The first substantial Hebrew book printed in America, Abne Joshua (New York, 1860), by Joshua Falk ben Mordecai ha-Kohen, though nominally a rabbinical book, actually belongs to the more secular class of literature, which borders on Haskalah. The same can also be said of Holzman’s Emek Rephaim (New York, 1865), and perhaps also of Tub Taam in defense of the Jewish method of slaughtering cattle for Kosher food, by Aaron Zebi Friedman of Stavisk (1822–66), which is said to have been translated into English, German and French.[63] Ha-Mahnaim (New York, 1888), by Mayer Rabinowitz, and Wolf Schur’s Nezah Israel come nearer to the spirit of modernity or “enlightenment,” while works like ha-Dat we-ha-Torah (New York, 1887) and Meziat ha-Shem we-ha-Olam (ibid, 1893), by Shalom Joseph Silberstein (b. in Kovno, 1846; a. 1881), go far in the direction of free thinking. Valuable contributions to the Science of Judaism were made by Nehemiah Samuel Libowitz (b. in Kalna, 1862; a. 1881), author of a biography of Leon Modena (New York, 1901) and other works; by Benzion Eisenstadt, author of Hakme Israel be-America (ibid, 1903); by Arnold B. Ehrlich (b. in Wlodowka, Russia, 1848), author of a remarkable commentary on the Bible which he calls Mikra Ki-Peshuto (Berlin); by Abraham H. Rosenberg (b. in Pinsk, 1838; a. 1891), of whose Ozar he-Shemot, a Cyclopedia of Biblical literature, four volumes were issued in New York; and by Judah David Eisenstein, a prolific writer in Hebrew and English, who is now editing the Ozar Israel, a Hebrew Encyclopedia, of which seven volumes have appeared, and to which the editor is himself the principal contributor of articles. Rabbi Mordecai Zeeb (Max) Raisin (b. 1879) is the author of a short “History of the Jews in America” in Hebrew, which appeared in Warsaw, Poland, in 1902.
Of literature in the restricted sense, or fiction, hardly anything worth mentioning was written in Hebrew in America. But the study and writing of neo-Hebrew cannot be thought of without the production of poetry, and some collection of Hebrew songs possessing considerable merit were published in this country, mostly by authors who acquired their reputation abroad before arriving in this country. The poetical works of Naphtali Hirz Imber, Menahem Mendel Dolitzki and Isaac Rabinowitz (“Ish Kovno,” d. in New York, 1900, aged 54) belong to that class, and the same can be said of the quasi-scientific works of Joseph Loeb Sossnitz (1837–1910) and Ephraim Deinard (b. 1846), who has recently compiled a list containing about six hundred names of works in Hebrew and Yiddish which appeared in the United States. There were also some earlier writers of Hebrew poetry in America, notably Moses Aaron Schreiber, who composed the Centennial poem Minhat Yehudah in 1876, and the hazzan Hayyim Weinshel (1834–1900), author of Nitei Naamonim (New York, 1891). Gerson Rosenzweig, the epigramatist and author of the excellent Talmudical parody, Maseket America, who has also translated the American national songs into Hebrew, came here a young man, and his talent is more distinctively American.
The Hebrew periodical literature, which begins with Hirsch Bernstein’s ha-Zofah be-Erez ha-Hadashah (1870–76), which was mentioned in a former chapter, was never securely established in this country up to the present time. Most of the Hebrew Journals or magazines, like Deinard’s weekly ha-Leomi and Rosenzweig’s monthly Kadimah, existed for less than a year. The Hekal ha-Ibriyah, edited by N. B. Ettelson and S. L. Marcus in Chicago, appeared from 1877 to 1879 as a supplement to their Judeo-German Israelitische Presse. Michael Levi Rodkinson (Frumkin, d. in New York, 1904, aged 59), who later prepared a translation of parts of the Babylonian Talmud into English, edited his weekly ha-Kol in New York for about two years (1889–90). Wolf Schur’s he-Pisgah, which was later called ha-Tehiyah, appeared irregularly in New York, later in Baltimore, and still later in Chicago, during the last decade of the nineteenth century. The monthly Ner ha-Maarabi, edited by Abraham H. Rosenberg and later by Samuel Schwarzberg, existed less than three years (1895–97), and another monthly, ha-Modia la-Hadashim, edited by Herman Rosenthal and Abraham H. Rosenberg (1900–1), had a still shorter life. The weekly ha-Ibri, which was founded by K. H. Sarasohn and edited by Gerson Rosenzweig, appeared regularly from 1892 to 1898. Moses Goldman (b. 1863; a. 1890) began the publication of his ha-Leom as a monthly in 1901; it later appeared for several years as a weekly and afterwards for a short time as a daily. Since its suspension America had no other Hebrew periodical until the neo-Hebrew litterateur, Reuben Brainin, began to publish in New York (1911) his weekly ha-Deror, of which fifteen numbers appeared. Rosenzweig’s monthly ha-Deborah and Rabbi T. Isaacson’s ha-Rabbani, also a monthly, are now the Hebrew periodicals appearing in the United States.
The contribution of Jews to American literature consists mostly of descriptions of Jewish life, and of what has lately became known as “ghetto stories.” Emma Lazarus, whose work was described in a preceding chapter, did not confine herself to Jewish themes, and was followed in this respect by other Jewish writers of her sex, like Mary Moss, the critic; Martha Morton, the playwright, and Emily Gerson Goldsmith, the author of Juvenile stories. Annie Nathan Meyer, the founder of Barnard College (Columbia University, New York), also belongs to this class of writers; while Martha Wolfenstein (1869–1906) of Cleveland, O., belongs to the front rank of the other class of writers who attempted to depict Jewish life in this country or abroad. To the latter class belong Herman Bernstein (b. 1876; a. 1893), who writes on Russian as well as on Jewish subjects; Rudolph Block (b. in New York, 1870), the journalist, who writes of Jewish life under the pen-name “Bruno Lessing”; Ezra S. Brudno (b. 1877); Abraham Cahan, the labor leader and Yiddish journalist; Isaac K. Friedman (b. in Chicago, 1870), and James Oppenheim (b. in St. Paul, Minn., 1882), who has also written on other than Jewish subjects. To the same class may be added Rabbi Henry Iliowizi (b. in Russia, 1850; d. in London, Eng., 1911), who has lived in the United States more than twenty years and has written poetical and prose works, mostly on Jewish and Oriental subjects. Bret Harte, the poet and novelist, was of Jewish descent, but he cannot be considered a Jewish author.
Martha Wolfenstein.
Photo by Elton, Cleveland, O.
The works written on scientific subjects by Jews who have attained eminence in various branches of knowledge, some of whom were mentioned in the preceding chapter, are of a comparatively high standard of value. To these may be added the works of the art critic, Bernhard Berenson (b. in Wilna, Russia, 1865), who now resides in Italy; of the anthropologist, Franz Boas (b. in Germany, 1858), of Columbia University, and of the statistician, Isaac A. Hourwich (b. in Wilna, 1860; a. 1891), who is also an occasional contributor to the Jewish press. Morris Hillquit (b. in Riga, Russia, 1869; a. 1886), the Socialist leader and historian of Socialism in the United States, has likewise often written for various radical periodicals. Arnold W. Brunner (b. in New York, 1857), the architect, has written works on “Cottages” and on “Interior Decorations.”
A considerable number of works on a variety of Jewish subjects were written by American-Jewish scholars. David Werner Amram (b. in Philadelphia, 1866) wrote The Jewish Law of Divorce (1896); Maurice Fishberg (b. in Russia, 1872; a. 1890) is the author of The Jews: a study of Race and Environment (1911); Julius H. Greenstone (b. in Russia, 1873) wrote on The Messiah Idea in Jewish History (1906); while Max J. Kohler, Geo. A. Kohut, Henry S. Morais and numerous others wrote on American-Jewish history in separate works, in the “Publications” and in the Jewish Encyclopedia. Isaac Markens (b. in New York, 1846) is the author of The Hebrews in America (1888), whose valuable material, like that contained in the works of the others mentioned here and in the notes, was utilized in the preparation of the present work. Abraham Solomon Freidus (b. in Riga, Russia, 1867; a. 1889), the eminent Jewish bibliographer at the head of the Jewish department in the New York Public Library, which contains one of the most valuable collections of Hebraica and Judaica in the world (donated by Mr. Jacob H. Schiff), is the author of bibliographical lists of Jewish subjects and of “A Scheme of Classification for Jewish Literature,” which is of great value to Jewish bibliophiles and librarians. Alois Kaiser (1840–1908) and William Sparger are authors of A Collection of the Principal Melodies of the Synagogue (Chicago, 1893), and Platon G. Brounoff (b. in Russia, 1863), the composer, has published, among other works, a volume of Jewish folk-songs.