404 



JEWS. 



Dr. Hecht. The next convention will be held 

 in January, 1889, at New Orleans. 



Among the matters of special note during 

 the year were the Beecher memorial service 

 (March 20) at Temple Emanu El, New York, 

 and the great interest taken by Hebrews in the 

 proposed monument to the Brooklyn preach- 

 er, one Western synagogue (Rev. Dr. Sonne- 

 scheim's, in St. Louis) forwarding $300 to the 

 fund. Further efforts were made to strengthen 

 the Aguilar Free Library in New York, and 

 about $20,000 was given for the purpose. On 

 March 25, Oscar S. Straus was appointed U. S. 

 Minister to Turkey. A pleasant incident was 

 the distribution of the first installment of the 

 Burr bequest ($20,000) to the Mount Sinai Hos- 

 pital and Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York 

 an instance of unsectarian benevolence not 

 often evinced. On Thanksgiving Day, in sev- 

 eral places in the West, union services were 

 held by Christian and Jewish congregations. 

 New synagogues were consecrated in San Fran- 

 cisco, Syracuse, Cleveland, Vineland, N. J., 

 Portland, Me., St. Louis, Chicago, New York, 

 Montreal, Boston, Albany and Greenpoint, L. I. 

 The Mount Zion Hospital was incorporated in 

 San Francisco, and steps were taken to lay the 

 corner-stone of a Jewish orphan asylum at 

 Atlanta, Ga., in charge of the Order of Benai 

 Berith. 



Among the deaths were those of Prof. Henry 

 G. Wile, of Atlanta Medical College, Hon. Na- 

 thaniel Newbergh, of Cincinnati, the Revs. A. 

 Ash and I. Margolies, New York, Jacob Frankel, 

 Philadelphia, B. E. Jacobs, Atlanta, and J. S. 

 Goldammer, Cincinnati. On Nov. 19, Emma 

 Lazarus died (see special article). In literature, 

 the " Jewish Tidings " was established in Roch- 

 ester, N. Y., on February 1, and the "Jewish 

 Exponent " in Philadelphia, on April 15. 

 Among the publications were " Hymns and 

 Anthems," by Dr. Gottheil (New York), and 

 " The Jews and Moors in Spain," by Dr. Kraus- 

 kopf (Kansas City), and, apart from scattered 

 sermons and brochures, the following general 

 magazine articles : " Why am I a Jew? " by Rev. 

 Dr. H. P. Mendes, (June " North American Re- 

 view ") ; " Race Prejudice against the Jews," 

 by Alice Hyneman Rhine (July "Forum"); 

 "Jewish Progress in the United States," by 

 Dr. A. S. Isaacs (September "American"); 

 " By the Waters of Babylon," by Emma Laz- 

 arus (March " Century ") ; " Religious Liberty 

 in America," by Oscar S. Straus (June " West- 

 minster "). 



The most important event in English Judaism 

 was the opening of the Anglo-Jewish Exhibi- 

 tion, in Albert Hall, London, on April 1, which 

 contained memorials of the history of the Eng- 

 lish Jews from the early times, records, books, 

 pictures, seals, coins, synagogue appurtenances, 

 and scrolls of the law, all of unique historic in- 

 terest. Among the lectures held at the exhi- 

 bition on Jewish historical topics, that of Prof. 

 Graetz, of Breslau, merits special notice. The 

 Queen's Jubilee, June 14, was marked by serv- 



ices in the synagogues and deputations from 

 Jewish bodies in behalf of Jews of the British 

 Empire. The honor of knighthood was con- 

 ferred on Sheriff Henry A. Isaacs, August 5. 

 Dr. Moses Gaster, of Bucharest, was elected, 

 March 23, chief rabbi of the Spanish and Portu- 

 guese Congregation of British Jews. The sub- 

 ject of foreign immigration excited much dis- 

 cussion, and renewed efforts were made to 

 promote handicrafts among the young and en- 

 courage the useful arts, with much success. In 

 literature, mention may be made of " The 

 Moabite Stone a Forgery," by Rev. A. Lowy 

 (April " Scottish Review ") ; " German Life in 

 London," by Leopold Katscher (May "Nine- 

 teenth Century"); and "Schools of Com- 

 merce," by Sir Philip Magnus (December " Con- 

 temporary"). 



A quarterly review was projected by Claude 

 Montefiore and I. Abrahams, but did not re- 

 ceive support. The " Jewish Record " was es- 

 tablished in Manchester February 1. Fred- 

 erick H. Cowen's oratorio of " Ruth " was 

 produced September 8 at the Worcester festi- 

 val. Among the notable deaths were those of 

 Alfred A. Newman (January 21), antiquary 

 and art metal-worker; Sir Barrow H. Ellis 

 (June 20) ; Lionel Louis Cohen, M. P. (June 

 26) ; Rev. S. Lyons (June 27) ; and Dr. Strauss 

 (September 5). 



In British colonial matters is to be noted the 

 appointment of Sir Saul Samuel as representa- 

 tive of New South Wales at the Colonial Con- 

 ference in London, Hon. Julian E. Salomons as 

 member of the Legislative Council in New 

 South Wales and Vice-President of the Ex- 

 ecutive Council of Sydney (May), and the elec- 

 tion of Benjamin Benjamin as mayor of Mel- 

 bourne. The Ezra Hospital was opened at 

 Calcutta on January 31. A Jewish bazaar 

 was held at Cape Town, May 3. in aid of the 

 synagogue, and generously supported by the 

 Christian community. 



The situation in general throughout Europe 

 showed a favorable activity in religious and 

 educational affairs. There was no renewal of 

 German anti-Semitic disturbances of any great 

 moment, although disastrous fires in Russian 

 and Roumanian towns might be traced to their 

 agency. On July 5 the Union of Rabbis held 

 a session at Breslau, and among other resolu- 

 tions voted in favor of special services for 

 children, and of elaborating a cyclopasdia of 

 the Talmud, as suggested by Prof. Dr. Gnetz. 

 The bill to prohibit the Jewish method of 

 slaughtering cattle was rejected in the German 

 Parliament (Mny). Outrages against the Jews 

 were announced from Morocco, and slight an- 

 ti Semitic outbreak soocurred in Neutra, Hun- 

 gary (June 10), and in Kojetein, Moravia (May 

 6). On January 15 the new rabbinical semi- 

 nary was opened at Rome, Italy. M. Astrnc 

 was elected in June chief rabbi of Bayonne, and 

 Isaac Levy (September 1) chief rabbi of Bor- 

 deaux. A new hospital was opened in July at 

 Bassenheim, Germany, by Mme. von Oppen- 



