The Jewish advance., 1879-08-15
"Hep! Hep! Hep!"
THE END.

In Hept2eS, journal eQlteQ Dy Mr.
Malcom c. Salaman, the following ex-
planation of the origin of the phrase,
Hep! Hep Hep is given: The
monosyllable, Hep is of terrible no.
toriety in the Medieval History of the
Jews. 1t is fraught with recollections
of atrocious cruelty. injustice, disaster,
religious persecution and unspeakable
human misery. 1t was for many centu-
ries the signal uttered by rabid popu-
lace to urge the wholesale spoilation,
indiscriminate slaughter, and extermi-
nation Of the Jewish people. It was
word Of horrible suggestiveness, and
significance. Many speculations have
been rife as to the origin of the obnox-
ious call-and the source from whence
it was derived which remains to this
day an undecided question Milman,
with Basnage and other post-Biblical
Jewish historians as his authorities,
supposes that Hep was formed from
the initial letters Of three words Her.
osozynea est perdito' - Jerusalem is
lost) When Peter the Hermit, and
Walter the Penniless assembled near
the Imperial City of Treses, countless
hordes of wild, undisciplined men, gross
3y gnorant, superstltiQns, ind naisgnid-.
'sesls yyNfed Us Crusader to do battle
an Palestine, They were harangued by
their priestly leaders, who did not fail
to hurl against the Jews who inhabited
the neighboring city, the most un-
founded and cruel accusations. With
one impulse, says Milman, the crusad-
ers rushed to the city, and commenced
relentless pillage, violation, and mas
sacre Of every Jew they met. To save
their honor, and to avoid baptism, wo-
men tied stones around their neck, and
flung themselves into the river. Doting
fathers slew their children, to avoid
fate worse than death. Then, as it is
supposed, the cry Hep Hep Hepp
resounded in every city on the banks of
the Rhine, occasioning Cologne, Worms,
Spire and Strassburg to be deluged in
innocent Jewish blood. The famous DR..
Zunz commences his Sufferings of the
Jews in the Middle Ages, with burst
Of genuine national enthusiasm, thus
If there be an ascending scale Of suf-
fering, Israel reached it's highest degree
If the duration of affections, and the
patience with which they were borne,
confer nobility upon man, the Jews may
vie with the aristocracy Of any country.
If literature which owns a few classi-
cal tragedies is deemed rich, what place
should be assigned to a tragedy which
extends over fifteen centuries, and which
has been composed and enacted by the
heroes themselves |! He then attempts
Hep He says, 'Hab Hab + was . the
forerunner Of Hep Hep cry by
which the Suabians used to mock the
Jews. Hab is Hebrew word (17).
1t occurs in the Book of Proverbs, xxx.
Is, and is translated by the learned He
braists, Arnheim, Phillipson, Zunz, and
Lowy, Give 7 To confirm his view of
the origin of Hep ! derived from 'Hab!
Dr. Zunz furnishes abstracts from some
of the Jewish poets of the middle ages,
among whom were Isaac Halevi and Je-
hudah Halevi. From the former:
GIVE! give! do the wicked shout;
Supply us with money!
Is their battle cry.
From the latter:
They cry, give, give!
Neither is there anyone to curb
The insults of the proud.
lam not convinced, says the translator
of the above, the Rev. A. L6wy, that
Dr. Zunz's Interpretation of Hep Hepp
is correct, and [ have seen none which
is acceptable. Unless | can find when
the use Of this abusive call was first in
troduced, and where it was first en-
ployed by the populace, [ can put no
confidence in his explanation 7 What
ever it's derivation it was cry leading
to Jewish rapine and murder. The
modern Hep Hep Hepr of George
Eliot would seem to point at the recent
literary and oratorical attacks upon Jew
ish patriotism and loyalty which Prof.