With regard to moral and personal qualifications, the Jews of Turkey are the most backward and debased of any of the races. This degenerate condition may be attributed to more than one cause. One of the chief causes, however, is the general feeling of antipathy shown towards Jews in a semi-civilized country: all kinds of real and fictitious sins are attributed to them, from the charge of kidnapping children (an absurdity still credited everywhere in Turkey) to the proverbial accusation of never transacting business with members of other creeds without infringing the laws of good faith and honesty. To apply this latter charge to the whole community would be unjust, for there are honest, liberal, and straightforward men; but there is no doubt the reputation is not altogether ill-earned among them.
The Jews in Turkey have from all times shown a greater liking for their Moslem neighbors than for the Christians. The Moslems sneer at them and treat them with disrespect as a nation, but are far more tolerant and lenient towards them than towards the Christians. The Jews, on their side, although at heart feeling no disposition to respect their Mohammedan masters, show great sympathy outwardly for them; and in case of a dispute between Christians and Mohammedans, unanimously espouse the cause of the latter. The wealthy Israelites would render every assistance in their power to remove the difficulties of the Government, while those of humbler standing tender their service for the performance of anything that may be required of them, however degrading.
In few countries is the contrast of wealth and indigence among the Jews so striking as in Turkey. On one side may be seen wealth so great as to command respect for its possessors, and give them an influence in the localities in which they spring up greater than that of all other nationalities; whilst hard by one sees poverty and wretchedness of the most sickening nature. The principal cause of this is the limited sphere of action allotted to, or rather adopted by, the Jewish communities. They evince a strong repugnance to going beyond the few trades generally practised by the laboring classes; the rest content themselves with performing the coarsest and dirtiest work of the town. From generation to generation the Jews will cling to these callings without allowing themselves to be tempted beyond them, or raising themselves in the social scale by taking to agricultural or other pursuits that might insure them a comfortable home and an honorable living.
In towns where the Jewish element predominates, it is packed in dingy, crowded quarters, in hovels, buried in filth. These miserable abodes contrast strongly with the fine and showy houses of the rich. Both rich and poor of the native Jews may be seen in their court-yards or at their doors, the mother rocking the cradle, the children playing in the mud, and the women and girls washing or engaged in other household occupations. The men on coming home don their négligé in-door costume and join the family party, lounging on a sofa, smoking and chatting. This community is very noisy, the most natural conversation among them being carried on in the loud tones of lively dispute, all talking at once in such an elevated key as to be heard at a considerable distance.
They are certainly lively and cheerful, neither want nor poverty detaining them at recreation-time from listening to their discordant national music, which they accompany by a vocal performance of a deafening nature.
Some of the women are very pretty, and their beauty is heightened by their peculiar costume and gay head-dress. They are, however, cold and rather graceless in demeanor, and are not noted for intelligence.
Education among the native Jews was completely neglected until very recently, when the efforts of the European Jews and a few of the liberal natives finally produced a beneficial reaction, and schools of a superior order, principally dependencies of “L’Alliance Israélite” formed in Europe for the benefit of the Eastern Jews, have been established in all the principal towns, and are said to have greatly benefited the rising generation, which is wanting neither in intelligence nor aptitude for study. Before the establishment of these schools the Jews had to send their children to European or Greek schools, where they received an indifferent style of education, as the training, owing to the difference of religion and habits, did not include the complete course.
The director of the schools established by “L’Alliance Israélite” gave me most satisfactory accounts of the progress made by the pupils attending them, and of the increase of morality among them. The Jewish girls have not equal advantages with the boys with respect to educational establishments. This unfortunate difference will, it is hoped, be in time remedied by the schools, founded by the same society and others, in the principal towns. All these schools owe their origin to the generosity of wealthy Israelites like Baron Hirsh and others, who have endowed the establishments with the funds necessary for rendering them useful and of lasting duration. In Salonika the girls’ school, established some years ago, has, thanks to the able management and munificence of the Messrs. Allatini, been placed upon an excellent footing, and, being presided over by the most intelligent and gifted European ladies of the community, is doing great and good service.
Besides these schools, there is one of older standing connected with the Missionary Society, under the direction of a missionary and three able and devoted Scottish ladies, who receive a large class of day pupils and give them the benefit of sound education for a trifling fee. This part of missionary work is in reality the best and most beneficial to the community, and far more so than the efforts made at proselytism—efforts which, so far as I can ascertain, have nowhere met with success.
Polygamy is prohibited among the Jews; but their divorce laws are very lenient; and a separation is the easiest thing in the world—for the husband. A wife cannot get a separation without her husband’s consent. Practically, however, this is seldom refused if a sum of money is offered. A gentleman, aware of this Jewish weakness, and falling in love with a Syrian beauty who was married to a Jew, bought her divorce for 2,000l. In some towns the morality of the community is closely watched. In Adrianople, for instance, a faithless wife is led for three successive days round the Jewish quarter, and compelled to stop before every door to be spat upon and abused. At Salonika, where the Jews are very numerous, it is quite otherwise. Among the wealthy and liberal many of the old customs have been set aside, intermarriage with European Jewish families is of frequent occurrence, and many modifications permitted which do not seem strictly conformed to the Mosaic law.