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(For the Occident,)
Augusta, October 25th, 1846.
Mr. Editor:—
I have been assigned the pleasing duty
of announcing to you the progress which the Israelites of Augusta have
recently made towards the public observance of their religion, and the
establishment of a congregation. The partial success with which our
efforts have been crowned, may be mainly attributed to the zeal which has
been so generally manifested, and which if unabated will ultimately
accomplish all that we desire.
For many years the Israelites of our
city, though ever adhering to their faith, have been so thoroughly mingled
with the Christian population, that their identity as a religious sect has
been entirely destroyed, and no united effort has hitherto been made to
restore it. It was reserved for our generation to effect a separation, and
the worshippers of the true and only God now constitute a distinct class. The
establishment of a Hebrew Sunday School, about eighteen months since,
and the consequent intercourse which it produced among the Jewish
families, paved the way to this gratifying result; a result which must
gladden the heart of every Israelite who loves his time-honoured and holy
religion. To those ladies who originated and have since presided
over this valuable institution, the meed of praise must be awarded. The
usefulness of that school has been fully tested, and while it has realized
the most sanguine expectations of its friends, its founders have been
richly rewarded by the enthusiasm it
has kindled in the cause of Judaism.
After ascertaining that a sufficient
number of Israelites could be convened for the celebration of
public worship, a meeting was called on the 12th September last, to make
arrangements for keeping Roshashana and Kippur. Committees were
appointed to make the necessary regulations. The full attendance and
lively interest displayed at this, our first meeting, encouraged us to
renewed exertions, and another meeting was subsequently held for the
purpose of forming the Israelites into a body. Resolutions to that
effect were proposed and adopted, and a Hebrew Society, under the name of
the “Children of Israel,” was finally organized. The performance
of public worship on all occasions possible, and the relief of our sick
and suffering brethren, were the ends designed in its formation, as
embodied in the following preamble”
“The scattered Israelites of Augusta,
Geo., and Hamburg, S. C., desirous of uniting as a band of brothers, with
a view of publicly worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
of extending charity towards our needy brethren, do agree to form
themselves into a society with that. object.”
A vote for officers was then taken,
which resulted in the election of the following gentlemen: John I.
Cohen, President; Sam. Levy, Vice President; Lewis Levy, Secretary; Sam.
Lilienthal, Treasurer. Committee on charity: the President, Marcus
Schiller, Isaac Levy.
Temporary laws were enacted for the
government of the society, and a committee appointed to draft a
constitution, which, at a succeeding meeting, was adopted with some
unimportant amendments. Twenty persons came forward and joined the society,
of whom nearly two-thirds are residents of this city and Hamburg. The late
holy days, Roshashana and Kippur, were celebrated by our people in a room
procured for the purpose, and fitted up as nearly as possible in
conformity with the Jewish customs. The service was conducted with
great solemnity and decorum, and gave general satisfaction. To Mr.
Lewis Carr, of Madison, who was selected as Reader on both occasions, our
united thanks are due. He went through the ritual in a dignified and
impressive manner. Since that time we assemble for service weekly,
Mr. Samuel Levy officiating as Reader. The prayers are said in Hebrew
and English, equal portions of each, and are interspersed with Hebrew and
English hymns, sung by a choir of ladies and gentlemen organized for the
purpose. An application was lately made by our president to the
authorities of Augusta for a section of land to be used as a Jewish burial-ground.
With characteristic liberality, the City Councils have granted it, and a
committee are now soliciting contributions for the erection of a suitable
wall or railing. The Jews of our city are so limited in means as
well as numbers, that the they will be enabled to contribute but a very
small portion of the necessary amount. It is, therefore, our
intention to appeal to the different congregations in the United States
for pecuniary aid, as well for the above-mentioned purpose as for the
building of a Synagogue. I cannot commend too highly the generosity of our
Christian brethren. The calls which we have made upon them have been
promptly responded to, and a just God, whom we worship in common,
will reward their liberality. The work of benevolence and charity,
which we can accomplish unaided, it will be the aim of our society to
encourage and promote. A portion of the members will always act as a
charitable committee, to relieve the indigent and suffering Israelites who
may be thrown among us; and we entertain the pleasing hope that in time to
come the widow and the fatherless will have cause to bless the “Children
of Israel.”
It will be seen, Mr. Editor, by the
foregoing brief transcript of our proceedings, that the Jews of Augusta
have effected much for the temporal and spiritual welfare of their
brethren. They have established a house of worship, in which the
Israelite may unite in prayer to the God of Israel; they have appointed
individuals of a kindred faith to watch over his couch in sickness, and
smooth his dying pillow, and when his eyes have closed in death, and his
spirit has winged its flight to the regions of immortality, they have
prepared a repository for his earthly remains, wherein they can be
interred with all those rites and solemnities to which the followers of
Judaism are so devotedly attached.
T. J. M.
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