Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/551

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

503

their ideal that none of tlicir poor should become a clmrge upon the general comniunity and in the earlier days cliarily was dispensed by Early by individuals, i)r by funds collected Individual through t he cougregat ions; the former, however, being the prevalent means. Charity. A well-to-do family, or even one in but eiiinfiirtable <ircumslaiiees, would care for one or more poorer families, supplying them I'egularly with the necessaries of life. (.Jiadually. as the liebrew jiopulation increased, this method proveil to be inadequate, and societies generally small, and having specific objects were formed. Some were for the visitation of the sick and the burial of the dead: some, in connectif)n wilii cimgregatidns, for general charitable purposes; and some for the distribution Still later, of unleavened brea<l for the I'assover, as the need grew, associations for the care of orphans, hospitals frir the care of the sick, and. later

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aged were erected. Jlost of and institutions were small; their work was dime with insuflicient funds Charitable an<l by voluntary oflicers, and with-

still,

homes

It was seen that scattering of forces produced waste, and it was feared that it ten<led to pauperism; .so that in all the large cities a gradual amalgamation took l)laee of the various charitable organizations into one society with a trained ollicer. These societies usually included all the organizations, with the exception of the hospitals and the orphan a.syhims, in a given city, and had for their purpose the rindering of immediate relief. Later still, in each of a few cities, a central organization was formed, which included the hospitals and orphan asylums, and whose object it was to have a central body to cullecl funds for ail the charitable organizations in the city and to distribute them pro rata. Of recent years it has been realized that this highly organized metho return to a more personal relation between the rich and the poor; and Sisterhoods or Personal Service societies have b<'en organized to aid in the intelli.irent and sympathetic distribution of relief. The most recent developnu'iit has been the National Conferince of .!( wish (liarilies in the I'nited States, founded Dec. 1. lisillt. in Cincinnati, and comorganizations. lis object is to promote reforms in administration and uniformity of action without inlerferPhilanthropic ing with the work of any local society. Tlure are at present l-'i homes for Homes. iirphans, or societies for their care, in the United States; l'.J homes for the aged andllhosjiilals. It is estimalid that llnre are ."itC! Jewish pliilanlhropie oiixani/alions in ihi' I'niled .States. Relig-ious Development: I'ntil a very recent date, riligious (livelopment was not marked by any special feature. Tlw .lews who came to the Spanish and Portuguese settlements were all Manmos who, while attaclieil to the Catholic Church at home, had s<'cretly observed the tenets of their own religion, anil had, to a certain extent, mingled tlii' rites nf Catholicism with those of llnlr own faith. From the testimony given in hnpiisition trials it appears that quite a series of new customs arose from this mixture. In the Dutch s<-ttlements, the Dutch tradition was pose(l of

HI

usually maintained, the rabbis being importeil from Amsterdam. From the very lieginning the Jews in the I'lnted States consisted of both Sephardim and Ashkenazim; but the former were at lirst in the majority, and organized the four earliest congregations in the country; namely, those of New York, Newport, Savannah, and Philadel))hia. As early as 17l) a translation into Knglish of the Pniyers probably the lirst English-Jewish Prayer-Book ever

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issued was pulilished in New Yiu'k. In Jamaica and in Canada there lias always been more or less direct relation with England but in the I'nited StJites the entire religious life of Jews ha.s been especially characterized by the absence of depenilence upon any European authority, as well as by the absence of any central authority in America.

Congregational autonomy has been the watchword. Tlie movement for ceremonial reform began in Charleston in IS'J."). It was strongly supported in .Vlbany.

for the

these societies

relief



America

Reform

and

later in Cincinnati,

Wise, from

by

but did uot Movement niaki> much headway until the arrival Begun in in the L'niteil .states of David Einhorn Charleston, and Samtiel llirsch. Under the influence of these men and of other rabbis, principall.v from Germany the trend toward allerationsin the liturg.v and ritual set in very slron.irly but about issoa reaction a.irainst the radical teuileucies took place, even on the jiart of some congregations professedly attached to the Heform movement, residtingin the formation of an intermediate ora Conservative group. With the influ.x of large nund>ers of Hussian J<-ws, many congre.irations of the C)rthodox type were established. The genenil attitude of Jews in .Vmerica is one of very considerable attachment to the jirinciples of their rcli.irion coupled with a .irradual abandonment of many of the forms and ceremonies, although apostasy and actual defections from the synagogue are rare (see Amehic., 1.

.M.

Is.'iO,

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—

JiD.MSM

IN).

Services to the State in Military and in Civil Life: .s has already been poinliMl out umli-r .lews rendered

lira/il." Ihe

great

service to the

Dutch in their conquest of Hrazil in lti24 and afterward in lG4li-.")4 against the Portuguese. They also mad<' a brave resistance against Ihe French fleets which attacked Surinam in lOSit and I'Vi respectively, and played a considerable part in the suppression of negro revolts in the same country between UiDlland 17T2. They had a sepanile company of which David Nassy was captain, and, later, ls;iac

Carvalho

The

(1743).

first

Jewish

settlers in

Canada were

soldiers

who

cami' over in HracMock's army, and there is record of their being engagi'd later on in eneountci-s with tiie Indians. There Earliest Jewish Set- wi re one or two Jews in Washington's tiers 'Were ixpedition across the .Mle.irhaines in 17."i4. When the first a.iritat ion began Soldiers. which ended in the Kevolutionarv War. the Jews, like their fellow cili/ril and this can hardly be the total numPosber, asaionsidenible proportion were ullicers. sibly the best known of the latter was David S. Franks, who was major, and afterward lienteiiant'