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We have received a
communication of considerable length from Mr. Simeon
Abrahams, lately returned from Palestine, concerning
the poor of the Holy Land; but its length prevents
us from giving it entire; we find it impossible to
insert all the papers which have been sent us; we
give, therefore, merely the most important parts,
leaving out all such as bear, and we think unjustly,
on some of the messengers who have been here from
time to time to collect funds in person. Mr. A.
says, “Now that <<220>>every one is satisfied that
something ought to and should be done for the
assistance of our suffering brethren in the Holy
Land, and as all appear desirous of assisting in the
good work of rendering more endurable the trials and
afflictions which now lie heavily on these poor and
oppressed men—men whose whole time is spent in the
study and meditation of the Holy Law, the grand
inheritance of Israel,—men who are living in the
land of our fathers, labouring under every kind of
privation and oppression, with scarcely the
necessaries, not to mention the comforts of life:
the question presents itself, ‘What is or can be
done for our unfortunate brothers, who make such
great sacrifices on account of that religion of
which we of the seed of Abraham so greatly boast?’
“That they ought to be
relieved, admits of no question or doubt; but the
manner that the relief can or ought to be raised by
their more favoured brethren in free America, who
neither know nor feel religious oppression, appears
to be a matter of debate. All appear willing, nay
more, anxious to grant some aid; but unfortunately
too many methods are proposed to render this
assistance effectual. All admit that something
should be done by which the whole amount raised for
these poor people should reach them, without
discount, drawback, or commission of whatever kind;
whereas, by the system of accredited collectors who
every now and then come over, a great portion is
lost in traveling expenses, besides which, one-third
of the net proceeds is retained by them for
commissions, and thus nearly the whole amount
collected is consumed without the least perceptible
benefit to those for whom the donors intended their
charitable gifts.
“This desideratum was in part
successfully accomplished about sixteen years ago,
when the society תרומת
הקדש of the city of New York was established,
under the auspices of the learned and venerable
Israel B. Kursheedt, Esq., the principal object of
which was, the collecting and forwarding of funds to
the four cities (Jerusalem, Hebron, Zafeht, and
Tiberias) of Palestine, but more especially that
preventing the complete system of robbery and
deception which before that period was so often
practised on the Jews of the United states, by
persons pretending to have authority to collect for
the Palestine fund, who afterwards were proved to be
rank imposters.*
“The funds collected by this
society, have uniformly been forwarded to the pious
and charitable Rabbi Hirsch Lehren, of Amsterdam,
who so energetically attends << 221>>to the relief
of the poor of Palestine, and the gifts were thus
forwarded to the Holy Land to be equally distributed
among the inhabitants of the four cities. But when a
complaint was afterwards made about some neglect of
the people of Hebron, a special remittance was made
to Sir Moses Montefiore, of London.”
Mr. A. inveighs unjustly
against the messenger from Hebron, of whom
we have
before spoken in the Occident. The sufferings of
that city were dreadful through the civil war which
raged between the rival sheikhs, who each wished to
rule there.
This we knew before the
messenger,
Jechiel Cohen, arrived; and we are
pleased that we contributed something towards the
success of his mission. The extraordinary necessity
of the Jews of that place, caused them to make a
separate appeal, and it is no sin, surely, that they
were aided to a greater degree than Rabbi Hirsch Lehren’s poor purse for general disbursement would
permit. Equally correct was it for those who had the
means to aid Rabbi Nissim of Shushan, in Persia.
The
Jews of that ill-fated country were dreadfully
maltreated; many, to escape with their life, became
Mahomedans; others were imprisoned till a ransom
could be paid for them. All this we knew before the
messenger arrived. He, we acknowledge, is not the
most fit person to send on such a mission; his bad
temper and want of knowledge of any European
language, ill qualify him to make a successful
appeal; but we pledge our word that he is no
impostor. Teheran, Candahar, Ispahan, and Shushan,
are in Persia, not in Palestine and it would be
curious, indeed, to find either place on the map of
Judea. But we approve, nevertheless, of Mr.
Abraham’s proposition not to give to the
messengers, should they come, anything except
gifts for themselves to defray their personal
expenses; and to send the donations collected for
Palestine through some accredited friend of
ארץ ישראל such as
Sir Moses Montefiore or R. Hirsch Lehren.
This would soon stop the
arrival of messengers, as thus they could not get
any commissions for collections, and the funds would
reach, undiminished, those for whom they are
intended. For all that, agreeing as we do with Mr.
A. on this point, we should be more pleased yet to
see the giving of money altogether done away with.
Let the effort of Sir Moses to establish habits of
industry in Palestine be seconded, and thus they who
now depend upon the pittance which cold charity can
give, will be able to help themselves and become
independent of the aid of others. Those who wish
not to labour, deserve no sympathy; and for the aged
and infirm, provision could easily be made, in case
the able-bodied were compelled to support
themselves. We invite attention to the subject, and
will gladly admit any temperately written article
which may be forwarded to us.
<<222>>
Since the above was
written, we have seen and conversed with Rabbi Aaron Selig Ashkenazi, the accredited messenger from the
Polish congregation of Jerusalem. Rabbi Aaron is a
native of Lithuania, in Poland, but for about
eighteen years, a resident of the Holy City. He
represents that, as usual, great distress prevails
among his countrymen at Jerusalem, especially as
many of the annual contributions which formerly were
sent thither have not been received of late on
account of the troubles in Europe. He has,
therefore, been sent to America without his own
consent, being ordered by the elders to appeal to
our brothers on this side of the Atlantic for their
aid in relieving them from their sore distress.
Rabbi A. Does not wish to receive the money
collected himself, but desires it to be sent through
Sir Moses Montefiore, and only will receive as much
as will defray his very small expense account. We
were truly pleased with the quiet and proper
demeanour of this messenger, and we really trust
that he may succeed in impressing on the minds of
Israelites all over the country to do something for
the poor of Palestine. The best method would be to
get up a society in each place, the object of which
is to be to collect by small contributions, from
fifty cents and upwards, a moderate sum to be sent
annually to Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Zafeth,
and to designate how much shall be appropriated in
each congregation, so as to avoid any
misunderstanding respecting the charitable
intentions of the donors; and we have every
confidence in the integrity of the various heads of
the congregations that the directions would be
obeyed to the letter.
We also learn that two other
messengers are now in New York,
Rabbi Joseph
Schwartz, and Rabbi Zadock Levy, who were sent by
other bodies at Jerusalem to make an appeal in their
behalf. Now, we deem it unwise to give any
considerable sum to these truly worthy and
honourable men, as they no doubt are; it is well to
listen to their message, and then to make
collections, forwarding them direct to Europe
through bills of exchange, so as to clear the
messengers of any suspicion that they might
misappropriate the funds to their own use or
distribute it among favourites only. We should not
neglect those who still linger in our ancient
inheritance near the graves of our ancestors; but we
ought to take due care that whatever relief is
granted should not be wasted by useless traveling
expenses and burdensome commissions. The subject
requires attention, and we hope that it will receive
it from all who have anything to bestow in this
direction, let the amount be ever so small; since
the pittance on which the poor in Palestine live is
almost incredible. We do not ask for large gifts;
but surely a small sum almost every one can spare,
and this is all which is needed. We may probably
recur to this subject hereafter. |
