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Dear
Sir,
Although
the impressions made upon the mind of a stranger must be, from the nature
of things, often erroneous, being as it were, but glimpses of the surface:
still I trust those which presented themselves to me will not be
altogether uninteresting to you, showing as I think, that our
characteristics are nearly, if not entirely so, every where the same.
As
past occurrences array themselves before the mind’s eye, what a striking
contrast do the former sufferings of Israel and her wrongs present to us
in comparison with the calm peace which, with some few exceptions, she now
enjoys under the enlightened spirit of the present age—a spirit in which
are blended feelings of shame for past injustice—of wounded honour in
withholding from part of a nation its just and equal rights on account of
difference of creed; and of long repressed but powerful feelings of
admiration entertained towards that people who have so long withstood the
shock of ages without once forsaking the standard of their faith.
Perhaps
in no country are these feelings carried to so great an extent as they are
in England, giving us they do to the Jews of Great Britain a position, and
though restricted, for that very restriction on account of its very
injustice, a power, an influence, nowhere else possessed. To one
acquainted with the present position of the English Israelites this will
become apparent on taking into consideration that their number is as but
one to eight hundred of the whole population; and then comparing the
distinction with which they are treated with the honours to which they
would be entitled according to their ratio. Till now for a Jew here (one
in feeling as well as profession) to obtain a classical education was
almost an impossibility. Believing in the truth of the maxim that
knowledge is power, the founders of the different colleges made it
incumbent on each applicant for academical honours to submit to a
religious test to which the scruples of our people would not allow them to
bow; but causing them thus to labour under the disadvantage of having
powers of mind and faculties of intellect but half developed. How far
their own schools made up for this deficiency I will revert to hereafter.
It
is a sad truth, but a truth that has been verified in every page of our
history since Israel journeyed through the divided waters of the Red Sea,
that under the genial air of prosperity many a fair scion forgot his
bright inheritance in the eager longing to roam in strange paths; though
quickly turning from them whilst the storm of destruction raged around,
forgetting its terrors and the lesson it had taught once more in the clear
sunshine that succeeded it. Proud and stiff-necked, Israel hath ever been;
but of true respect, that self-esteem which causes one to value himself
for the intrinsic qualities he may be in possession of rather than those
meretricious ones which may gain him the empty plaudits of the world, she
seems to have been ever deficient. Is not this truth daily forced upon us?
Do we not see in England, France, Germany, and America, many of our
noblest and our best bowing down to the world’s idols instead of
commanding that world’s respect by a firm and consistent conduct? And in
the end, what gain they by it? The bubble bursts and leaves not even a
fragment behind; they gain the contempt of those whose favour they sought,
and are remembered no more by their former friends. Certainly ages of
darkness have been more prolific to us in the production of the wise and
good than ages of light, which seem but to have served to dispel and
scatter our host; so that when we look to the place it stood but now, we
find a moiety merely left. So long as our nation has to look to itself for
support, so long as it is able to fall back upon its own innate resources
only: so long our people may act in unison; but until they learn to mix in
worldly politics, and feel themselves but as possessing one body, one
soul, one interest, it can scarcely be hoped that the means so profusely
supplied will not be frittered away without accomplishing more than one
iota of the good they would achieve under proper management.
Condensed
into a small focus, the Jews of England from their social position,
wealth, and intelligence, are capable of rendering themselves the rallying
point of their co-religionists throughout the world; and should the chiefs
amongst them deem it more worthy of their efforts to advance the social
position of their brethren at large than to endeavour to make use of them
as the mere stepping-stone from which their ambition may mount: they may
perhaps find that whilst securing the permanent prosperity of their nation
they were rendering their own position safer, their own advancement more
certain.
In
the words of a friend: “The Jews of England are forced into too
prominent a position for their intellectual acquirements to sustain; or
for which they have been fitted by their previous pursuits. Whilst all
glides along calmly and securely they will not have to undergo a very
rigid scrutiny, being supposed to possess every needful acquirement for
any and every emergency; but let agitation succeed this calm, they may
find that in the endeavours to elevate themselves without raising the
masses with them, not having these masses to fall back upon in the hour of
danger, they would—should they fall—fall below the elevation from
which they had but just now risen.”
We
shall see if advantage is taken of the present propitious times to
develope those faculties so long lying dormant in the mass, which if
properly cultivated and directed would elevate their position both
mentally and religiously, and by planting a proper selfrespect and
energy in his soul, enable the Jew to emerge from the occupations and
employments that the force of circumstances in bygone ages compelled him
to follow in the pursuit of means of subsistence; and thus by casting from
him his mean pursuits the accompanying associations would be lost. It
would be a strange anomaly indeed if the same means that have improved the
social condition of other sects should not be quite as beneficial in their
operation when applied to our own.—These means are Education and the
Press.
It
must be admitted that much has been done and is being done in the way of
primary schools for the children of the poor.—Attached to the Sephardim
congregation are five schools:—The infant school, supported by the funds
of the congregation, contains about one hundred and fifty boys and girls,
whose clean and neat appearance combined with their cheerful looks cannot
fail to interest the spectator. Much credit is due to the teachers for the
pupils’ proficiency, and not a little to the ladies of the congregation,
who by their constant supervision and solicitude shown in their
advancement, implant the desire to please, by acquiring knowledge, in the
minds of these infants. Seated upon rising steps, many of their exercises
were repeated at the same time by the whole number. Pleasing was it indeed
to hear their infantile voices raised in psalms and hymns, both in Hebrew
(in which many of the eldest children had attained sufficient proficiency
to translate without difficulty some parts of the daily service) and
English to Him who was thus smoothing their paths through life. From this
school they are drafted into the preparatory school for boys, and a
limited number into the Villa Real school, a private endowment for
educating, clothing, and binding out to trades of twenty girls. The system
adopted here seems to be such as is best calculated to carry out the
designs of the benevolent founder, and a simple structure of knowledge is
here reared upon the foundation raised in the infant school; whilst care
is taken that industrial habits shall be early formed by devoting some
part of each day to sewing. The orphan school, as its name indicates,
supplies the place of parents as far as its means permit to those bereft
of earthly protectors. Eight receive their education and maintenance here.
The Shanaray Tikva and the preparatory school for boys are now combined,
and united they number ninety-five pupils. The education here is somewhat
similar to that of the Talmud Torah school of New York; one part of the
boys are studying English whilst the other moiety are endeavouring to
acquire a knowledge of the Hebrew. This school seems to be badly
conducted; the boys present an appearance quite the reverse of neatness;
nor are their attainments such as they no doubt would be were the
gentlemen sufficiently interested in this school to give it their active
supervision. In spite of the bad system and little interest shown in this
institution, some of the youth here give a promise not to be laggards in
life, provided a proper path is opened for their efforts. This school is
supported by the offerings at the Synagogue and by its general funds. It
seems to be the settled policy of the managers of the schools of this
congregation to bind out the youth of both sexes to trades when attaining
a certain age, and either to give in addition a certain stipulated time to
make up for the loss sustained by the masters in allowing the youth to
keep their Sabbaths and festivals, or to pay so much in money in lieu
thereof.
Unlike
the schools of the Sephardim congregation the other schools are supported
by annual subscriptions and donations. The Jews’ Infant school in
Houndsditch, established in 1841, now numbers two hundred scholars, whilst
the applications for admission exceed that number. The building
temporarily appropriated for that purpose not being able to accommodate
more than a limited number, a fund has been raised by subscription which
promises soon to be large enough to enable the directors to construct a
building capable of accommodating all that may apply. The system of
education here is the same as that adopted in the Portuguese infant
school, with the improvement of presenting the object to be described to
the eye of the child. Thus:—a number of monitors sit in different parts
of the room, one holding in her hand a piece of ivory, another of iron
ore, a third some stalks of wheat, &c., and as each class goes in
rotation from one object to the other, they are made to describe the
various properties of each which they see to exist in the thing described
by actual demonstration;—thus giving the ideas, instead of filling their
minds with (to them) unmeaning words.
(To
be continued.)
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