Abraham Gottlieb (b. in Bohemia, 1837; a. 1866; d. in Chicago, 1894) graduated from the University of Prague, and was engaged as an engineer in the construction of an Austrian railroad when he went to America and settled in Chicago. When he was elected president of the Keystone Bridge Company, he removed to Pittsburg (1877). In that capacity he constructed many bridges in various parts of the country, including the Madison Avenue bridge in New York City. He returned to Chicago in 1884 and was for a time connected (as consulting engineer and as chief engineer of the construction department) with the World’s Columbian Exposition. He also took an active interest in Jewish affairs, and was for a time president of the Rodeph Shalom congregation in Pittsburg, and later of Zion congregation, Chicago.
Charles M. Jacobs (b. in Hull, England, 1850), who designed the tunnels which connect the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Long Island Railroad with the center of New York, is an English Jew, who is considered to be the greatest authority on tunnel building, both here and abroad.
Jews are well represented in the front ranks of the medical and the legal professions. Among the eminent physicians, besides those mentioned formerly, are men like Dr. Isaac Adler (b. in Alzey, Germany, 1849; a. 1857), Dr. Max Einhorn (b. in Grodno, Russia, 1862; a. 1884), both of New York; Dr. Jacob da Silva Solis-Cohen (b. in New York, 1838) and his brother, Solomon (b. in Philadelphia, 1857), who reside in Philadelphia, and Dr. Nathan Jacobson (b. in Syracuse, N. Y. 1857) of the Syracuse University, Samuel Untermyer (b. in Lynchburg, Va., 1858) of New York, Louis D. Brandeis (b. in Louisville, Ky., 1856) of Boston, Levy Mayer (b. in Richmond, Va., 1858) of Chicago, and Judge Max C. Sloss (b. in New York, 1869, recently re-elected Justice of the Supreme Court of California) of San Francisco, are but a few of the Jewish lawyers who have attained eminence in their profession.
While the number of Jews who are prominent in commerce, finance and industry is considerable, and some families, like the Guggenheims, Lewisohns, Schiffs or Strauses of New York, and men like Julius Rosenwald and Edward Morris (b. 1866) of Chicago, stand high in the world of large affairs, none of them is classed among the small number of immensely wealthy Americans. It is rather in the diffusion of wealth, in the large number and large proportion of well-to-do and affluent, than in the pre-eminence of the Jew as the greatest of capitalists, that the condition of the Jews in America is seen to the best advantage.
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.”
Jewish literature in the New World, as in almost all countries of the Old World, begins with Hebrew works of a religious nature, and branches out on one side into the special dialect which is spoken by the Jews among themselves, and on the other—into the vernacular. The strictly religious work is not the only one written in Hebrew for any length of time, for there is always a movement towards secular knowledge, which usually begins with a tendency to study Hebrew for its scientific value rather than for its sacredness. In modern times this process of development can be traced clearly in Germany, Holland, Poland and Russia, as well as in America, although here we are yet at the very beginning of our literary activity, and what has been accomplished until the present time may in the future be of more interest to the bibliographer than to the historian of literature. All that was written here by Jews for Jews in Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish and English until about the middle of the nineteenth century, including the works and periodicals that have been mentioned in the preceding chapters, while the authors or editors were under consideration, mostly belongs to the domain of curiosities.[62] It was only in the second half of the last century, when the number of Orthodox Jews and of those able to read modern Hebrew was fast increasing, that a serious attempt to write books for them was made in this country.
The strictly rabbinical works, like “responses” on disputed points of religious law or practice, commentaries on parts of the Talmud, and homiletic works, represent the continuation of the most ancient form of Jewish literature, and deserve to be treated first. According to Mr. Eisenstein, the honor of being the author of the first book of American “responsa” belongs to Rabbi Joseph Moses Aronson (d. in New York, 1874), author of Matai Moshe, a work which, like numerous others by orthodox rabbis of this country, was printed in Jerusalem. Other rabbinical works, of which there were written in this country a larger number than is generally supposed, include Heker Halakah (New York, 1886), by Rabbi Aaron Spivak, formerly of Omsk, Russia; Sefer Har-El on tractate Bikkurim of the Jerusalem Talmud by Rabbi Abraham Eliezer Alperstein (Chicago, 1886); Shoel Ke-Inyan (Jerusalem, 1895), by Rabbi Shalom Elhanan Joffe (b. in Russia, 1845); ha-poteah, we-hahotem, by Rabbi Benjamin Gitelson of Cleveland (New York, 1898); Torat Meir on Rashi’s Talmudical commentary, by Meir Freiman (New York, 1904); Yegiot Mordecai on the Talmud by Mordecai Garfil (Piotrkow, 1907); Bet Abraham, by Rabbi Abraham Eber Hirshowitz (Jerusalem, 1908). The venerable Rabbi A. J. G. Lesser is the author of Bet ha-Midrash (Chicago, 1897), which contains homiletics and halaka, and Rabbi Moses Simon Sivitz of Pittsburg (b. 1855) is the author of four books on various rabbinical subjects, all printed in Jerusalem. The number of works on “derush” or homiletics is still larger, and includes ha-Emet ha-Ibriah (Chicago, 1877) and Or Haye Lebabot (New York, 1885), by Jehiel Judah Levinsohn (d. in New York, 1895); Ateret Zebi, by Rabbi Zebi Lass (New York, 1902); Nehmad le-Mare, by Zeeb Dob Wittenstein (Cleveland, 1903); Shebil ha-Zohab, by Rabbi Baruch Kohen (New York, 1903); Maaseh Hosheb, by Rabbi H. S. Brodsky of Newark (New York, 1907). Teome Zebiah (Chicago, 1891), by Baruch Ettelson (1815–91), on some difficult passages in Agadah, and Shaare Deah (New York, 1899), by Rabbi Shabbetai Sofer, belong to the same class, though of a somewhat different nature.