Chapter XLIV Present Conditions. The Number and the Dispersion of Jews in America. Conclusion
Dispersion of the Jews over the country and its colonial possessions—The number of Jews in the United States about three millions—The number of communities in various States—The number of Jews in the large cities—The number of the congregations is far in excess of the recorded figures—The process of disintegration and the counteracting forces—The building of synagogues—Charity work is not overshadowing other communal activities as in the former period, and more attention is paid to affairs of Judaism—The conciliatory spirit and the tendency to federate—Self-criticism and dissatisfaction which are an incentive to improvement—Our great opportunity here—Our hope in the higher civilization in which the injustices of the older order of things may never reappear.
Jews are living at present (1911) in every State and Territory of the United States, and there are small communities in Hawaii, Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. There are some forms of Jewish organizations, synagogues, lodges or cemetery associations in more than 750 separate localities, from places where there is only a “minyan” on the High Holidays at the beginning of the Jewish year, to the immense Jewish community of New York City, which is estimated to consist of nearly 1,000,000 souls. Wherever actual figures as to the number of Jewish inhabitants in smaller places and the number of synagogues in larger cities are obtained, they are usually far in excess of the published figures and estimates, and there seems to be justification for placing the number of Jews in the country at not far below 3,000,000, if not actually at that number. While the largest communities, as well as the largest number of communities, remain in the East and the Middle West, the dispersion is much more extensive than is generally supposed.
There are, for instance, nearly forty cities and towns in Texas which have Jewish communities; other Southern States, like Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia, have each about, or nearly, half that number, and Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee about ten each. Each of the new States of Arizona and New Mexico have three or four Jewish communities, Oklahoma has five; Florida, in the extreme South, and Maine, the furthest North, each have about a half dozen; California has more than both of them together; Washington has three, and Oregon one. Of the other far Western States Utah has two communities, Montana two, Nevada one, Idaho one, Wyoming one and Colorado nine.
Coming to the nearer Western States and toward the border States, we find four communities in Nebraska, eight in Kansas, twelve in Missouri, thirteen in Iowa, eight in Kentucky and five in West Virginia. North Dakota has five, Minnesota eight, while Wisconsin, with nineteen, and Michigan, with twenty-four, show the result of proximity to the great Central States where Jews have been settled in considerable numbers for the last two generations. Among those States Illinois has the largest number of Jews, owing to the great community of Chicago, while the number of cities containing Jewish communities—twenty-three—is somewhat smaller than that of Indiana, which has twenty-six, and of Ohio, with its twenty-seven. We notice the same in the two greatest States in the East, where, if we consider Greater New York City as one community, the number of places containing Jewish organizations is slightly less than in Pennsylvania, which has sixty-two such places. New Jersey has more than forty, and of the New England States Massachusetts leads with thirty-five, and Connecticut is second, having twenty. Rhode Island has seven; Vermont and New Hampshire four each. The list is completed with one community in the District of Columbia, five in Maryland and one in Delaware.64
Philadelphia and Chicago are, besides New York, the only two cities which contain about 100,000 or more Jews each. Boston has about three-fourths of that number, Baltimore, Cleveland and St. Louis about 50,000 each, and after them come in the order named: Newark, San Francisco, Pittsburg and Cincinnati (with about 30,000 each); Detroit, Buffalo, Providence and Jersey City, each having about half of that number, while Rochester, Syracuse, New Haven, Milwaukee, Louisville, New Orleans and Kansas City belong to the class which have 10,000 or more. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul would belong to that class if they were considered as one, which they really are. Washington, the national capital, belong to the class of cities having between 5 and 10,000 Jews, which includes Albany, N. Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Tex.; Denver, Colo.; Pall River, Mass.; Hartford, Conn.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Los Angeles, Cal.; Memphis, Tenn.; Omaha, Neb.; Paterson, N. J; Portland, Ore.; Scranton, Pa.; Seattle, Wash., and Trenton, N. J. There are some old and important settlements containing less than 5,000, but the number which would have to be included in a class of communities of that size is too large to be mentioned.
Congregations are continually being organized and synagogues built in localities where none existed before, thus showing a gradual dispersion of Jews to all parts of the country, while new houses of worship in the large cities usually owe their erection to consolidation or to the settlement in new neighborhoods. But only the buildings which are entirely devoted to religious services are apt to be noticed by those making records or gathering statistical material, while the small congregation which worships in a private dwelling is usually overlooked. The statistics about Jewish congregations in the United States are for this reason more defective than the figures about any other phase of Jewish activity, and the total given by the above mentioned Year Book (for 5669, p. 65), i. e., 1745, for the entire country, should be doubled to be nearer the truth, even if the lowest estimate of the number of Jews in the country is accepted as the most probable one.
If it must be admitted that a process of disintegration is going on, in which the pessimist sees something worse than a transformation or re-adjustment to new conditions in a new world, it is, on the other hand, obvious that a strong effort is made to counteract the forces of dissolution. The various elements of the community, representing many countries and different strata of immigration, are coming together in a conciliatory spirit, as if instinctively impelled to co-operate. The widespread activity in the building of synagogues, in which many whose attitude was formerly indifferent, and even hostile, now participate, is only one phase of the attempt to preserve Judaism in this country. Much is done for charity and for Jewish education, the latter receiving more attention than ever before. The public school systems of most of the larger cities, following New York’s example, have taken over the largest part of the work which was done before in Jewish institutions to Americanize the immigrant. Not only the proportion, but the actual number, of the dependents on charity is decreasing, and while the needs of Jewish charitable institutions are still great, more attention can now be paid to specifically Jewish matters than at the time when the problem of the material wants of the immigrants was overshadowing every other communal activity.
The attempts to organize on a more general scale, and to consolidate or federate existing organizations, which are frequently made and are more often successful than in the preceding periods, are the clearest manifestation of the spirit of the times in American Jewry. In most of the large cities outside of New York the important local Jewish charities are now federated, and the plan of federation is continually gaining in favor. The federations, of which there are now more than a dozen, and many other benevolent institutions of large and of smaller communities, are represented in the National Conference of Jewish Charities of the United States (organized 1899).
There is also noticeable in our communal life, as in American public life in general, that tendency to self-criticism which often degenerates into slander—that eternal dissatisfaction with things accomplished and with present conditions, which implies a sincere desire to achieve still better results. While this discontent and the poor opinion which many of us have of the spiritual condition of the Jews in America are of immense value as incentives to improvement, it dims the eye of the foreign observer, especially if he comes from a country where complacency and self-praise are the rule. It may still be too early to summarize the communal activities of the Jews in America, or to attempt to indicate how far we have approached the solution of the most pressing problems. But signs of throbbing life are visible everywhere, and the interest of the individual Jew in Jewish affairs is increasing. There is, therefore, every reason to believe and to hope that the opportunity which is afforded here to set the Jewish house in order—the best, and perhaps the first, in the diaspora—will be utilized to its full extent by the future generations of native American Jews.
We are happy to have no Jewish problem here, in the sense in which the term is understood in the backward countries of the Old World. We need not waste a part of our best energies in repelling attacks from an anti-Semitic press or a Judophobe party, and our usefulness to ourselves as well as to our neighbors is thereby enhanced. Members of strange and hostile races and nationalities get along together in this country much better than anywhere else in the past or the present time, and their native children emerge from the “melting pot” united by a patriotism and a desire for improved conditions and improved relations which characterizes the American. The secularity of the Government and the diversity of religious beliefs preclude the spread of the denominational bigotry which is the real cause of the persecution of the Jews in other countries; while the liberty and equality which are vouchsafed to every citizen must themselves be lost before the unfavorable conditions which prevail elsewhere can confront us here. The Jew can become an American and at the same time preserve his religious distinctiveness, which he can lose only by his own negligence or disloyalty. Let us hope that those who now earnestly work to strengthen and build up Judaism in America will be successful, and that the fate or Divine Providence which has preserved us for thousands of years brought us here to participate under new circumstances in the advancement to a higher civilization in which the injustices of the older one may never reappear.
Footnotes
| 1 – | A remarkable work by Werner Sombart, Die Juden and das Wirtschaftsleben (Leipsic 1911), which appeared after the above was written, deals exhaustively with the important part which the Jews played in the development of business and finance in medieval as well as in modern times. While it is avowedly a partisan work written for a special purpose, it is a notable contribution to social-economic Jewish history which no student of the subject can afford to neglect. |
| 2 – | A fac-simile of this map is found in the “Jewish Encyclopedia,” vol. III., opp. p. 678. |
| 3 – | There is a record that it was not Columbus himself but a sailor from Lepe who first saw a distant light and cried “land!” and who, when he found that he had been defrauded of the gratuity, obtained his discharge, went to Africa and there discarded Christianity for his old faith. But the chronicler does not inform us whether the sailor’s old faith was Judaism or Islam. |
| 4 – | This subject is treated extensively in the chapter headed “Services rendered by the Jews to the Dutch, 1623–44,” in Mr. Simon Wolf’s valuable work “The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen,” p. 443 ff., and in the monogram “Damage done to Spanish Interests in America by Jews of Holland,” which is incorporated in the “Publications,” vol. XVII. |
| 5 – | Rabbi P. A. Hilfman of Paramaribo, Surinam, in “Publications” XVI, p. 7 ff., supplementing the chronology made by Prof. Richard Gottheil in the same Publications at the beginning of Vol. IV. See also Rev. J. S. Roos of the Dutch Congreg. in Paramaribo, Ibid. Vol. XIII, pp. 126 ff. |
| 6 – | Daly, “The Settlement of the Jews in North America,” p. 7 ff. The names of those early immigrants (some of them coming from Holland about the same time) as far as can be gathered from the records, are as follows: Abraham d’Lucena, David Israel, Moses Ambrosius, Abraham de la Simon, Salvatore d’Andrade, Joseph da Costa, David Frera, Jacob Barsimson, Jacob C. Henrique (or Jacob Cohen), Isaac Mesa and Asser Levy. |
| 7 – | Judge Daly himself, however, sees no ground for inferring that the decision proceeded from aversion. He thinks it was simply a question of law. The law of New York colony was especially modeled upon that of the mother country. New York was a conquered province, and when it was taken from the Dutch, the English mode of procedure in all matters of law and government was introduced bodily; and from this circumstance English forms, precedents and modes of proceeding came into use to an extent that did not prevail in other colonies where the people themselves had been left to originate and frame such a system of government and laws as was suggested by their wants and most conducive to their interests. The Legislative Assembly was therefore simply declaring the law as it existed in England at that time. (l. c.) |
| 8 – | Oscar S. Straus, “The Origin of the Republican Form of Government in the United States,” p. 48. |
| 9 – | See Oppenheim, “The Jews and Masonry,” in “Publications” XIX, pp. 9 ff., for an interesting treatment of the discussion about the authenticity of this statement. |
| 10 – | For a list of their names see “Publications” XVII, pp. 168–69. |
| 11 – | Lecky, Rationalism in Europe, vol. II, 168, quoted in Straus, Origin of Republican Form of Government in the United States, pp. 19 ff., which see for an extensive treatment of this subject. |
| 12 – | Another great American clergyman, Dr. Henry M. Field (1822–1907), who wrote about a century later, also found in the Jewish polity much that was later adopted in the Constitution of the United States. In his work On the Desert (New York, 1883), he says: “Perhaps it does not often occur to readers of the Old Testament that there is much likeness between the Hebrew Commonwealth and the American Republic.... At the bottom there is one radical principle that divides a republic from a monarchy or an aristocracy; it is the natural equality of men—that “all men are born free and equal”—which is fully recognized in the laws of Moses as in the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, the principle is carried further in the Hebrew Commonwealth than in ours; for not only was there equality before the laws, but the laws aimed to produce equality of condition in one point, and that a vital one—the tenure of land, of which even the poorest could not be deprived, so that in this respect the Hebrew Commonwealth approached more nearly to a pure democracy.” See a more extensive quotation in Simon Wolf’s The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, pp. 494–98. |
| 13 – | A drawing of this design is printed as the frontispiece of Mr. Straus’s above-named work. |
| 14 – | See Dr. M. Kayserling. A Memorial Sent by German Jews to the President of the Continental Congress, in “Publications” VI, pp. 5–8, where it is also stated that the letter was wrongly attributed to Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86). |
| 15 – | The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, by Simon Wolf, edited by Louis Edward Levy, Philadelphia, 1895. |
| 16 – | Aaron Levy (b. in Amsterdam, 1742; d. in Philadelphia, 1815), who was also of great assistance to the colonies in their struggle for independence, was a partner of Robert Morris in various enterprises in Pennsylvania. The town of Aaronsburg, Center County, Pa., was founded by Levy and is named after him. (See “Jew. Encyclopedia,” s. v., Aaronsburg and Levy, Aaron.) |
| 17 – | A fac-simile of Washington’s reply is found in the “Jewish Encyclopedia,” vol. IX, between pp. 294–95. |
| 18 – | See Hyman Polock Rosenbach, The Jews in Philadelphia prior to 1800, pp. 22–23, ff., Philadelphia, 1883. |
| 19 – | See Oppenheim, The Jews and Masonry, in “Publications,” vol. XIX, 1–94, for the sources of most of the references to Masonry in this work. |
| 20 – | A description of this highly interesting Jewish family, by Gratz Mordecai, is found in “Publications,” VI, pp. 39–48. |
| 21 – | See Max J. Kohler, Phases in the History of Religious Liberty in America... in “Publications,” XI, pp. 53–73, where the subject is extensively treated and the sources are given. |
| 22 – | See Jacob Ezekiel, The Jews of Richmond, in “Publications,” IV, pp. 21–27. |
| 23 – | See Leon Hühner, Religious Liberty in North Carolina, in “Publications,” XVI, pp. 37–71, for the facts and the sources, and also for Henry’s speech, which is too long to be reproduced here. The speech is also found in Selections for Homes and Schools, by Marion L. Misch, pp. 305–10, issued by the Jewish Publication Society of America in 1911. |
| 24 – | See Jewish Encyclopedia, VIII. pp. 353–54, s. v., Martinique; and also Oppenheim in “Publications,” XVIII. pp. 17–18. |
| 25 – | See J. H. Hollander, Civil Status of the Jews in Maryland, in “Publications,” II. pp. 33–44; the article Maryland in the “Jewish Encyclopedia” and Blum’s History of the Jews of Baltimore. |
| 26 – | Daly, p. 112, et seq.; see also Wolf, Mordecai Manuel Noah, Philadelphia, 1897, and Jewish Encyclopedia, s. v., Noah. |
| 27 – | See Philipson, The Jewish Pioneers in the Ohio Valley, in “Publications,” VIII, pp. 43 et seq.; also Markens, pp. 100–104, and Jewish Encyclopedia, s. v. Cincinnati. |
| 28 – | See Leon Hühner, The first Jew to hold the Office of Governor of one of the United States in “Publications,” XVII, pp. 187–95. |
| 29 – | The lines read as follows: Amos and Judah—venerated names! Patriarch and prophet, press their equal claims. Like generous coursers running neck and neck, Each aids the work by giving it a check. Christian and Jew, they carry out a plan— For though of different faith, each is in heart a man. |
| 30 – | See H. Eliassof, The Jews of Chicago, in “Publications,” XI, which also appeared separately. |
| 31 – | See the papers contributed by Rev. Henry Cohen, of Galveston, Tex., to the “Publications,” Vols. II, IV, V, on the Jews of Texas (the last being on Henry Castro) and his article “Texas” in the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XII. |
| 32 – | Henry S. Morais, The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 45. |
| 33 – | The list of these members as given by J. D. Eisenstein in his History of the first Russian-American Jewish Congregation in Publications IX, pp. 63–74, is as follows: Benjamin Lichtenstein, Judah Middleman, Abraham Benjamin (of Hamburg), Abraham Joseph Ash, Joshua Rothstein, Israel Cohen, Abba Baum, David Lasky, Leib Cohen, Baruch Solomon Rothschild, Elijah Greenstein, Feibel Philips (the scribe), Abraham Reiner, Tobias Schwartz, Abraham Levy (of Raczki), Hyman Harris, Leibel Raczker, Samuel Hillel Isaacs, Jerahmel Chuck (of Berlin), Isidor Raphall and Jacob Levy. The first twelve were the original members. |
| 34 – | See A. M. Friedenberg, Publications, Calendar of American-Jewish Cases, XII, pp. 87 et seq. |
| 35 – | Jost, Neuere Geschichte der Israeliten, ii, pp. 360–68. See also Jacob Ezekiel, Persecution of the Jews in 1840, “Publications,” VIII, pp. 141–45, and Joseph Jacobs, The Damascus Affair of 1840 and the Jews of America, ibid. x, pp. 119–28. |
| 36 – | See Sol. M. Stroock Switzerland and the American Jews, “Publications” XI, pp. 7–52, and Cyrus Adler, Jews in American Diplomatic Correspondence, ibid. XV, pp. 25–39, for ample treatment of the subject, including numerous documents and copious references. |
| 37 – | See Max J. Kohler in article Antislavery Movement in America in “Jew. Encyclopedia.” |
| 38 – | See Markens, Lincoln and the Jews in “Publications,” XVII, pp. 10–65, for a more detailed treatment of the subject of this chapter. |
| 39 – | The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, p. 6. |
| 40 – | Pierce Butler, Judah P. Benjamin, Philadelphia, 1907, p. 62. This complete biographical work is the only one of its kind written of an American Jew, and practically supersedes all that was written about Benjamin before. |
| 41 – | See Kohler, German-Jewish Migration to America in “Publications” IX, 96 ff. |
| 42 – | Rev. Joseph Krauskopf, Half a Century of Judaism in the United States, in “The American Jews’ Annual” for 5648, p. 87. |
| 43 – | See Dr. Isaac Rülf (1834–1902), Die Russische Juden, Memel, 1892, p. 4 ff. |
| 44 – | Adele Szold in Emma Lazarus, a biographical sketch, in “The Hebrew Standard” for December 1, 1905. |
| 45 – | See Morais, The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 142, and also Constitution of the Jewish Alliance of America, etc., Philadelphia, 1891. |
| 46 – | John R. Commons, in his report on “Immigration and Its Economic Effects,” quoted in the article “Trade Unionism” in The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. XII. |
| 47 – | See article “Migration” in the Jewish Encyclopedia, where the figures are interesting but the sources do not justify complete reliability. |
| 48 – | See The American Passport in Russia in the American Jewish Year Book for 5665; also The Passport Question in Congress, ibid. for 5670. |
| 49 – | See Abstract of the Report on Federal Immigration Legislation by the Immigration Commission, issued by the Government, Washington, 1911. |
| 50 – | See his The Jews and the American Sunday Laws in “Publications,” XI, pp. 101–15 (also note ibid., XII, pp. 171–73), and his Sunday Laws in the United States and Leading Judicial Decisions Having Special Reference to the Jews in The American Jewish Year Book for 5669, pp. 152–89. |
| 51 – | See Preliminary list of Jewish Soldiers and Sailors who served in the Spanish-American War in The American Jewish Year Book for 5661, pp. 525–622. |
| 52 – | American-Jewish Year Book for 5661 (1900–1901). |
| 53 – | See Adler, Jews in American Diplomatic Correspondence, “Publications” XV, pp. 48–73. |
| 54 – | Rabbi Maximilian Heller in American Jewish Year Book for 5664. p. 21. |
| 55 – | See Adler, The Voice of America on Kishineff, Philadelphia, 1904. Among the books which appeared in the United States on this subject are also Russia at the Bar of the American People, by Isidore Singer, New York, 1904, and Within the Pale, New York, 1903, by the Irish patriot, Michael Davitt, who was sent to Russia soon after the massacre as a representative of Mr. Hearst’s papers. |
| 56 – | Volume XIV of the Publications is devoted to the proceedings and the addresses of this celebration. It also appeared in a separate volume entitled The Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Jews in the United States. New York, 1906. |
| 57 – | See American-Jewish Year Book for 5667, pp. 230, 233, 234. |
| 58 – | See above, Chapter XXXI. |
| 59 – | See Kohler in Publications IV, p. 87. See also for the sources of this chapter “Publications” I, pp. 117–120, and the article “Canada” in the Jewish Encyclopedia. |
| 60 – | Enquete sur la Population Israelite en Argentine, in the “Rapport de l’Administration Centrale...” of the I. C. A. for 1909. Paris, 1910. pp. 251–308. |
| 61 – | See Jew. Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 326–27. |
| 62 – | Those who want to follow up the subject, which is by no means uninteresting, are referred to Early Jewish Literature in America, by Geo. A. Kohut, in “Publications” III, pp. 103–47, and to J. D. Eisenstein’s The Development of Jewish Casuistic Literature in America, ibid. XII, pp. 139–47. |
| 63 – | See Dr. B. Drachman, Neo-Hebraic Literature in America, appended to the Seventh Biennial Report of the Jewish Theological Seminary Ass’n (New York, 1900). |
| 64 – | The figures are based on the exhaustive though necessarily incomplete Directory of Jewish Local Organizations in the United States, which appeared in the “American-Jewish Year Book” for 5668 (published in 1907), and allowance must be made for some omissions, as well as for increases in the last five years. |