בס"ד
Vol. IX. No. 1 Nissan 5612, April 1852 |
<<55>> |
News Items |
St. Louis, Missouri.—We arrived in St. Louis on the 12th of December, and soon discovered that there was a large body of Israelites residing here; who are, or at least were then, divided into three congregations; the original, or Polish, under the presidency of Mr. Mark Samuel, the German presided over by Mr. Myer Friede, and the Bohemian under Mr. Daniel Block. The first have a Synagogue in Fifth near Green, but the ground is only leased, and in four or five years the lease will expire, besides that it is on the west instead of the east side of the street. Just before our arrival an effort had been made to effect a union of the three bodies, to erect a suitable place of worship in which all could meet with satisfaction and edification; and, whilst we were there, hopes were entertained that the union would be brought about but we have not had a letter since our leaving from the parties’ having, the business in hand, and we cannot say, therefore, whether anything has been done. We regret to state that the Israelites of this flourishing city require a thorough reorganization, but little having as yet been done for religious instruction, except teaching a little Hebrew by the Rev. Edward Miers of the Fifth Street congregation at <<56>> such hours when his other duties give him leisure and opportunity. But the necessity that
something ought to be done is felt very strongly,
and, we really believe, that as soon as the
children, now mostly very young, advance a little
further, when the want of training them to religion
will be more apparent than it is now, something will
be spontaneously done, if even till then affairs
remain in their present condition. We know well
enough that it is extremely difficult to bring about
a good understanding and a concert of action, between persons who have come
together, without any previous knowledge of each
other, from all parts of the world, and who have,
many of them, only lately settled in a distant city
removed from any influence from abroad, wherefore
public opinion has to spring up spontaneously
among them before any good can be done. But, at the
same time, we also convinced ourself that the sense
of the people is after all right, and that it could
easily be led into a proper channel, with a little
forbearance and some patience to bear up against
difficulties. As an evidence of the proper spirit,
we mention that it having been announced that we
would, by request, address the people at the
Synagogue on Sunday afternoon, the 14th (there not
having been time enough for a public announcement
previous to the Sabbath), on the subject of uniting
the congregations, more than a hundred persons
assembled promptly, although the weather was
fearfully inclement, and we were scarcely known in
person to more than ten persons in the whole
assembly. We feel convinced that here, as well as
elsewhere, the people are anxious to hear, and be
instructed in, their religion, and we have not the
vanity to suppose that they came to be edified by
our eloquence; for, in truth, we spoke everywhere in
the simplest manner, and merely touched on such
topics as must be evident to the commonest
understanding; and in the address to which we now
allude, we only placed before the people the
absurdity of keeping three organizations, when the
Polish, German, and Bohemian customs hardly differ,
except in the amount of poetical prayers to be
recited on certain days, which prayers, if
altogether omitted, would leave our worship not the
less effective. In all other respects the religion
not alone, but the forms are identical; and
hence the evident impropriety to keep aloof from
each other, by which all good works are checked, and
estrangement of feelings quite uselessly kept up. We
trust that the approbation given to our remarks,
which extended nearly for an hour, have had more
than a passing effect; at least we had cause for
hope at the time we left On the following Sabbath (Hanukkah), we spoke again, by request, <<57>> on the inroads which vain-glorious philosophy has lately made among us, just as it did in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, when we were nearly exterminated, only that God used up pious men of might in the family of the Asmoneans, who, aided by hearts as heroic as theirs, restored the worship to the profaned temple; and we drew hence a happy presage for the future, that religion will resume again her empire, through the instrumentality of the few who will, at all times, remain true to their covenant with the Lord; since in all the transgressions of Israel, there never were wanting those who, though but unimportant as regards numbers and standing, stood firm in the defence of the religion which we have received from the hand of God. Owing to the sudden setting in
of rigorous winter in the middle of December, we
were detained at Quincy, Illinois.—While
in St. Louis, we were told by a resident of Quincy,
that the Israelites of the place had commenced a
congregational organization, by electing a Shochet,
and we have full confidence that with this, the good
work is not considered finished. In all the towns
within several hundred miles of <<58>> Bolivar, Tennessee.—We learned that during the last holy-days, the people of the vicinity met at Bolivar for prayers. We have not heard the particulars attending the occasion; but we chronicle the mere fact, since at some future day, those who come after us may perhaps refer to this simple announcement, as containing the first trace of a prosperous congregation. “I must not omit to mention a circumstance which happened in our city. A Mr. E. Cohen, lately from England, having a son born to him, concluded with a praiseworthy courage to perform the circumcision himself, on the eighth day, as we have no Mohel nearer than New Orleans. People endeavoured to persuade him to wait till the child could be taken thither, or a Mohel be sent for. But he replied, that our Father Abraham performed this duty on the eighth day, why should he not do it also? He therefore did as he contemplated, in the presence of a surgeon; and the child is doing well.” So far our correspondent; and we are sure that the faithful will applaud Mr. Cohen’s act of faith. |