CONTENTS.
PART I.
THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE PERIOD.
[CHAPTER] I.
THE PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD.
The Jew of Barcelona who has navigated the whole known world—Judah Cresques, “the Map Jew,” as director of the Academy of Navigation which was founded by Prince Henry the Navigator—One Jewish astronomer advises the King of Portugal to reject the plans of Columbus—Zacuto as one of the first influential men in Spain to encourage the discoverer of the New World—Abravanel, Senior and the Marranos Santangel and Sanchez who assisted Columbus—The voyage of discovery begun a day after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain—Luis de Torres and other Jews who went with Columbus—America discovered on “Hosannah Rabbah”—The Indians as the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel—Money taken from the Jews to defray the expenditure of the second voyage of Columbus—Vasco da Gama and the Jew Gaspar—Scrolls of the Thorah from Portugal sold in Cochin—Alphonse d’Albuquerque’s interpreter who returned to Judaism.
[CHAPTER] II.
EARLY JEWISH MARTYRS UNDER SPANISH RULE IN THE NEW WORLD.
Children torn from their parents were the first Jewish immigrants—Jewish history in the New World begins, as Jewish history in Spain ends, with the Inquisition—Emperor Charles V., Philip II. and Philip III.—Lutherans persecuted together with Jews and Mohamedans—Codification of the laws of the Inquisition, and its special edicts for the New World.
[CHAPTER] III.
VICTIMS OF THE INQUISITION IN MEXICO AND IN PERU.
Impossibility of obtaining even approximately correct figures about the Inquisition—A few typical cases—The Carabajal family—Relaxation for several decades—The notable case of Francisco Maldonado de Silva.
[CHAPTER] IV.
MARRANOS IN THE PORTUGUESE COLONIES.
Less persecution in Portugal itself and also in its colonies—Marranos buy right to emigrate—They dare to profess Judaism in Brazil, and the Inquisition is introduced in Goa—Alleged help given to Holland in its struggle against Spain.
PART II.
THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD.
[CHAPTER] V.
THE SHORT-LIVED DOMINION OF THE DUTCH OVER BRAZIL.
The friendship between the Dutch and the Jews—Restrictions and privileges in Holland—Dutch-Jewish distributors of Indian spices—Preparations to introduce the Inquisition in Brazil—Jews help the Dutch to conquer it—Southey’s description of Recife—Vieyra’s description.
[CHAPTER] VI.
RECIFE: THE FIRST JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE NEW WORLD.
The “Kahal Kodesh” of Recife or Pernambuco in Brazil—Manasseh ben Israel’s expectation to make it his home—Large immigration from Amsterdam—Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and his colleagues—First rabbis and Jewish authors of the New World—The siege and the surrender—The return, and the nucleus of other communities in various parts of America.
[CHAPTER] VII.
THE JEWS IN SURINAM OR DUTCH GUIANA.
Jews in Brazil after the expulsion of the Dutch—The community of Paramaribo, Surinam, was founded when Recife was still flourishing—First contact with the English, whom the Jews preferred—David Nassi and the colony of Cayenne—Privileges granted by Lord Willoughby—“de Jooden Savane”—Trouble with slaves and bush negroes—Plantations with Hebrew names—German Jews—Legal status and banishments—Jewish theaters—Literature and history.
[CHAPTER] VIII.
THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH WEST INDIES.
The community of Curaçao—Encouragement to settle is followed by restrictions—Plans of Jewish colonization—Trade communication with New Amsterdam—Stuyvesant’s slur—The first congregation—Departures to North America and to Venezuela—Barbadoes—Taxation and legal status—Decay after the hurricane of 1831—Jamaica under Spain and under England—Hebrew taught in the Parish of St. Andrews in 1693—Harsh measures and excessive taxation—Naturalizations.
[CHAPTER] IX.
NEW AMSTERDAM AND NEW YORK.
Poverty of the first Jewish immigrants to New Amsterdam—Stuyvesant’s opposition overruled by the Dutch West India Company—Privileges and restrictions—Contributions to build the wall from which Wall street takes its name—The first cemetery—Exemption from military duty—Little change at the beginning of the English rule—The first synagogue after a liberal decree by the Duke of York—Marranos brought back in boats which carried grain to Portugal—Hebrew learning—Question about the Jews as voters and as witnesses—Peter Kalm’s description of the Jews of New York about 1745—Hyman Levy, the employer of the original Astor.
[CHAPTER] X.
NEW ENGLAND AND THE OTHER ENGLISH COLONIES.
The Old Testament spirit in New England—Roger Williams—The first Jew in Massachusetts—Judah Monis, instructor in Hebrew at Harvard—Newport—Jews from Holland bring there the first degrees of Masonry—The cemetery immortalized by Longfellow—Jacob Rodrigues Rivera introduces the manufacture of sperm oil—Aaron Lopez, the greatest merchant in America—Immigration from Portugal—Rabbi Isaac Touro—Visiting rabbis—First Jews in Connecticut—Philadelphia—Congregation Mickweh Israel—Easton’s wealthy Jews—Maryland—Dr. Jacob Lumbrozo—General Oglethorpe and the first Jews of Georgia—Joseph Ottolenghi—The Carolinas—Charleston.
PART III.
THE REVOLUTION AND THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION.
[CHAPTER] XI.
THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
Spirit of the Old Testament in the Revolutionary War—Sermons in favor of the original Jewish form of Government—The New Nation as “God’s American Israel”—The Quebec Act—The intolerance of sects as the cause of separation of Church and State—A Memorial sent by German Jews to the Continental Congress—Fear expressed in North Carolina that the Pope might be elected President of the United States—None of the liberties won were lost by post-revolutionary reaction, as happened elsewhere.
[CHAPTER] XII.
THE PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
Captain Isaac Meyers of the French and Indian War of 1754—David S. Franks and Isaac Franks—David Franks, the loyalist—Solomon and Lewis Bush—Major Benjamin Nones—Other Jewish Soldiers, of whom one was exempted from duty on Friday nights—The Pinto brothers—Commissary General Mordecai Sheftal of Georgia—Haym Salomon, the Polish Jew, and his financial assistance to the Revolution.
[CHAPTER] XIII.
THE DECLINE OF NEWPORT; WASHINGTON AND THE JEWS.
England’s special enmity to Newport caused the dispersion of its Jewish congregation—The General Assembly of Rhode Island meets in the historic Newport Synagogue—Moses Seixas’ address to Washington on behalf of the Jews of Newport and the latter’s reply—Washington’s letters to the Hebrew Congregations of Savannah, Ga., and to the congregations of Philadelphia, New York, Richmond and Charleston.
[CHAPTER] XIV.
OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THE FIRST PERIODS OF INDEPENDENCE.
Rabbi Gershom Mendez Seixas—Growth of the Jewish community of Philadelphia on account of the War—Protest against the religious test clause in the Constitution of Pennsylvania—Benjamin Franklin contributes five pounds to Mickweh Israel—Secession of the German-Polish element—New Societies—Jewish lawyers; Judge Moses Levy—Congressman H. M. Phillips—The Bush family of Delaware—New Jersey and New Hampshire—North Carolina: the Mordecai family and other early settlers.
[CHAPTER] XV.
THE QUESTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN VIRGINIA AND IN NORTH CAROLINA.
Little change in the basic systems of State institutions—Patrick Henry, Madison and Jefferson on religious liberty in Virginia—The similarity between the Virginia statute and the conclusions of Moses Mendelssohn pointed out by Count Mirabeau—The first congregation of Richmond—Article 32 of the Constitution of North Carolina against Catholics, Jews, etc.—How Jacob Henry, a Jewish member of the Legislature, defended and retained his seat in 1809—Judge Gaston’s interpretation—The first congregation of Wilmington, N. C.—Final emancipation in 1868.
[CHAPTER] XVI.
THE WAR OF 1812 AND THE REMOVAL OF JEWISH DISABILITIES IN MARYLAND.
The Jewish community almost at a standstill between the Revolution and the War of 1812—Stoppage of immigration and losses through emigration and assimilation—No Jews in the newly admitted States—The small number of Jews who fought in the second war with England included Judah Touro, the philanthropist—The Jewish disabilities in Maryland—A Jew appointed by Jefferson as United States Marshal for that State—The “Jew Bill” as an issue in Maryland politics—Removal of the disabilities in 1826.
[CHAPTER] XVII.
MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH AND HIS TERRITORIALIST-ZIONISTIC PLANS.
Noah’s family; his youth and his early successes as journalist and as dramatist—His appointment as Consul in Tunis and his recall—His insistence that the United States is not a Christian nation—Editor and playwright, High-Sheriff and Surveyor of the Port of New York—His invitation to the Jews of the world to settle in the City of Refuge which he was to found on Grand Island—Impressive ceremonies in Buffalo which were the beginning and the end of “Ararat”—His “Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews”—Short career on the bench—Jewish activities.
PART IV.
THE SECOND OR GERMAN PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION.
[CHAPTER] XVIII.
THE FIRST COMMUNITIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
Impetus given to immigration to America by the reaction after the fall of Napoleon—The second period of Jewish immigration—First legislation about immigration (1819)—The first Jew in Cincinnati—Its first congregation, Bene Israel—Appeals to outside communities for funds to build a synagogue—The first Talmud Torah—Rabbis Gutheim, Wise and Lilienthal—Cleveland—St. Louis—Louisville—Mobile—Montgomery and its alleged Jewish founder, Abraham Mordecai—Savannah and Augusta—New Orleans—Judah Touro.
[CHAPTER] XIX.
NEW SETTLEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE WEST AND ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
Increase in general immigration—Estimated increase in the number of Jews—The natural dispersion of small traders over the country—Chicago—First congregations and other communal institutions—Indiana—Iowa: Polish Jews settle in Keokuk and German Jews in Davenport—Minnesota—Wisconsin—Congregation “Bet El” of Detroit, Mich.—The first “minyan” of gold seekers in San Francisco—“Mining congregations”—Solomon Heydenfeldt—Portland, Oregon.
[CHAPTER] XX.
THE JEWS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS. THE MEXICAN WAR.
The first settler in 1821—Adolphus Sterne, who fought against Mexico and later served in the Texan Congress—David S. Kaufman—Surgeon-General Levy in the army of Sam Houston—A Jew as the first meat “packer” in America—Major Leon Dyer and his brother Isadore—Mayor Seeligsohn of Galveston (1853)—One Jew laid out Waco; Castro County is named after another—Belated communal and religious activities—The War with Mexico, in which only a small number of Jews served—David Camden de Leon and his brother Edwin, U. S. Consul-General in Egypt.
[CHAPTER] XXI.
THE RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENT.
Political liberalism and religious radicalism of the German Jewish immigrant—The struggle with Orthodoxy hardly more than an animated controversy—No attempt made here by the Temple to swallow the Synagogue, as was the case in Germany—The first Reformers of Charleston, S. C.—Isaac Leeser, the conservative leader, the first to make a serious effort to adjust Judaism to American surroundings—Dr. Max Lilienthal—Isaac M. Wise, the energetic organizer of Reform Judaism—Dr. David Einhorn—Dr. Samuel Adler—Bernhard Felsenthal—Samuel Hirsch.
[CHAPTER] XXII.
CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM AND ITS STAND AGAINST REFORM.
“The poor Jews of Elm street and the rich Jews of Crosby street”—Rabbis Samuel M. Isaacs, Morris J. Raphall and Jacques J. Lyons—Sabato Morais—Kalish and Hübsch, the moderate reformers—Benjamin Szold—Dr. Marcus Jastrow’s career in three countries—Alexander Kohut—Russian Orthodoxy asserts itself in New York, and the Bet ha-Midrash ha-Godol is founded in 1852—Rabbi Abraham Joseph Ash and his various activities—Charity work which remains subordinate to religious work in the synagogue.
[CHAPTER] XXIII.
INTERVENTION IN DAMASCUS. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SWISS DISCRIMINATION.
The Damascus Affair; the first occasion on which the Jews of the United States requested the government to intercede in behalf of persecuted Jews in another country—John Forsyth’s instructions to American representatives in Turkey, in which those requests were anticipated—A discrimination in a treaty with Switzerland to which President Fillmore objected, and which Clay and Webster disapproved—The case of a Jewish-American citizen in Neufchatel—Newspaper agitation, meetings and memorials against the Swiss treaty—President Buchanan’s emphatic declaration, and Minister Fay’s “Israelite Note” about the Jews of Alsace—Question is settled by the emancipation of the Swiss Jews.
PART V.
THE CIVIL WAR AND THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
[CHAPTER] XXIV.
THE DISCUSSION ABOUT SLAVERY. LINCOLN AND THE JEWS.
Pro-slavery tendencies of the aristocratic Spaniards and Portuguese—David Yulee (Levy)—Michael Heilprin and his reply to Rabbi Raphall’s Bible View on Slavery—Immigrants of the second period as opponents of slavery—Two Jewish delegates in the Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and one member of the Electoral College in 1860—Two other Jews officially participate in Lincoln’s renomination and re-election in 1864—Abraham Jonas—Encouragement from the Scripture in original Hebrew.
[CHAPTER] XXV.
PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE CIVIL WAR. JUDAH P. BENJAMIN.
Probable number of Jews in the United States at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War—Seddon’s estimate of “from ten to twelve thousand Jews in the Southern Army”—Judah P. Benjamin, the greatest Jew in American public life—His early life and his marriage—Whig politician, planter and slave owner—Elected to the United States Senate and re-elected as a Democrat—Quits Washington when Louisiana seceded and enters the cabinet of the Confederacy—Attorney-General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State—His foreign policy—His capacity for work—When all is lost he goes to England and becomes one of its great lawyers—His last days are spent in France.
[CHAPTER] XXVI.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICES OF JEWS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STRUGGLE.
More “brothers in arms” and a larger proportion of officers in the Confederate Army than in that of the North, because most Southern Jews were natives of the country—Some distinguished officers—A gallant private who later became a rabbi—Paucity of Southern records—Generals Knefler, Solomon, Blumenberg, Joachimsen and other officers of high rank in the Union Army—New York ranks first, Ohio second and Illinois third in the number of Jews who went to the front—Two Pennsylvania regiments which started with Jewish colonels—Commodore Uriah P. Levy, the ranking officer of the United States navy at the time of the outbreak of the war, is prevented by age from taking part in it.
[CHAPTER] XXVII.
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.
Ebb and flow of immigration between 1850 and 1880—Decrease and practical stoppage of Jewish immigration from Germany—The breathing spell between two periods of immigration, and the preparation for the vast influx which was to follow—The period of great charitable institutions—Organization and consolidation—The Hebrew Union College and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations—The Independent Order B’nai B’rith—Other large fraternal organizations and their usefulness—Important local institutions in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc.
[CHAPTER] XXVIII.
NEW SYNAGOGUES AND TEMPLES. IMMIGRATION FROM RUSSIA PRIOR TO 1880.
Continued increase in the wealth and importance of the German-Jewish congregations—New and spacious synagogues and temples erected in various parts of the country in the “sixties” and the “seventies”—Problems of Russian-Jewish immigration prior to 1880—Economic condition of the Jewish masses in Russia worse in the “golden era” than under Nicholas I.—Emigration from Russia after the famine of 1867–68 and after the pogrom of Odessa in 1871—Presumption of the existence of a Hebrew reading public in New York in 1868—The first Hebrew and Yiddish periodicals.
PART VI.
THE THIRD OR RUSSIAN PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION.
[CHAPTER] XXIX.
THE INFLUX AFTER THE ANTI-JEWISH RIOTS IN RUSSIA IN 1881.
The country itself is well prepared for the reception of a larger number of Jewish immigrants—Absence of organized or political Antisemitism—Increase in general immigration in 1880 and 1881—Arrival of the “Am Olam”—Imposing protest meetings against the riots in Russia—Welcome and assistance—Emma Lazarus—Heilprin and the attempts to found agricultural colonies—Herman Rosenthal—Failures in many States—Some success in Connecticut and more in New Jersey—Woodbine—Distribution—Industrial workers and the new radicalism.
[CHAPTER] XXX.
COMMUNAL AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONG THE NEW COMERS.
Congregational and social activities among the new comers—Ephemeral organizations—The striving after professional education—Synagogues as the most stable of the new establishments—“Landsleut” congregations—The first efforts to consolidate the Orthodox community of New York—The Federation of Synagogues—Chief Rabbi Jacob Joseph—Other “chief rabbis” in Chicago and Boston—Prominent Orthodox rabbis in many cities—Dr. Philip Klein—The short period in which the cantor was the most important functionary in the Orthodox synagogue—Synagogues change hands, but are rarely abandoned.
[CHAPTER] XXXI.
NEW COMMUNAL AND INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES.
The Jewish Alliance of 1891 as the first attempt to form a general organization in which the immigrants of the latest period should be officially recognized—Some of the prominent participators—The new Exodus of 1891—The Baron de Hirsch Fund—Various activities—Decrease in the numbers and proportion of the helpless and the needy—The American Jewish Historical Society—The Jewish Publication Society of America—The Jewish Chautauqua—Participation in the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893—The Council of Jewish Women.
[CHAPTER] XXXII.
THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND NEW LITERARY ACTIVITIES.
Difficulty of securing data for the history of the Labor Movement among Jewish immigrants—John R. Commons’ characterization of a Jewish labor union—A constantly changing army of followers under the same leaders—The movement under the control of the radical press—The leaders as journalists and literary men—They popularize the press and teach the rudiments of politics—The voter—The “Heften”—Neo-Hebrew periodicals—The Yiddish stylists—The plight of the Hebraists.
[CHAPTER] XXXIII.
RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. THE PASSPORT QUESTION.
The normal rate of Jewish immigration is but slightly affected by the panic of 1893—Oppressiveness of the Sunday Laws are felt by the new immigrants—The Extradition Treaty with Russia—Beginning of the struggle about the Passport Question—The first Resolution against Russia’s discrimination, introduced in Congress by Mr. Cox in 1879—Diplomacy and diplomatic correspondence—More resolutions—Rayner, Fitzgerald, Perkins—Henry M. Goldfogle—John Hay’s letter to the House—More letters, speeches and discussions—The Sulzer Resolution and the last step to abrogate the Treaty of 1832.
[CHAPTER] XXXIV.
LEGISLATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION. SUNDAY LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT.
Jewish interest in immigration—The first legislation on the subject—The Nativists or “Know Nothings”—A Congressional investigation in 1838—President Taylor’s invitation to foreigners to come and settle here—A law to encourage immigration passed on Lincoln’s recommendation in 1864—The General Immigration Law of 1882—The “Ford Committee”—Permanent Immigration Committees in Congress—Continued agitation and legislation on the subject—A bill containing the requirement of an educational test is vetoed by President Grover Cleveland in 1897—The last Immigration Law of 1907—The Immigration Commission of 1907 and its report in 1910—Sunday Laws and their significance for the Orthodox Jew—Laws of various States and Territories—Their effect on movements for municipal reform—Status of the problems.
[CHAPTER] XXXV.
END OF THE CENTURY. THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. THE DREYFUS AFFAIR. ZIONISM.
Jews in the Spanish-American war—Commissioned and non-commissioned officers, privates and “Rough Riders”—Jews in the Navy: Simon Cook, Joseph Strauss and Edward David Taussig—The career of Rear-Admiral Adolph Marix—His part in the Inquiry about the “Maine” and in the war—The significance of the Dreyfus Affair—Its influence on the spread of Zionism—The American press almost as pro-Dreyfus as the Jewish—The Zionist movement in America—The rank and file consists of immigrants from Slavic countries, under the leadership of Americans.
PART VII.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. PRESENT CONDITIONS.
[CHAPTER] XXXVI.
SYNAGOGUES AND INSTITUTIONS. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA. ROUMANIA AND THE ROUMANIAN NOTE.
Synagogues and other Jewish Institutions—General improvement and moderation—The Jewish Encyclopedia—Its editors and contributors—The Roumanian situation and the American Government’s interest in it since 1867—Benjamin F. Peixotto, United States Consul-General in Bucharest—Diplomatic correspondence between Kasson and Evarts—New negotiations with Roumania in 1902—The Roumanian Note to the signatories of the Berlin Treaty—The question still in abeyance.
[CHAPTER] XXXVII.
HELP FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE RUSSIAN MASSACRES IN 1903 AND 1905. OTHER PROOFS OF SYMPATHY.
The Kishinev massacre—Official solicitude and general sympathy—Protest meetings and collections—The “Kishinev Petition” and its fate—Less publicity given to the later pogroms, whose victims were helped by “landsleut” from this country—The influence of pogroms on immigration—The frightful massacres in Russia in the fall of 1905, and the assistance rendered by this country—A Resolution of sympathy adopted in Congress—The 250th Anniversary of the Settlement of the Jews in the United States—Relief for Moroccan Jews proposed by the United States—Oscar S. Straus in the Cabinet.
[CHAPTER] XXXVIII.
THE AMERICAN-JEWISH COMMITTEE. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND FEDERATIONS.
Formation of the American Jewish Committee—Its first fifteen members and its membership in 1911—The experimental Kehillah organizations—The re-organized Jewish Theological Seminary—Faculty of the Hebrew Union College—The Dropsie College of Hebrew and Cognate Learning—The Rabbi Joseph Jacob School—Other Orthodox “Yeshibot”—Talmud Torahs and “Chedarim”—Hebrew Institutes—They become more Jewish because other agencies now do the work of Americanizing the immigrant—Technical Schools—Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations—Federations of various kinds.
[CHAPTER] XXXIX.
THE JEWS IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA.
The legend about the Jewish origin of Chevalier de Levis—Aaron Hart, the English Commissary, and Abraham Gradis, the French banker—Early settlers in Montreal—Its first Congregation—Troubles of Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew to be elected to the Legislature—Final Emancipation in 1832—Jews fight on the Loyalist side against Papineau’s rebellion—Prominent Jews in various fields of activity—Congregation “Shaar ha-Shomaim”—Toronto—First synagogue in Victoria, B. C., in 1862—Hamilton and Winnipeg—Other communities—Agricultural Colonies—Jewish Newspapers.
[CHAPTER] XL.
JEWS IN SOUTH AMERICA, MEXICO AND CUBA.
The first “minyan” in Buenos Ayres, Argentine, in 1861—Estimate of the Jewish population in Argentine—Occupations and economic condition of the various groups—Kosher meat and temporary synagogues as indications of the religious conditions—Communities in twenty-six other cities—The Agricultural Colonies—Brazil—The rumor that General Floriano Peixotto, the second president of the new Republic, was of Jewish origin—Communities in several cities—The Colony Philippson—Jews in Montevido, Uruguay—Other South American Republics—Isidor Borowski, who fought under Bolivar—Panama—Moroccan Jews are liked by Peru Indians—About ten thousand Jews in Mexico—Slowly increasing number in Cuba, where Jews help to spread the American influence.
[CHAPTER] XLI.
MEN OF EMINENCE IN THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND THE PROFESSIONS.
Jews who attained eminence in the world of art and of science—Moses J. Ezekiel—Ephraim Keyser—Isidor Konti—Victor D. Brenner—Butensky and Davidson—Painters: Henry Mosler, Constant Mayer, H. N. Hyneman and George D. M. Peixotto—Max Rosenthal and his son, Albert—Max Weyl, Toby E. Rosenthal, Louis Loeb and Katherine M. Cohen—Some cartoonists and caricaturists—Musicians, composers and musical directors—The Damrosch family, Gabrilowitsch, Hoffman and Ellman—Operatic and theatrical managers and impressarios—Playwrights and actors—Scientists: A. A. Michelson, Morris Bloomfield, Jacob H. Hollander, Charles Waldstein and his family—Charles Gross—Edwin R. A. Seligman, Adolph Cohn, Jaques Loeb, Simon Flexner and Abraham Jacobi—Fabian Franklin—Engineers: Sutro, Gottlieb and Jacobs—Some eminent physicians and lawyers—Merchants and financiers.
[CHAPTER] XLII.
LITERATURE: HEBREW AND ENGLISH. PERIODICALS.
Curiosities of early American Jewish literature which belong to the domain of bibliography—Rabbinical works: Responses, commentaries and Homiletics—Hebrew works of a modern character—Ehrlich’s Mikra Ki-Peshuto and Eisenstein’s Ozar Israel—Neo-Hebrew Poets and literati—Jewish writers in the vernacular—“Ghetto Stories”—Writers on non-Jewish subjects—Scientific works—Writers on Jewish subjects and contributors to the “Jewish Encyclopedia”—A. S. Freidus—Non-Jewish writers about Jews—Daly—Frederic, Davitt and Hapgood—Journalists, editors and publishers—The Ochs brothers; the Rosewaters—Pulitzer and de Young of Jewish descent—The Jewish denominational press in English—The “Sanatorium.”
[CHAPTER] XLIII.
YIDDISH LITERATURE, DRAMA AND THE PRESS.
Yiddish poets of the United States equal, if they do not excell, the poets of the same tongue in other countries—Morris Rosenfeld—“Yehoash” and Sharkansky—Bovshoer and other radicals—Zunser—Old fashioned novelists—The sketch writers who are under the influence of the Russian realistic writers—Abner Tannenbaum—Alexander Harkavy—“Krantz,” Hermalin, Zevin and others—Abraham Goldfaden and the playwrights who followed him—Jacob Gordin and the realists—Yiddish actors and actresses—The Yiddish Press—The high position attained by the dailies—Weekly and monthly publications.
[CHAPTER] XLIV.
PRESENT CONDITIONS. THE NUMBER AND THE DISPERSION OF JEWS IN AMERICA. CONCLUSION.
Dispersion of the Jews over the country and its colonial possessions—The number of Jews in the United States about three millions—The number of communities in various States—The number of Jews in the large cities—The number of the congregations is far in excess of the recorded figures—The process of disintegration and the counteracting forces—The building of synagogues—Charity work is not overshadowing other communal activities as in the former period, and more attention is paid to affairs of Judaism—The conciliatory spirit and the tendency to federate—Self-criticism and dissatisfaction which are an incentive to improvement—Our great opportunity here—Our hope in the higher civilization in which the injustices of the older order of things may never reappear.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
[Frontispiece] (Ezekiel’s Statue of Religious Liberty)