The most renowned among the synagogue singers who were brought over in that period were Israel Michalovsky (b. in Suwalki, Russian-Poland, 1831; a. 1886; d. in New York, 1911), Israel Cooper (b. in Alusenitz, government of Kamenetz-Podolsk, 1840; a. 1885; d. in New York, 1909), and Pinhas Minkovsky (b. in Byelaya Tzerkov, 1859), who, after spending a short time in New York, returned, in 1892, to Odessa, whence he came. But the circumstances under which the influence of the cantor was predominant were abnormal and could not last long. The improvement in the general material conditions, the increase in the number and proportion of wealthy members, and the growing sense of duty and responsibility in religious matters, helped to bring the rabbi nearer to the front, where he belongs. There are even now many excellent and well paid hazzanim in the large cities, and the Orthodox rabbis are yet far from the security of tenure and of income which is enjoyed by the rabbis in the Old World. But some sort of an equilibrium has been restored, and the rabbinate has gained, morally as well as materially.
In the last few years many of the larger synagogues in the older Jewish neighborhoods of the great cities have been again in a precarious financial condition, which is due to the removal of its older and wealthier members to the more fashionable quarters or to the suburbs. But no one would think now, as it was thought a quarter century before, of attempting to strengthen the position of a synagogue by the importation of a famous hazzan. In many cases the well-to-do older members feel it to be their religious duty to keep up the large synagogues which they built in districts which are now inhabited mostly by the poorer and later arrivals, though they themselves now live too far to reach it, and have built new synagogues in their new neighborhoods and have even engaged English-speaking rabbis to deliver sermons. In other instances the immigrants of latter years are ready and willing to take over the synagogues, sometimes by the simple method of joining as members and obtaining control by becoming the majority. It also happens that the synagogue itself is removed to a location to which most of the members have moved, and the old building is sold to a smaller or to a newly formed congregation. But, as it was stated above, the number of congregations which disbanded, and of synagogue buildings which are abandoned for other purposes, is small. The continuance of immigration and the steady increase among the earlier comers of the number who affiliate themselves with the religious community obviates the necessity of giving up old religious organizations at the time when new ones are being established all over the country.
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.
In less than a decade after the first influx from Russia, an attempt was made to establish some form of co-operation between the immigrants of the new period and the American or Americanized Jews who belonged to the former periods. The latter were complaining that the burden of charities was becoming too heavy, while from the former, especially from the more intelligent immigrants who were interested in Jewish matters, there arose even at that early date a demand for recognition and a share of responsibility in communal work. The theory that the two elements, described respectively as the German and the Russian, must be brought nearer together, and that the latter element must be prepared to take over the hegemony of the Jewish community from the former, just as the German took it over from the Sephardim, was already then, as it is to some extent still now, a favorite with those who consider themselves representatives of the immigrants. And it was the effort to apply part of this theory to practice, and perhaps, according to some, to put it to the test, that a call was issued for a convention of the Jewish Alliance of America, which met in Philadelphia on February 15, 1891.
Nineteen cities were represented, some of them as far as San Francisco, Cal. (by Bernhard Marks), and Portland, Ore. (David Solis-Cohen). Boston was represented by David Blaustein (b. in Lida, Russia, 1866; a. 1886), who later became eminent as an educator and communal worker. The Hon. Simon Wolf (b. in Rhenish Bavaria, 1836; a. 1848), a recognized representative in Washington of the Jews of the country, came from the capital. There were twenty delegates from Baltimore, including Samuel Dorf and B. H. Hartogensis. Chicago sent six men, including Dr. A. P. Kadison and Leon Zolotkoff (b. in Wilna, 1865(?); a. 1887). Among the seven delegates from New York were the Russian immigrants Nicholas Aleinikoff and P. Caplan, and the native American, Ferdinand Levy (b. in Milwaukee, Wis., 1843), who served in the Union army with his father and two brothers during the Civil War, and held various offices in New York City and in Jewish fraternal organizations. The largest contingent was, of course, from Philadelphia, its fifty-four delegates including many well-known men from both elements, like the inventor, Louis E. Levy (b. in Bohemia, 1846), Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, a native of Philadelphia; Bernhard Harris, who was chosen secretary, and Dr. Charles D. Spivak (b. in Krementshug, Russia, 1861; a. 1882), who was president of the temporary organization.
A constitution was adopted and a permanent organization formed, of which a well known local Jewish philanthropist, Simon Muhr (b. in Bavaria, 1845; d. in Philadelphia, 1895), was elected president; Simon Wolf, treasurer, and Bernhard Harris, secretary. The board of trustees which was elected included, as representatives of New York, the communal leader, Daniel P. Hays (b. in Pleasantville, N. Y., 1854), and the educator, Henry M. Leipziger (b. in Manchester, England, 1854). There was some enthusiasm in numerous communities for the plan which was “to unite Israelites in a common bond for the purpose of more effectually coping with the grave problems presented by enforced emigration ...” and thirty-one branches were formed throughout the country.[45] But the entire plan came to nothing. In February, 1892, the Jewish Alliance was consolidated with “The American Committee for Ameliorating the Condition of the Russian Refugees,” which was organized in New York apparently for the purpose of heading off the activity of the Alliance. Both organizations were soon forgotten, and the historical value of the Alliance consists chiefly in its having been the first formal manifestation of a desire which was partly satisfied in an entirely different manner fifteen years later by the formation of the American Jewish Committee.
There was another recurrence of persecutions in Russia in the same year, which did not take the sensational form of massacre and pillage, but had as much or even more effect in forcing Jews to leave the country. Relentless expulsions from Moscow and from villages in which the Jews have dwelt peacefully and on good terms with their neighbors forced tens of thousands to leave the country, and as many of them now had relatives or friends in the United States, it was natural for them to turn their faces towards the New World. Conditions were again favorable, for several reasons. The tide of general immigration, which fell from 788,992 in 1882 to 334,203 in 1886, rose after some vaccillations in the following three years to 455,302 in 1890, to 560,319 in 1891 and to 623,084 in 1892. In the year ending June 30, 1893, which includes a few months of the hard times which began in the spring of that year, the number of immigrants was still as high as 502,917, and it is only in the following twelvemonth, when only 314,467 arrived, and in 1895, when immigration fell to 279,948, which was the lowest number since 1879, that the deterrent effects of the panic of 1893 were visible.