JEWS. 



ses Montefiore, several building societies and 

 nii-i liuiiics, -l-l'.t pupils in the Tulinud Torah 

 (wholly Hebrew) schools, 54 pupils in Doroah 

 /ion, whoro Arabic ami l/iiin wore taught, and 

 4<) pupils in the E. V. Lamols Institution, 

 where Arabic, and Spanish wore taught in ad- 

 dition to tho Hebrew studies. In the Roth- 

 s -hild Institute for Girls were 119 pupils; and 

 122 girls were taught in other girls' schools 

 the ordinary "Jerusalem" primary branches. 

 Twenty-five private schools were also men- 

 tioned as in successful operation. Sir Moses 

 Montefiore asked that the people of Jerusalem 

 be aided in becoming the owners of land, and 

 in building up a new part of the city of Jeru- 

 salem with buildings having the modern im- 

 provements, representing that they had abun- 

 dance of skill and laborers willing to work. 

 The report approved this proposition, the ac- 

 complishment of which, however, must be left 

 to the Montefiore Testimonial Committee of 

 London. Independent of this enterprise, the 

 report recommended, and tho board approved 

 the recommendation, that moneys collected in 

 the United States should be, in the first in- 

 stance, for the following specific purposes : 1. 

 To the support of modern elementary schools, 

 in conjunction with and through the agencies 

 of the Alliance Universelle or the Vienna 

 Alliance ; 2. An amount sufficient for the 

 support of tho Hospital and Orphan Asylum ; 

 8. A remittance for the relief of poor widows 

 re3ommended to tho United States consul by 

 the Haham-Bashi ; 4. A minimum for indis- 

 criminate charity among the very poor, who 

 are over twenty-one years of age, are unmar- 

 ried, and have a trade, but are without employ- 

 in3nt. The advisability of encouraging emi- 

 gration to the United States was also suggested. 

 The board further resolved that " the Execu- 

 tive Committee be requested to communicate 

 with the Board of Deputies of London, the 

 Alliance Israelite Universelle, and the Berlin 

 Committee for the Jerusalem Orphan Asylum, 

 in order to agree upon a plan of joint action 

 for the material elevation and the moral and 

 intellectual improvement of the Israelites of 

 Palestine ; and that contributions for the bene- 

 fit of the Jews of Palestine and for the sup- 

 port of charitable institutions therein be sus- 

 pended, and the amount appropriated for the 

 Montefiore Memorial Fund be withheld until 

 the Executive Committee shall render a report 

 as to the best means of achieving the objects 

 contemplated." The disposition of the board, 

 as shown in the discussions on these measures, 

 was, while acting in harmony with the English 

 and French societies, to limit the contributions 

 of American Israelites to such objects only as 

 promised the moral and intellectual advance- 

 ment of the Jews of Palestine. 



The congregations in the large cities were 

 recommended to form boards of ministers, who 

 should have power to examine the credentials 

 and qualifications of candidates for the posi- 

 tion of minister, reader, teacher, or other re- 



ligious office. Congregations in citien where 

 no such board in formed were invited to au- 

 thorize the boards in Philadelphia, New York, 

 or other cities, to act a an advisory body in 

 the cases of such candidates. 



The Union of American Hebrew Congrega- 

 tions was organized at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 

 July, 1873, for the purpose of establishing a 

 Union Hebrew College. At this, its first meet- 

 ing, it was resolved to solicit the cooperation 

 of sister Hebrew congregations throughout the 

 I nlii'd States in carrying out more fully the 

 designs contemplated. This resolution was 

 responded to by congregations in various parta 

 of the United States. At the second conven- 

 tion of the Union, which was held at Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, in 1874, seventy-one congregations 

 were represented. The establishment of a col- 

 lege was resolved upon, to be located at Cin- 

 cinnati, Ohio, and an edition of Leeser's Bible 

 was ordered printed, to be sold at one dollar a 

 copy. At the third convention, which was 

 held at Buffalo, N. Y., in July, 1875, it was 

 resolved to open the preparatory class of the 

 college on the 12th of the ensuing October. 

 This design was successfully carried into ef- 

 fect. In 1876 the Union represented eighty- 

 two congregations in twenty-one States. The 

 convention for 1876 was held in Washington, 

 D. C., July llth. At this meeting the follow- 

 ing action was taken in reference to the estab- 

 lishment of a seminary for Hebrew girls : 



Resolved, That we recognize the public-school sys- 

 tem of tlie United States as the bulwark of American 

 liberty, and that we deprecate any attempt to intro- 

 duce sectarianism, in any form, in the management 

 of the schools ; we fondly hope that the light burn- 

 ing in the temple of popular education may never 

 be extinguished ; but we consider that, after our 

 daughters have graduated in the public schools, 

 their higher education should be provided for by 

 Jewish female seminaries. This subject is worthy 

 of the earnest consideration of all Israelites, and is 

 one of the greatest wants of our age. There can be 

 no plausible reason why tho Jewish Church should 

 stand alone among all others without a seminary de- 

 voted to the higher education of its daughters. Your 

 committee, however, while recognizing tliis as among 

 tho most prominent suggestions contained in the 

 president's report, are of opinion that the subject 

 cannot presently receive that attention from this 

 Union to which it is entitled, nor until the college 

 is firmly established and provided for, and that, so 

 far as this Union is concerned, it cannot presently 

 do more than express its high appreciation of tho 

 necessity of the foundation of a Hebrew female semi- 

 nary, wherein the daughters of Israel shall receive 

 their higher secular education, gilded with sublime 

 principles, and entertained with the noble teachings 

 of the Jewish faith. Wo -entertain the fond hope 

 that the day is not far distant when our daughters 

 shall no longer be compelled to seek their hitht-i' 

 education in institutions where sectarianism foivi'/M 

 to their own creed is the channel through which 

 such education is imparted. 



The convention took action on the best 

 means of improving Sabbath - schools, and 

 awakening a greater interest in them ; in re- 

 gard to measures for promoting a stricter 

 and more general observance of the Sabbath, 

 and in regard to supplying smaller congrega- 



