The Jewish advance., September 13, 1878, Image 1

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Execute the Judgment of Truth and Peace in your Gates.
A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO SOCIAL INTERESTS AND PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM.
VOL. I.
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 13,1878. No. 14.
WATCHING THE SKY.
I am standing' here at the garden-gate;
The night is pleasant, too—
Tis the Summer-time, and its tender bloom
Is sweet with evening-dew.
And a dear little girl is at my side,
Her hand is on my arm;
And together we watch the distant sky
That has a dreamy charm.
A few tieecy clouds hang over its depths,
lake drapings soft and light,
And a crown of gems a re the twinkling stars
Upon the brow of Night.
The moon, as the Queen of the azure sea,
Its silvery light bestows;
And, as far as the eye can penetrate,
There is beauty and repose.
And the heart of the child is taking in
The glory of the sky;
For a dreamy look comes over her face;
Then, ere it passes by,
She points above with a wandering gaze,
And softly says to me,
“If the side thus seen is so beautiful,
What must the other be?”
F. s. Barnes, in the Tribune,
For t he- Jewish Advance.
ALBERT COHN.
’ -^(joni;nuecl)
In the meantime reports of a very
saddening nature have spread over
Europe about the situation of the Is
raelites of Palestine. It is well known
that the Jews of Palestine are sustained
by charitable contributions which are
sent them from Europe, and the largest
portion of which comes from Ivussia.
In the month of March, 1854, an ukas
was issued by the Pussian Government,
which prohibited the Jews to send
their alms for their brethren to Pales
tine. This ukas, together with the de
pression caused by the war have pro
duced a disastrous effect. The harvest
-of that year had been very poor, the
prices of all alimentary provisions have
risen to unusually high rates, the four
Jewish communities of Jeiusalem,
Hebron, Tiberia and Safet have been re
duced to starvation. I hey have ad
dressed heartrending appeals to the
Jews of Europe and of America, and
especially to Sir Moses Montefioic, v\ho
had visited them three times before. In
London and in other English cities
meetings were held by the Israelites
with a view to organize for the purpose
of raising means to help the famine
stricken communities. Subscriptions
opened. Sir Moses Montefiore has
raised in England alone nearly £8,000
for the sufferers, On the Isle of^ St.
Thomas, 3,000 francs were raised. The
suffering of the Jews of Palestine was
promptly allayed.
It was necessary now to devise some
Klan of durable assistance for the East
ern Jews. In two sessions (of May 31
and June IE 1854), the Central Consis
tory has deliberated on this question
and has resolved “to take the initiative
in the great work of civilizing the On
ental Jews, and to demand the support j
of all principal communities of Europe j
in these labors.”
The Consistory of Paris has imme
diately joined the Central Consistory of
France, and the following resolution was
adopted :
“The Central Consistory having re
solved to open communications with all
“principal Jewish communities of Europe
“for the purpose of aiding, instructing
“and civilizing their brethren of the East,
“and particularly those of Jerusalem.
“It was furthermore resolved to raise a
“public subscription for the means
“which will be necessary for this object,
“after an investigation will be made on
“the place of operation, and from this
“day onward the education of young
“Orientalists in the East shall be the
“primary means to be imployed in this
“labor.”
In a letter addressed to Dr. Philipp
son, on June 12th, the Consistory says :
“Mr. Albert Cohn will depart for the
“East to make the investigations men
tioned in this resolution. He will
“bring us the exact information which IiA
“will gather on this important subject.”
The mission of Albert Cohn was
summed up by the Journal des Dehats
in the following remark :
“Mr. Albert Cohn, the President of
“the Committee on Benevolence of the
“Jewish Central Consistory, goes to
“Jerusalem, the centre and metropolis
“of the Eastern Jews, to study the
“question (of civilizing the Eastern
“Jews), in the very place of operation.
“Mr. Colin will bring to the Jews of the
“Holy Land material assistance, moral
“encouragement and strong protection.
“He will organize at Jerusalem schools,
“charitable institutions, societies for the
“propagation of industry, art and agri
culture. He will establish a Hebrew
“journal for the purpose of continually
“keeping up an exchange of ideas on
“subjects of religion and morality be
tween the Oriental Jews and their
“European brethren. ’
The situation ot the Jews of the
Euvopean-Turkisli provinces was quite
unknown in Europe at that time, the
sympathies of the European Israelites
belonged entire to their brethren of the
Orient, and especially to those of the
Holy Land, the spot which has been
hallowed by so many remembrances of
olden times—Jerusalem, the holy
mountain and the venerated ruins of
the temple-wall—And toward that con
secrated spot Albert Cohn directed his
efforts. Nobody thought of asking :
What will be done with the Jews of
European-Turkey—not even Hr. Pliil
ippson, as it seems—they were strangers
to the sympathies of their brethren of
other European countries. Albert
Cohn’s programme covered the demands
of every one, it gave entire satisfaction.
VI.
The work Albert Cohn took upon him
to perform was full of difficulties, not
withstanding the programme hawing
been considerably reduced.
Jerusalem had at that time a Jewish
population of about 8,000 souls. It has
since then increased to the number of
13,000, which is a third part -of the en
tire population of the city. This number
is divided into two principle groups—the
Sephardim, (7,000 souls), and the Ash
kenazim. The former group com
prises the descendants of ancient inha
bitants of the land, the exiles from
Spain and the constantly increasing in
flux of emigrants from all portions of
Asia and of North Africa as far down
as Morocco. The latter consists of the
Isralites who have settled in Jerusalem
since the midflfe ages, escaping the per
secutions of European governments.
Natives of Galicia, Russia, and Rou
mania continue still to increase the num
ber of that group. The Ashkenazim
form a separate group since the six
tlte name of Pernslmm ^A portion <>f
the Perushim have embraced the mystic
teachings of Israel Baal-Sham (who
was the originator of the Hassidaic de
nomination in Podolia in the middle of
the last century), and form a separate
congregation. The entire group of
Perushim (or Ashkenazim) at the
present time is formed of the following
component parts : 3,000 Russians, <00
natives of Warsaw, 100 natives of
Germany and Holland, 500 Hungarians.
The Hassidim are comprised of 1,000
natives of Volhynia, 500 Galicians, and
200 of Chabad or Liubavitz, There is
also a small community of Karaites at
Jerusalem.
The Jewish population of Jerusalem
has always been very poor. Of the
13,000 Israelites living in that city at
the present time there is hardly half the
number who gain their livelihood, and
there are fully 3,000 who live on alms.
The causes of this deplorable state of
affairs are various. Jerusalem is no
commercial city, no important road to a
commercial point passes by it, and on
account of the general poverty of the
country, even such as have learned a
trade cannot find work for their main
tenance. Among the Israelites of that
city there are masons, tailors, glaziers,
painters, carpenters, silver and gold
smiths, shoemakers, and what not. They
exercise every imaginable profession
and their skill is perfectly sufficient for
the demand of the people ; but in hard
times work is lacking for the working
men, and hard times are of frequent oc
currence in that country. Years of
drought and dearness, epidemic mala
dies and political calamities visit the
country at frequent intervals and the
misery of the people becomes indescrib
able. In summer time water becomes
sometimes so dear that many a poor
man cannot buy a drink to quell bis
parching thirst, and since commerce has
developed in the maritime cities in the
latter times, eatables and all other nec
essaries of life have become very dear
indeed. In addition to all this it must
be remembered that the general state of
health of the Israelites has become re
duced considerably during the centuries
of suffering and depression at Jerusa
lem, <and thus they have become gen
erally susceptible for all kinds of sick
ness ; that the community at Jerusalem
has at least 1,000 helpless widows to
maintain ; that there is every year an
influx of poor emigrants consisting of
rabbins of Africa. Asia and Poland,
coming thither to consecrate their lives
to religious studies, or poor persons on
whom the name of the Holy City exer
cises an irresistible charm, or pious old
men who desire to be buried in the sod
where the remains of the prophets are
resting—and it will easily be understood
that the: misery of the people is caused
by the' permanent evils of climatic de
mpf Tie economical and political
situation of the country, of historical
misfortunes, and at last of the most
ardent religious sentiments. This mis
ery may be alleviated, diminished, re
duced—but never can it be entirely ban
ished. Agriculture may in time furn
ish the means of subsistence for a large
portion of the Jewish population, but
this requires long experience and tradi
tional support. Agriculture cannot
thrive without security—and Jewish
settlements in Palestine are at any time
exposed to the ravages of wild Ara
bians. For the purpose of instructing
the Jews of Palestine in agriculture the
Alliance Israelite, seconded by the
benevolence of Mr. Charles Netter, has
established an agricultural school at
Jaffa—a long-winded piece of work, the
benefits of which will not show them
selves very soon. For a long, long time
yet it will be necessary to take care of
the widows, the orphans, the aged and
the infirm which are so numerous in the
Holy Land. The Christian population
of that country stands also in need of
alms from outside, and receives them
regularly.
All that can be done at the present
time is to have an honorable committee
taking charge of the distribution of
alms and making the best use of the
money which is sent for the poor of
Palestine. Above all, earnest and de
voted men should be appointed to use
their influence for promulgating sound
ideas on popular education, who should
not misuse their authority by the fear
ful weapon of Gherein, by means of
which the community is now so often
thrown into consternation, and its pro
gress is checked in its course. A blind
folded charity may be ever as lofty in