be of those who only enjoy the negative advantage of a free



220 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME.

field and a fair fight! I am convinced that every legitimate assist-
ance in the beginning will aid in securing success at the end,
but an advantage or seeming advantage secured at the cost of a
principle will prove a detriment before the end is reached. 'The
mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine."

Success is the reward of merit alone, and merit needs no
aids that are purchased at the price of the noblest sentiments.
In every department of life there is a republic of excellence, and
he who possesses the highest excellence may become a president.
Is the music of Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn less admired because
they were Jews or the sons of Jews ? Do students ignore Spinoza
because he was a Jew? Does the interest flag in reading Auer-
bach and Heine because they were Jews? Who is it that would
pluck a flower from the immortelles that grace the venerable fore-
head of Sir Moses Montefiore?

It is the sheerest nonsense to think that, individually, we suf-
fer in this country because there is a prejudice against Jews.
There is no prejudice against a Jew who is worthy of the name ;
it only extends to those who disgrace the name. A gentleman
who does honor to the name derives honor from it, for

"He gives but to receive again,

As the seas return the rivers in rain."

The unsuccessful man is always casting about for the excuse
for his failure, and the last explanation to strike him is his own
deficiencies. It is a safe rule that he who lays his failure at the
door of his creed or race, seeks an illegitimate parent for his
own abortion.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars.
But in ourselves that we are underlings."

I do not dispute that in barbarous countries or among bigoted
peoples, where the Jews are persecuted as such, there may be a
positive advantage in not being a Jew. But there is no need for
a utilitarian argument to such Jews. Faithful to the traditions



THE JEWS IN AMERICA. 221

of the Jews, they are more adherent to their religion and their
customs in adversity than in prosperity. With them it suffices
to know and feel that it is right to be Jews. The suffering that
grows out of the exercise of that right they leave to the God of
Israel, in whose inscrutable wisdom and justice they place a
sublime faith. I should not omit to mention one other disadvan-
tage arising from the desertion of Judaism and Jewish modes of
life. The renegade from any class is a marked man. He be-
comes a

"Fixed figure for the time of scorn
To point his slow, unmoving finger at."

The Jewish renegade is execrated by the Jews as a traitor
and a coward ; by the Christians as a hypocrite and a time-server.
Consistency and sincerity are qualities that always excite admira-
tion and respect. The most prominent among the respected and
esteemed Jews are those who are Jews at heart and avowed Jews
before the world. It may apparently avail a man to abjure his
religion and his people, but it is equally true that at times there
is an advantage to be derived from absolute falsehood and de-
ception.

I trust I shall not be misunderstood as arguing that in remain-
ing Jews it is essential that we abstain from association with non-
Israelites. I hold no such views. I am in favor of intercourse,
but the intercourse that I favor is as far from ^n indiscriminate
Intermixture as it is from absolute exclusion. I favor intercourse,
conducted upon a sound philosophy, applied to social life. I
shall have occasion to treat of that subject further on, and I only
mention it now to guard against misapprehension. Thus far I
have confined myself to the consideration of the single question :
Shall we as Jews perpetuate our solidarity as a people preserving
our faith and traditions, and our social characteristics? I have
sought to show that our perpetuity depends upon ourselves ; that
we as a people are superior to that law of decay which affects
all others. I have sought to answer the question by showing
that it was a duty to do so, which if it properly might be, in fact



^22 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME,

is not affected by any considerations of true policy. Let it be
remembered that I have discussed the question thus far solely
from the standpoint^ of the Jew — I shall later on consider it in
another view.

Assuming that the question I have propounded should be an-
swered affirmatively, I next proceed to inquire into the proper
course to pursue in order to insure the integrity of the Jews.



CHAPTER IV.

Wherein is Considered the Loyalty Due to the Traditions and
Customs of the Jewish Ancestors.

No problems are so difficult of solution as the problems of
casuistry. When the reasoning powers are applied to the solution
of delicate questions of right or wrong they utterly fail, except
they derive conclusions from premises that do not properly ema-
nate from the reasoning powers. Indeed, it may be safely an-
nounced as a sound proposition that all rules of conduct that the
reason approves are deducible from the moral sense. It does not
* follow that the rules will or must be correct because of this
fact. It is not certain that the moral sense itself has not been
perverted if originally pure, and, moreover, in the process of
deduction elements may creep in to defile the purity of the law.
A stream may gush in crystal clearness at its^head, and be a filthy
volume at its mouth. The truth of the general proposition thus
briefly mentioned is illustrated by the power of what we call con-
science. Under some name,' that element of our spiritual nature
which turns to the right and from the wrong, without effort or
delay, has been recognized all over the world, and at all times.
Its voice is often drowned by false logic, but it is never silent.
// seldom, if ever, errs ; the reasoning faculties are as often wrong
as right. Almost any act can be plausibly defended by the under-
standing, but when the Reason has whitewashed an escutcheon
the Conscience irrepressibly points to the fact that beneath the
coat of white is a dark and repelling substratum. I remember
once as a student of ethics I asked our learned instructor this
question: "If I saw an East Indian woman, in the exercise of
her religious belief, about to cast her infant into the Ganges,
should I prevent what I conceive to be a murder and deny her
the exercise of her religious belief, or should I be tolerant and
suffer a murder?" I should have no difficulty now in answering

223



224 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME.

the question; but then it presented difficulties to one who be-
lieved in what is popularly and erroneously called the exercise
of the freedom of conscience. The professor's answer was char-
acteristic: **I might fail to satisfactorily explain my course, but
I know that my moral instincts would impel me to prevent the
sacrifice, and I would do it." There are some things about which
we can not reason, they are so deep ; there are others about which
we need not, they are so clear. Twestern said much the same
thing about the existence of God.

I need not say that I believe in this moral sense. I believe
that every well balanced mind acknowledges its existence.

Utilitarians may and do argue that patriotism is a virtue be-
cause it is politic, but the martyrdom that has been suffered by
millions of patriots is an answer to the argument which no logic
can meet. The love of country has a higher origin and a broader
base than mere policy. It is true that nations are created or
rather grow out of that selfishness which I have discussed al-
ready, but that selfishness is merely a longing to satisfy a want
common to all mankind, implanted in us by a higher power to
work out an end that we know not of. Mere logic and utilitarian-
ism breed such apothegms as ubi bene, ibi p atria; the moral sense
breeds such heroes as Regulus and Leonidas and Arnold Winkel-
ried. Patriotism is a virtue positive and per se, and hence a duty
universally recognized and universally practiced. It is but a
specific form of that loyalty which we owe to a higher power,
upon which we depend, whence we sprung and to which we are
indebted for existence, improvement and protection. Loyalty to
different powers and different institutions may co-exist without
conflict, for the fealty due to the one may be of a different nature
to that which is due to another. The population of the United
States is heterogeneous in its elements, but homogeneous in its
compound. The common bond of American citizenship closes the
political gap between people that by education and from nativity
are widely apart ; but notwithstanding this community of loyalty,
the Frenchman continues to love France and hate Germany, and
the German still loves Germany and hates France. It is not
objected to in our country that American citizens of German birth



THE JEWS IN AMERICA. 225

or extraction should celebrate great German triumphs with en-
thusiasm; nor that Frenchman should glow over the victories of
the Little Corporal. Die Wacht Am Rhein and La Marseillaise
float undisturbed on our breezes, for we know that when the
national harpstrings are sounded, the Germans and the French
will attune their voices to a common key and sing in harmony the
"Star Spangled Banner."

There is nothing inconsistent in the Jewish reverence and
love for the traditions and customs of the Jewish fathers.
It is the same order of loyalty that makes the natural-
ized emigrant weep or rejoice in the sorrows or joys of the nation
whence he sprung. It is true we have no land that we may call
our own. There is not a foot of ground upon the face of the
globe under absolute Jewish dominion, for even the Jewish cem-
eteries are parts of nations in which the Jews are citizens or
subjects, independent of their being Jews. But while we have
no nation in that sense we are a people distinct in ourselves,
though scattered broadcast among the haunts of men. Qiiam
ductus diversi, qiiam mare conjimcti. Their derivation from a
common source, the unparalleled purity of their blood, the same-
ness of their creed and traditions, the melancholy uniformity
of their sufferings, the same fears and hopes, the same customs
and idiosyncrasies, make the Jew of Asia Minor a compatriot
of the Jew of the United States. The bond exists and it is rec-
ognized. The great centenarian. Sir Moses Montefiore, is its
living exemplar.* From our shores of freedom the ships of
aid and encouragement have been launched for tyrant ports, laden
with good cheer and substantial offerings to our persecuted
brethren abroad.

Was it wrong for us to aid the persecuted Jews in Roumania
and neighboring provinces, while others busied themselves with
missionary work in Central Africa ? Was our loyalty misplacec* '
Certainly our government tliought not so when at our instance
it remonstrated against the outrages, and recognized our sym-
pathetic sufferings by sending a Jewish Consul to Bucarest.*

♦Written before his death in 1885.

*Benj. F. Peixotto during Grant's administration.



226 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME.

Our moral sense tells us that this loyalty is right, and we may rea-
son as we please we can not uproot it. We have no Jewish nation
whose laws we are called on to obey ; we have no common home
to improve, to love or defend; we have no temporal gvernment
to support, but we have in common a past of our fathers full of
suffering and triumph, patience and courage, heroism and wis-
dom, piety and truth ; we have in common a present for ourselves,
great in the growth from the seeds sown in that past ; we have in
common a future for our children that shall give fruition where
there is but foliage now. To that past, this present and the future
we owe fealty. It is a duty to the exercise of which we are
admonished by the still small voice of conscience, the neglect of
which will engender the bitterest remorse.

Let not this loyalty be confounded with the loyalty that the
Roman Catholic pays to Rome. The Pontiff still claims a tem-
poral power for the See and as the head of the Catholic hierarchy
he rules the Catholics of the world. To the Catholics he is the
Vicar of God, whose bulls are revelations from on High — and
if it chances that governmental laws come in conflict with the
decree of Rome the Catholic is called on as part of his religion
to cling to Mother Church. Our loyalty is subject to no such
objection. To compare the two is to compare opposites; the
distinction between them is their entire difference from each
other.

I shall not argue that it is proper to nourish this sentiment of
loyalty. I have discussed it sufficiently if it be in need or will
admit of argument. I assume that it should be nourished and
cultivated as a virtue of the highest order. I urge this nourish-
ment and culture as one of the means by which the Jews can
be perpetuated. If we be true to the traditions of our fathers
we shall live as long as filial devotion engenders self-esteem and
the admiration of the world. Without our history and our line-
age we are nothing, and it behooves us to cherish them more
fondly than the aristocrat does his genealogy. Our family tree
was rooted on creation's dawn, and destined, I trust, to flourish
until the latest day.



CHAPTER V.

Wherein is Considered the State of Judaism in the United States,
I have already stated my reluctance to touch upon the subject
of religion, and if I feel called on to give it some consideration,
it shall be but a brief and passing notice. The discussion of our
social duties would be incomplete without some mention of our
religion.

It has become fashionable in America to reform "J^^^^ism."
The phrase is either absurd or inaptly chosen. The religion of
the Jews can not be reformed or altered by the hand or mind of
man. That would be to tinker with the handiwork of divinity.
We might as well seek to alter the operations of the solar system.
The practice of our religion is, however, the proper subject of
change. Independent of any form of religion known to us,
there are certain natural rights which occasion reciprocal duties.
The observance of the duties which grow out of the rights of
others is the religion common to all. Differences have arisen as
to the best mode of practicing the duties we owe to one another,
and as each mode materializes and gains supporters it takes upon
itself the name of a distinct religion. In so far as each teaches
the exercise of correct principles each is divine and may not be
altered ; in so far as they adopt or practice methods of instruction
they are perhaps all human. Judaism has no broader limits than
the tablets on which were inscribed the Decalogue. Who obeys
the Commandments is a Jew so far as religion is concerned. It
has been found, however, that just as it requires a criminal code
to prevent crimes against governments, so it requires religions to
prevent violations of the Ten Commandments, and to encourage
the practice of the positive virtues, which are expressed in or
implied from them.

It lias been shown that man is actually selfish. This quality
in its normal condition is a virtue, but under the corrupting
influence of our animal appetites it is in constant danger of be-

227



228 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME,

coming a grave fault. Once developed in its unnatural vigor by
animal wants or desires, it clouds the reason and deadens the
conscience, until our natural duties are forgotten or wilfully dis-
regarded. To counteract this tendency, churches have been built,
so that under the melting influence of ''fretted arch and long
drawn aisle," selfish ends may be forgotten and natural duties
become prominent. We are all subject to the effect called enthu-
siasm — that frenzy of the mind to which we are indebted for the
greatest triumphs of mankind. The bravest soldiers will lose
courage if they are denied the inspiration of music and the na-
tional flag; the veriest coward glows with courage when
he hears his comrades cheer a response to the martial music
of the drum and fife. Orators infuse into the most apa-
thetic an interest in public affairs by arousing their enthusi-
asm. Religious fervor is a powerful agent in bringing about the
practice of virtue and the avoidance of sin. The ceremonies and
forms most calculated to produce the desired end have every-
where been adopted, and as different people require different rites,
ceremonies and forms to make them fervid with virtuous desire,
different forms of religion have arisen in different portions of
the globe. The Oriental people require peculiar forms, etc., which
are supplied by Buddhism and Mohammedanism. Europe is sup-
plied by the various forms of Christianity. As times change and
the world advances or retrogrades, changes are necessary in cere-
monies, rites, etc., hence the importance in every church of an
hierarchy, whence may be derived authority for such modifica-
tions as are required. In the absence of such government con-
fusion must predominate, and chaos will supervene. Instance the
Christian churches. Under Rome and the Czar there is uniform-
ity in two of the branches, but the departure inaugurated by
Luther and Calvin has bred a multitude of churches having little
in common but their origin and the essentials of their creeds. It
is said that churches breed half the world's troubles. This is a
mistake. It is the difference among churches that gives rise to
contention — not their existence. Were there but one church it
would doubtless be corrupt in its ministers, but it could not be
bellicose. A multitude of churches insures a clean ministry and



THE JEWS IN AMERICA. 229

a belligerent spirit. What is the proper mean between these
extremes, is not my province to discuss. What I am leading to is
the proposition that a multitude of churches to practice the same
creed under different forms, engender such confusion, contention
and strife that the creed itself is in danger. Thus children in
contending for a toy nearly always destroy the subject matter of
controversy before the title is established.

Forms of religion must change with men and conditions. The
forms of Judaism are no exception. I am not opposed to the con-
servative and gradual alteration of ceremonies that should fall,
as many have fallen, into desuetude ; but reform does not mean
revolution. In trimming off unnecessary foliage from our church
tree, let us guard against hacking down the tree itself. We have
no real hierarchy, and may be said to have had none since the
Sanhedrin — consequently the ''reforms" are not uniform. The
result could be easily forecast were it not already foregone.
Each Jewish minister is a free-lance, and each is ambitious to
originate something new, an achievement that he thinks is accom-
plished by destroying something old. They are fettered by noth-
ing but traditions and each has his pruning-knife whetted anx-
ious to cut off a more substantial limb than his neighbor. The
fashion is little over a quarter century old in America and the
poor old tree is so bare of limbs and foliage already that it is
scarcely recognizable. When I see the work of such men as
Felix Adler I am reminded of the similarity between them and
Gloster, who thought that:

"The aspiring youth who fired the Ephesian dome
Outlives the pious fool who reared it."

Can we do nothing to stop this desecration ? Can we not fetter
the inconoclasm of these ruthless destroyers?

Lord Bacon, in his essay on Innovation says, "It is good also
not to try experiments except the necessity be urgent or the util-
ity evident; and well to beware that it be the reformation that
draweth on the change, and not the desire of change that pre-
tendeth the reformation, and lastly, that the novelty, though it be



230 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME.

not rejected, yet be held for a suspect, and as the Scripture
sayeth, 'That we make a stand upon the ancient way and then
look about us and discover what is the straight and right way
and so to walk in it.* "

Let us pause for a while and consider the present indifference
to the forms and ceremonies of our religion in its relations to
the righteous conduct of the people. The present reform move-
ment as expounded by its leaders, is an effort to reduce religion
to a rational basis, and to reject everything that cannot be recon-
ciled with the understanding of its adherents. In the nature of
things a platform so narrow affords no room for traditional cus-
toms, forms and ceremonies, nor does it extend a habitat for the
miracles narrated in the Scriptures. That this reform move-
ment must eventuate in a failue, seems to my mind so clear that it
requires but little argument to show it. Were the movement of
an intelligent and conservative character, directed to eliminating
and altering some of the obsolete and ineffective forms of our
worship, and were it the result of a desire common to the mass
of the people, the success of it would be immediate and its course
unaffected by anything in the nature of revolution. But an effort
to rationalize religion is an absurdity .upon its face. The very
phrase, "A rational religion," as interpreted by those who coined
it, involves a contradiction of terms. A creed formulated for the
government of the world in its moral aspect, which is not based
cither in revelation or tradition, can have no firm foundation.
Reason is neither deep enough nor broad enough to support a
structure of such towering height and such ponderous weight.
The decalogue is conceded to be the best moral code ever yet
promulgated for the government of the world, and so-called ra-
tionalists uphold and maintain every syllable contained in that
wonderful revelation. If the divine character of the commands
be disputed, but the truth and worth of them maintained, it be-
hooves the rationalists to furnish an affirmative argument in
favor of each of said commands. Can this be done? Is it pos-
sible to establish by pure logic, and from premises which re-
quire no resort to tradition or revelation, the truth of any sen-
tence in the decalogue? It is a startling challenge, and yet I

I ' . .!i



THE JEWS IN AMERICA. 23I

make it without fear of a satisfactory reply, that it is impossible
by mere argument, independent of the Scriptures or tradition,
to establish the correctness of any law laid down in the com-
mandments.

For example, what will the rationalist say in support of the
command "Thou shalt not kill ?" Where will he find the premise
upon which to base a train of reasoning leading to such a con-
clusion? Will he find it in the nature of man? Will he find it
in the course of nature that surrounds and environs mankind?
Will he find it in the animal instincts which observation teaches
him exist in the human organism? Will he find it by analogy
from the brute creation? Most assuredly not.

If he lowers his gaze from the skies and looks about him and
at his feet, he will find nothing to warrant the interdict against
homicide. He will find that the animals prey upon one another,
that the birds of the air and the fish of the sea prey upon one
another; he will find that man in his primitive natural state
engages in almost ceaseless warfare against his kind; that might
is recognized as the only standard of right; that there exists no
conscience in the savage which gives rise to remorse because of
the slaughter of a fellow being. Nay, more, he finds that the
savage satisfies his hunger by using the corpse of his human vic-
tim as his daily food. If he argues that the institution of society
cannot exist if homicide be permissible, the reply comes swift
to the surface, that society supervenes the nature of man and is
the creature of mankind, not man the creature of society, and if
society requires an absolute change in the nature of man in order
to render its existence possible, then is society falsely based.
Again, what argument is ofifered by anything in nature in favor
of the right of property and in support of the interdict against
theft? Do we not find that the animals seize what they have
the power to take, and retain what they have the power to hold?
Is not this true of the birds and of the fishes ? Is it not true of
man in his primitive and natural state? Is it not true, even
according to the theory of the evolutionist, that the fittest sur-
vive because of their fitness, and because by reason of their fit-
ness they are able to enjoy those things which are necessary to



232 LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL VOLUME.

sustenance, and thus are the unfit deprived of them. Nature pre-
sents a continual round of thefts justified apparently by the di-