Mission-Work among the Unenlightened Jews

In our great city of New York, no practical question concerning the welfare of Judaism is of more vital importance than that of mission-work among the Jews. [ . . . ] The great every-day phrase, “we are not proselytizers,” here changes into the paradox—Judaize unenlightened Jews. I feel quite sure that at the first view of the subject of our discussion, the question at once presents itself, “Unenlightened Jews?” Our downtown brethren, of course. [ . . . ] The Jews [recent Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire], amid primitive surroundings, devoid of polite arts and refining impetus, preserve intact the seeds of that old-time culture which needed but the fostering care and paternal guidance of a prophetic Moses. They lacked the redeeming Messiah of mercy, fraternity and tolerance to lead them forth out of the house of bondage into the Canaan of enlightenment, which has found its most glorious realization in the United States of America.

Why harp on the deficiencies and glaring faults of these children of the Ghetto, who have but lately crossed the Red Sea of strife, and are as yet deeply intoxicated with the martial ring of victory? Why emphasize so unfeelingly the dearth of refinement, the lack of culture? Who was there in holy Russia—God save the mark!—to release them from the thralldom of uncouth manners or even the valley of sin? None.

And who are there to lend a helping, nay, a saving hand here?

The women of America! The religiously enlightened matrons of our country, delivered from the oppressor’s yoke, must dive into the depths of vice to spread culture and enlightenment among our semi-barbaric Russian immigrants, not insusceptible to the keen edge of the civilizers’ art. With this prolegomena, let us go into medias res.

Friends! Let us now turn to that side of the question which, indeed, is the Gordian knot of our difficulties. I almost fear to touch it when I think how slight results are as compared with the tireless efforts one must expend to attain them. I do not know whether your cities are the haven of so much abject and depraved poverty as we find in New York. I have lived in Baltimore and San Francisco, and can say, from experience, that from the very nature of things, one finds more depravity and greater poverty in the larger city. This, I believe, is a self-evident fact. New York is the dumping ground of the Russian exile, and coming as he does from benighted Russia into the great Ghetto of America, the temptations that are held out to the wanderer are very great. How often have I heard a mother bewail the downfall of a heretofore dutiful son or daughter! How often found the deserted wife with children, or met the husband torn by the pangs of jealousy of the faithless spouse! It is that great serpent which grows by what it feeds upon, which one finds living under the same roof with poverty—vice. The experience of our little band, called the Ahavath Chesed Sisterhood, shows that fully twenty-five per cent of the poor who appeal to us for aid are the unfortunate victims of desertion. O, my sisters! ye who are the mothers of noble sons and fair daughters, ye who are the respected wives of true and noble men, think of the enduring torture that must come of poverty, wretched poverty and shame. [ . . . ] “Arise, for the day is calling, and you lie dreaming on.” Put on your girdle of charity, light up your lamp of culture and refinement, and go forth into the hovel of your sister, who, without your help and encouragement, will be forever lost.

Some months ago I was invited to a conference with Mrs. J. B. Lowell, one of our most estimable women, and a member of the Charity Organization Society of New York City. Said she, “Have you no missionaries, no King’s Daughters among your people? I visit your poor constantly, and have never yet met any of the better class Jewesses in the lower quarter of the city!” The dart went straight home. I knew too well the truth of her statement. We Jewesses are not missionaries; we do not go into the camp of the lowly and oppressed; we await our sisters at our own doors. We do not hunt out the irreligious, and by precepts and suasion teach them how to live, show them how to die! [ . . . ] It is our duty to give, not only materially, but morally as well. We must seek our sister and show her the way. Inspire her with confidence in you that she may feel that in you she has found a friend! This can be done only by entering her home and her homelife. And now that her door is open to you, and you may enter at will, gently but firmly teach her that cleanliness is next to godliness. [ . . . ]

When I undertook my first rounds among our poor, as a committee of the United Hebrew Charities, the first and greatest discouragement I encountered was the utter lack of cleanliness which prevailed on all sides. When one thinks that the tenants must carry water up three flights of stairs, and there are always the proverbial large families to be provided with this article of luxury; and, furthermore, when we realize that poverty is not usually a great incentive, but rather dulls the senses, it is most natural that when want leads the way, vice follows, and dirt and disease come up in quick succession. [ . . . ] It has never been charged against our people that we do not take care of our poor, but it has been said, and I fear truthfully, that we do not raise them to the standard of an enlightened citizen. [ . . . ]

And now, having aided our less fortunate sister morally and materially, let us grasp her by the hand, and show her that religion means, not only the chanting of prayers; it means the practice of goodness and virtue, the living of our faith in our contact with our neighbor. We must not be clannish and narrow-minded. Down with the wall that divides us from our Christian brother! High up with the standard of Judaism in the other camp. Act in every sense of the word as American Jews. This is the great lesson we must teach. It is a glorious privilege to be a Jew, but it is also glorious to be an American, and we must appreciate those privileges by acting up to them in the fullest sense of the word. Refined, chaste, quiet in our manners and dress, we must adopt the vernacular of this blessed free country, and perfect ourselves in it. No foreign tongue, no jargon! We are Israelites, but we are Americans as well. The educational aspect of the question presents manifold difficulties, but one with which, I think, we can cope, if we grasp at the root—the children. [ . . . ] Form Hebrew free kindergartens, free classes for older children, free Sabbath Schools, free sewing and reading classes, free working girls’ clubs, and reading and religious classes for boys and men.