CHAPTER XXI

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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.

The Jewish immigrants, who were penetrating into various parts of the country in that period, formed only a portion of the new arrivals. The bulk of them, as in later times, remained in the East, principally in New York City, where not less than ten new congregations were established in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. While the proportion of those unaffiliated with a synagogue was probably smaller then than it is now, the tendency to establish very small synagogues was also less, so that the existence of a dozen congregations in New York about the year 1850 may denote a larger Jewish population at that time than an equal or even a larger number would imply at the present time. It would also not be safe to insist that there were not at that time in existence several congregations whose names were not preserved on account of their insignificance or for other reasons.

The German element, which predominated in this second period of Jewish immigration, was mostly under the influence of the liberalism, which was then prevalent in Germany. But the political liberal of central Europe at that time found in the United States all, and in some respects more than, he was striving for in the Old Country, including that national unity which was then only a pious dream in Germany. Aside from the question of slavery, which was not yet acute in the North at the beginning of that period, the German liberal found here all his ideals realized: perfect equality for all white men without distinction of creed or nationality; absolute freedom of speech and of the press; more individual liberty and better opportunities for work, for trade and for enterprise than could be thought of in the localities from which he came. It was natural for most of them to sympathize with the abolitionist movement, and later they were among the first to join the newly formed Republican party. But even the political radical or revolutionary of the other side of the ocean had little to object to in the democracy which he found here fully developed, and he soon became a patriotic, and to some extent a conservative, American citizen.

It was different in regard to the religious liberalism or radicalism which was then occupying the minds of the Jews of Germany. The conditions in that country made religious reform one of the burning questions of the day among them; some saw in its adoption a sure means of obtaining the much coveted political emancipation, while others thought it the only protection against the frightfully increasing number of conversions which were then occurring. Orthodox Judaism was certainly losing ground in Germany at that time, and it was difficult to foresee where it would stop or how much of it would remain. Wherever there was a struggle between the old order of things in religious matters and the new, the latter was certain to prevail. Within a few decades the real old style Orthodoxy almost totally disappeared from most parts of Germany, retaining a foothold only in the province of Posen and in isolated localities like Mayence and Frankfort-on-the-Main. Elsewhere even those who did not join the extreme reformers adopted a conservatism which was far from the old Orthodoxy. The bulwark of Orthodoxy――the poor Jewish masses――was itself disappearing: the old style rabbis who survived were in despair, and when they died modern German preachers were chosen to fill their places. It seemed as if the temple was swallowing the synagogue, and the religious radical was victorious decades before the political radical obtained even a part of what he desired.

The conditions in this country were entirely different. Emancipation had been achieved, and there was practically no Jewish question as far as the outside world was concerned. There were no wholesale desertions from the camp of Judaism, but that slow drifting away of a part of the wealthier class, which is not an unusual phenomenon wherever and whenever there is no legal restriction or stubborn prejudice to prevent gradual assimilation. There was also a steady replenishment, or rather an augmentation, of the poorer Orthodox classes, among whom the Polish and Russian element was steadily increasing, a prejudice which is almost national keeping them apart from the Germans, who were rapidly advancing in wealth, social and political position, as well as in religious radicalism. The old American element which remained true to traditional Judaism, the considerable part of the Germans who would not accept reform, and the masses of later arrivals, gave to Orthodox Judaism in America a strength which it never possessed in Germany after the close of the eighteenth century. The steady increase in immigration from the Slavic countries easily filled up the places of those whose improved material and social condition caused them to drop out of the ranks of the Orthodox; just as those who rose to wealth and joined the reformers filled up the places left vacant by those who advanced beyond Reform Judaism into that complete assimilation into which it must lead those of its devotees who emphasize its progressive side and neglect the eternal and historical sides.

These conditions reduced the struggle between Orthodoxy and Reform to something hardly above an animated controversy in the denominational periodicals, and its historical value consists chiefly as an indicator of material progress. There was no class-struggle between the wealthy Jews and their poorer brethren who came after them in increasingly larger numbers, and there was no real conflict between the former’s and the latter’s religious views for the same reason. Accession to the ranks of wealth usually meant affiliation with a Reform congregation, where the poor man could not afford to join and would not be welcome if he came. While several of the young enthusiasts who came over permeated with the fighting spirit of the German reformers might have thought at the beginning of continuing the struggle in the Old-World fashion until the “enemy” was annihilated, it did not take them long to discover the futility of such efforts. The task of Reform Judaism in America was plainly not to conquer the Orthodox synagogue or to win recruits from the ranks of those who wished to remain faithful to traditional Judaism, but to enroll under its banner the affluent American or Americanized Jews who were on the point of drifting away altogether. The view of the extremely conservative, who considered these reformers as already lost to Judaism, has been shared by a large majority of the Jews of the United States for the last sixty or seventy years. But aside from condemning public declarations which were offensive to the Orthodox spirit and which were occasionally made by reformed bodies or by their conspicuous representatives, the Orthodox masses have, as usual, displayed more fortitude than aggressiveness in religious matters. This accounts for the presence of numerous leaders, agitators and organizers in the Reform camp, where newly assumed positions had to be defended to one’s own satisfaction even if there was no formidable attack; while Orthodoxy easily held its own by force of increasing numbers, even if its tenacity was relaxed by the stress of circumstances.

The autonomy of congregation, which is a characteristic feature of new Jewish settlements, and which remained permanently in a country where there are no general laws about religion and no special relations with the government to force on the Jews official representatives, was also favorable to the spread of Reform. Still, the first attempt which was made in Charleston, S. C., in 1824, to imitate the Reform movement of Germany was a failure. The “Reformed Society of Israelites,” which was established there in that year by twelve former members of the Congregation Bet Elohim, who left the latter religious body because a memorial for the reformation of the ritual was rejected by the vestry without discussion, had but a brief existence. But Charleston was losing its comparative importance and was attracting less Jewish immigration than the northern seaport communities. So there was a continual drifting away into indifference, and when a new synagogue was built to replace the one which was destroyed by the great conflagration of 1838, the petition of thirty-eight members that an organ be placed in the new structure, was granted. There was again a split in the congregation, which did not become united until it was greatly reduced by the ravages of the Civil War.

It was the rabbi of the Charleston congregation (Gustav Poznanski), a man imbued with the spirit of the Reform Temple of Hamburg, who decided, as an authority on Jewish matters, that an organ in the synagogue was permissible according to religious law. This is typical of numerous later cases in which an autonomous congregation, subject to no other religious authority and not connected with any other religious body, accepted the authority of its own rabbi to modify its ritual and its religious practices in accordance with his personal views or inclinations. Several other “Reform Vereine” in the East and the Middle West had a more lasting success, because they obtained able and energetic leaders from among the young German scholars who came over at that time, and who were, so to speak, in duty bound to continue the spread of Reform in their new home. But curiously enough, and perhaps emblematic of the ultimate course of American Judaism, the first real and successful attempt to adjust Judaism to its surroundings in the United States was not made by an adherent of the Reform movement, but by its strongest and ablest opponent which this country has developed. Long before the new leaders of that movement arrived and began to spread their ideas and ideals in the German language, there arose a vigorous and diligent pioneer who introduced the English sermon in the American synagogue, who established the first influential Jewish periodical, a man whose strong intellect and organizing abilities left their impress on the Jewish community of the entire country――Rabbi Isaac Leeser.

Illustration: Rabbi Isaac Leeser.

He was born in Neuenkirchen, Prussia, in 1806, and received his secular education in the gymnasium of Münster. But he was also instructed in Hebrew and was well versed in several tractates of the Talmud, when he left for the United States at the age of eighteen. He came to this country in May, 1824, and settled in Richmond, Va., being employed in the business of his uncle, Zalma Rehiné, for the following five years. He went to a school for a short time, but studied much in his leisure hours, increasing not only his secular knowledge but also his acquaintance with Jewish lore. He early evinced interest in religious affairs, and was soon assisting Rev. Isaac B. Seixas (1782–1839), of the Portuguese Congregation of Richmond, in teaching religious classes. In 1828 an article in the “London Quarterly” reflecting on the Jews was answered by Leeser in the columns of the “Richmond Whig” and attracted considerable attention on account of its excellence. This ultimately led to his being elected Minister of Congregation Mickweh Israel in Philadelphia in 1829.

He came to Philadelphia in that year and resided there for the remainder of his life. He preached his first English sermon in 1830 and in the same year appeared his translation of Johlson’s “Instruction in the Mosaic Religion.” In the following ten years appeared several volumes of his articles and discourses, a Hebrew Spelling Book, and a Catechism. In 1843 he established “The Occident and American Jewish Advocate,” which he edited for twenty-five years, until his death, when it was continued for one year longer by Mr. (now Judge) Mayer Sulzberger, who had latterly assisted Rabbi Leeser in its direction. In 1845 appeared his translation of the Bible, which “became an authorized version for the Jews of America.” Besides writing, editing and translating, he visited various parts of the United States, where he lectured on divers topics relating to Judaism, always advocating and spreading that enlightened conservatism for which he consistently stood all his life.

The Hebrew Education Society, the Board of Hebrew Ministers, and the Jewish Hospital of Philadelphia owe their foundation to his active efforts; and he also advocated a union of all the Jewish charities of that city, which was consummated some years after his decease. The Board of Delegates of American Israelites, the first American Jewish Publication Society and the Maimonides College (of which he was the first president) were also created mostly through his influence.

After serving twenty-one years at the Mickweh Israel synagogue, Rabbi Leeser retired in 1850 and held no clerical position until 1857, when the Bet El Emet Congregation was organized by a number of his friends. He became its rabbi, continuing until his death, on February 1, 1868. The opinion that he was “the most distinguished of Hebrew spiritual guides in this country”[32] is hardly exaggerated.

The first among the prominent leaders of the Reform movement to arrive in this country was Dr. Max Lilienthal (b. in Munich, Bavaria, 1815; d. in Cincinnati, O., 1882). He played an important part in the attempt of the Russian Government to spread secular knowledge among the Jews of that country by drastic means; but when he seemed to be at the height of his career he suddenly left Russia under circumstances which have never been thoroughly explained, and came to the United States in 1845. Settling in New York he first became the rabbi of the Congregation Anshe Chesed on Norfolk street, and later of Sha’ar ha-Shomayyim, on Attorney street. These were Orthodox congregations, and there was considerable friction between the religious members and the rabbi, who was inclined towards Reform. He gave up the ♦rabbinate in 1850 and established an educational institute, at the same time becoming one of the most active spirits in the “Verein der Lichtfreunde,” a society formed in 1849 for the discussion and spreading of the teachings of Reform. In 1855 he was elected rabbi of the Congregation Bene Israel, of Cincinnati, O., and held the position until his death. He wrote many articles and several works of prose and poetry, both in German and in English, and was an active communal worker, a teacher, and even participated in the municipal affairs of Cincinnati, serving as a member of the Board of Education, as a director of the Relief Union and of the university board. But he was eclipsed and practically reduced to the position of assistant to the man who surpassed him as a leader and organizer, and who became the recognized head of the reformed Jews of the West.

Illustration: Dr. Isaac M. Wise.

This man was Isaac Mayer Wise (b. in Bohemia, 1819; d. in Cincinnati, 1900), who came to this country in the summer of 1846 and after a brief stay in New York became the rabbi of Congregation Bet El of Albany (organized 1838), the first, and then the only, congregation of that city. He had received an old-fashioned rabbinical education at home, but he soon developed here into a radical reformer and introduced in his synagogue many novel features and practices, often in the face of strong opposition. A split in the community followed, in 1850, and his followers organized a new congregation, the Anshe Emet, of which he remained rabbi for four years. In 1854 he was chosen rabbi of Congregation Bene Yeshurun in Cincinnati, and held the position for the remaining forty-six years of his life. He established there “The Israelite” (now “The American Israelite”) soon after his arrival in Cincinnati, and through this organ he advocated, with much energy, his ideas of Reform and the plans of organization which he succeeded in carrying out, after many failures and setbacks, about twenty years later, when the time for unification and organization had arrived. He also established, in 1855, a German weekly, the “Deborah,” by means of which he reached a part of the Jewish public which did not read English. He wrote much for his periodicals, and was also the author of numerous books on theological and historical subjects, and also several novels, and even two plays (in German). But his chief strength was his ability as an organizer. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Hebrew Union College (opened 1875) and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (organized 1889) owe their existence to him.

David Einhorn (b. in Bavaria, 1809; d. in New York, 1879), who came to America in his mature years, had played a somewhat prominent part in the Reform movement in Germany, where he held several important rabbinical positions. His scholarly attainments were of a high order; but he was even more radical than Wise and Lilienthal, whom he strongly opposed soon after his arrival to this country in 1855. He became in that year the rabbi of Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, Md. (organized in 1843), and soon afterward he began to issue there a monthly magazine in German under the name of “Sinai,” in which he advocated his views of Reform. In 1861 Einhorn was compelled to leave Baltimore on account of his anti-slavery views, which he courageously expressed despite the local sympathy with the South. He went to Philadelphia, where he became rabbi of Kenesset Israel, removing to New York in 1866, where he became the rabbi of Congregation Adath Yeshurun, a position which he held until a short time before his death. In later years he became reconciled to his former opponents in the Reform camp, and was the leading spirit in the rabbinical conference which was held in Philadelphia in 1869.

Dr. Samuel Adler (b. in Worms, Germany, 1809; d. in New York, 1891) was a preacher and assistant rabbi in his native city until 1842, when he became rabbi of Alzey, Rhine Hesse, and remained there about fifteen years. He also participated in the rabbinical conferences in Germany, in which the Reform movement was to some extent systematized; and he was considered one of its representatives there when he was called, in 1857, to ♦become rabbi of Congregation Emanuel of New York. This was the first avowedly Reform congregation in the city, and has since become the wealthiest Jewish congregation in the country. It was organized in 1845. Its first place of worship was a private house on the corner of Clinton and Grand streets, and its first rabbi-preacher, L. Merzbacher (d. 1856) began his duties at a salary of $200 per annum. Dr. Adler was brought as his successor, and held the position until he was retired as rabbi emeritus in 1874, being succeeded by Dr. Gustav Gottheil (b. in Pinne, Prussian-Poland, 1827; d. in New York, 1903). Adler was in his time practically the only Reform rabbi in New York, and neither his disposition, which was that of a scholarly retired man, nor the local circumstances, which were influenced by the fact that the Poles and Russians had a large majority even in the supposedly German period, were favorable to the spread of Reform. He was the possessor of a large library of rabbinica, which was after his death presented by his family to the Hebrew Union College. Dr. Felix Adler (b. in Alzey, 1851), the founder of the Society for Ethical Culture, is his second son.

The last of the American pioneer Reform rabbis whose activities date back to the time before the outbreak of the Civil War was Bernhard Felsenthal (b. in Germany, 1822; d. in Chicago, 1908). While originally intended for a secular career, he was a thorough Talmudical scholar, and for a decade before he came to this country (in 1854) he was a teacher in a Jewish congregational school. After three years spent in Madison, Ind., as rabbi and teacher, he removed to Chicago, where he became an employee of a Jewish banking firm. In 1858 the Jüdische Reformverein of Chicago was formed, with Felsenthal as its secretary and guiding spirit. In the following year he published a pamphlet in favor of Reform which attracted much attention; and two years later, after the Reformverein developed into Sinai Congregation, he became its first rabbi. In 1864 he took charge of Zion Congregation, the second Reform congregation of Chicago, and held the position until he was retired as rabbi emeritus, in 1887. While he was theoretically an extreme radical in religious matters, his extensive knowledge of rabbinical literature and his love for Jewish learning, added to his generous disposition and real affection for Jewish scholars of the old type, helped to make his relations with the Orthodox Jews more pleasant than in the case of other representative rabbis of his class. He was probably the only Reform rabbi in this country who was really beloved among the masses of the immigrants from the Slavic countries, and he thus exemplified a possibility of a better understanding between the different wings of American Judaism, which was then, and partly still is, by many considered difficult of accomplishment.

Samuel Hirsch (b. in Rhenish Prussia, 1815; d. in Chicago, 1889) belonged to this group, although he did not arrive in America until 1866, after having served as chief rabbi of Luxembourg for nearly a quarter of a century. He succeeded David Einhorn in Philadelphia, where he remained for twenty-two years. After retiring from the ministry he removed to Chicago, where he spent his last days with his son, Dr. Emil G. Hirsch (b. in Luxembourg, 1852), the eminent preacher and professor of rabbinical literature at the University of Chicago. Samuel Hirsch belonged to the extreme wing of radical reformers, and was one of the first to advocate the holding of special services in the Temple on Sunday. His chief work was written in Germany, “Die Religionsphilosophie der Juden” (Leipsic, 1842), of which only one part appeared. It is an effort to explain Judaism from the Hegelian point of view, but as it was written long before he arrived in this country, it has no interest for American Jewish history except, perhaps, as an instance of the influence of the German method of abstract theorizing on the uncompromising radical pioneers of the American Reform movement.

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