The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-06-01
The Jews of England.


The Ldngkdna MdgGzi11e gives a most
interesting account, in its last issue, OF
the Jews in England, from whom our
own Jews chiefly descend:
The Jews Of England, it appears,
constitute three distinct bodies, called
respectively the Sephardim, or Spanish
and Portuguese Jews the Ashkenazim,
or German and Polish Jews, and West
London Congregation of British Jews.
Ii must be understood that these COM
munities do not form distinct sects; at
most, they are only distinct septs.
There is no difference between them in
dogma, creed or belief, and with very
few exceptions, which will be explains
ed further on, they practices. the same
religious ObservanceS, with no more
dissimilarity than may be seen between
any two Parish Churches, In fact, the
diSagreements separating these Jewish
bodies are OF less importance than the
diversity of views existing in the bOsOm
of the Church of England, leaving out
of the question the serious discrepancies
dividing the Establishment from other
sects of Christianity. Nevertheless, for
reasons that Will be understood hereaf-
ter, each. of the three Jewish communi-
ties of Great Britain possesses a COM
plete autonomy in religious, education
al and charitable matters. Each one is
governed by its own laws, by its own
secular authorities and by its own spir-
itual chief. Each one relieves its own
poor when needed, marries its own
sons and daughters, and buries its own
dead. Yet the members of the vari-
Gus bodies live in amity and
concord together, working harmonious
ly in the cause of charity education
and progress. and heartily cooperating
in continual efforts tO-raise physically
and mentally the condition of their
race. The first Jews who came to this
country from Holland during the pro-
tectOrate of Oliver Cromwell and under
the reign of Charles l., were descended
from Israelites who had emigrated
thither from Spain and Portugal. They
called themselves Sephardim, from q
Hebrew word signifying Spaniards.
They were mostly men of wealth and
ancient lineage men, for that period,
of refinement and education. They
founded a synagogue, brought over a
rabbi from Holland, and established a
Jewish congregation with stringent
laws. A constitution was framed,
which was handed from father to son,
and which exists to the present day,
with only such changes as were render
ed imperative by the progress of en-
and the exigencies of
modern notions. The Portuguese Jews
were the Tories of Judaism; they felt
as much reluctance to introduce even
the most moderate reform as the We'll
lington Ministry in granting Catholic
emancipation. Perhaps they were
guided by Spanish traditions; certainly
for q long time they were averse %
popular government. Their author
tiles ruled with a kindly yet
very tight hand, and the
Jewish elders could not lightly look
over disObedience. The restrictions
imposed by their own chiefs upon the
Jews on their establishment in Eng
land may have been necessary in those
days, but would sound somewhat
strange in our ears. 1t is certain that
until our own times very little latitude
was allowed by the Portuguese elders
to those under their guidance; by an
rigidity they lost from their
such Il man as Isaac
DIsraeli, and they contributed to the
rise of a schism among their own body.
Yet they were glorious men in their
way, those ancient Sephardim elders.
Noble-minded, generous, philanthrOpic,
and, in most instances, truly devOut
men, and firm believers in the tradi-
tiOns of their race, they stand out be-
fore US ike the figures Of the old French
HuguenOt-honOraDle, loya, and stanch
to their religion, even to the verge of
intolerance. From such families have
descended families that have become
part of the landed gentry of GreaS Brit
ain. To the old records of Bevis Marks
Synagogue do we trace the history of
Bernal, Ricardo, LOpes, Basevi, Uzielli,
Disraeh, Lausada; among the dark,
earnest, unbending elders of the Sep
hardin do we find the ancestors of the
late Sir Culling Eardley, of Gen. 'Agui-
lar, o. the late Sir Francis Head, OF the
late Lord Galway, and of others it were
too long to name ... '... .