacking in the old home. The hurdy gurdy grinder lures nimble footed
children from block to block, like the “Pied Piper of Hamelin,” and they
are happier and more graceful than the much be-starched children of the
rich who take lessons in dancing and in conventional deportment.
The sidewalks and driveways are packed by humanity, most of it children,
for the Abrahamitic promise that his “seed shall increase like the sands
of the sea” has not yet departed from Israel--only the illustration is
not quite complete, for while the Ghetto children are as numerous as the
sands (I counted almost two thousand in one block), they are not nearly
so clean.
The language of the Ghetto is Yiddish, a mixture of German, Hebrew, and
Russian; but with enough English mixed with it to make the immigrant
halt before such words as “gemovet,” “gejumpt,” “getrusted,” which
sooner or later will become part of his own vocabulary.
Street signs are written in Hebrew letters, and the passer-by is invited
by them to drink a glass of soda for a cent, to buy two “pananas” for
the same sum, to purchase a prayer-mantle or “kosher” meat, to enter a
beer saloon or a synagogue. Many of these signs are translated into
English, and Rabbi Levinson on Cannon Street has in large English
letters, “Performer of Matrimony;” in the same house one finds “wedding
dresses for hire,” and can have his “picture photographed,” and also
may buy “furnitings for pedrooms and barlours.”
[Illustration: THE GHETTO OF THE NEW WORLD.
East of the Bowery in New York City is the heart of the largest Jewish
community in the world. Sidewalks, street signs, language, all indicate
the process of development.]
Everything is for sale on the street, from pickled cucumbers to feather
beds, and almost all the work done in this Ghetto is done by Jewish
workmen. There are Jewish plumbers, locksmiths, masons, and of course
tailors; and work and trade are the watchwords of the Ghetto, where, in
all my wanderings through it, I have not seen that genus Americanum, the
corner loafer.
The prevailing type of dwelling, even after tenement-house legislation,
is much too crowded and too dirty. The New York Ghetto looks remarkably
decent from the outside, but pharisaic landlords have beautified the
“outside of the cup and platter,” while within, the house is poorly
prepared for human habitation. A good example is the house into which I
lead my friend. It is an old fashioned front and rear tenement with
fifty families as residents, and on climbing the stairway to the fifth
story to which our address directs, our nostrils are greeted by a
fragrance which, compared with the well remembered smells of the
steerage, is like unto the odours of Araby the blest.