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During the past Tabernacle holy-days we were waited
upon by the President of the Albany Congregation,
Mr. Louis Spanier, to explain in
<<423>>person the
nature of the disagreeable conflict with Dr. Wise.
In the first place, the charge of Dr. Wise’s friends
that Mr. S. had a relative whom he wished to place
in office, is entirely unfounded, as all of his near
of kin, who are Rabbis, are now in higher positions
than they could enjoy in Albany, two of them holding
situations among the highest in the world, to wit,
Dr. Mayer of Hanover, and Dr. Adler of London. Why
the writer of the letter from which we quoted
deceived us, is not for us to tell; but it proves
that it is extremely difficult for an editor to know
the exact truth, though he be ever so scrupulous in
akin up his statements from the best sources at his
command.
Furthermore, Mr. S. exhibited to us the books of the
congregation, from which it appears that the
interruption which Dr. Wise experienced when he
attempted to preach, was owing to the fear Mr. S.
had that it would create unpleasant scenes in case
Dr. W. would carry out his threat, addressed to a
member of the Board, to allude to him in his sermon
relative to his (the trustee’s) violation of the
Sabbath. Dr. W., we were farther assured, suspended
Mr. Traub, the Shochet, upon a misconception of the
oath Mr. T. took before the police magistrate, and
that, so far from wilfully alleging a falsehood, Mr.
T. stated what others had also heard, though Dr.
Wise explained his words so as to contradict the
statement thus made under oath. Wherefore the
suspension of Mr. T., on the part of the Rabbi, was
an undue stretch of authority.
The final and deplorable scene of the closing of the
Synagogue on Rosh Hashanah was owing to Dr. Wise
having preached a sermon of the 1st of June, in
which, as people understood him, he spoke against
the propriety of our observing the ceremonies as
opposed to the development of our approaching in
spirit to God. This caused a number of persons to
address a formal impeachment to the President, who
summoned Dr. W. to hand in a written defence
to the Board. The Doctor was willing to appear and
defend himself in person; but not to send in a
written statement. In this he was undoubtedly right,
as all accusations ought to be read in open meeting
of the bodies whom they concern, witnesses examined
for the defence as well as the prosecution, and the
defendant be allowed an opportunity of exculpating
himself, and sifting the testimony. On the other
hand, we must do the President the justice to state
that he acted, as we have no doubt, in good faith,
construing the laws of the Kahal as he understood
them. Thus affairs stood till the 5th of September,
when Dr. Wise was deposed in his absence by a
majority of votes at a regular meeting of the
congregation, in consequence of which he was
notified that his contract <<424>>was declared void,
and that he could not be allowed to officiate any
longer. Dr. W. and his friends thought his dismissal
illegal, and hence the unfortunate exhibition of bad
feelings on the New Year, which caused the Sheriff
to turn out the people from the place of worship.,
On Sukkoth only it was that, the key having been
restored to Mr. Spanier, the Synagogue was reopened
and attended by the portion that had not seceded
with Dr. W.
Since then they have formed two separate
congregations, giving Dr. W. the sum of eight
hundred dollars for his past services, and all
lawsuits have, at the same time, been dropped by
both parties. We have endeavoured to give a concise,
though faithful, statement of this lamentable
occurrence, and our readers can form their own
judgment of the whole without our giving an opinion.
Still it must strike every one that, let us blame
Dr. Wise as we must, things would not have proceeded
to the length they did, if there had been laws to
define the duties and privileges of the minister,
and if there had been a central board of
reference for all American congregations. How
long shall such wholesome legislation be deferred,
and we have to deplore the absence of means to
settle any dispute by a reference to Jews only? |
