The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881, 1881-04-15
No. 149.

dents. In the first place, the attire Of
the women is repugnant, both by it's
lack Of elegance and of decency. AS
soon as a girl reaches a certain age she
no longer covers her BOSOM This habit,
which is likewise in vogue amongst mar
ried women, | had never been aware of
unit my arrival at Smyrna. [ am bound
to admit, however, that this looseness in
dress does not imply a corresponding
looseness in morals, which in general are
very pure among our Smyrniote sisters.
Nevertheless, this usage is an object of
scandal where the majority of the popu-
lation have adopted the European style
Of dress. The male portion of the Jew
ish inhabitants for the most part dress
accol ding to Oriental fashion, with the
long pelisse and the traditional skull
cap. Among the younger section of our
co-religionists there is, however, laud-
able tendency to initiate, as far as the
costume is concerned, the Christian
townspeople.
AS is the case in almost every town
in the East, the Jews of Smyrna are di-
vided into two thoroughly distinct
groups, the one class comprising those
who are somewhat enlightened, and the
other consisting OF persons OF a retro
gressive character. Unfortunately, the
latter form the great majority. Whilst
the first class encourage every
useful innovation, seek to educate their
children and support schools, the others,
on the contrary, are imbued with obso-
lete ideas, and oppose all progress. The
scope of their intelligence does not go
beyond the Jewish quarter, and their
preiudices cause them to believe that
the tendencies of modern life are so
many attempts made against the exist
ence of our ancestral faith. They re-
strict their own instruction and that of
their children to the reading of the
Torah Their faith is blind, since they
respecting their truly religious senti-
ments, we may, however, be permitted
! to ask whether their Ian tio'sm the re-
SUI lQu0larce rs nat tl eHnasUe
cause o. then rlSerys = - Tor 1aeey &c
/ Jews Wno are 4 soJnew'saa af.sy ai,eg,,,2e...
I stances, sheG are al least a nuauiet ~i.
I i've from haeu 20 mouth gnI Wun 'fa:r
V agu1t arJW on iav lon 51as .ho1
OBTAIN bread for the next. Wlth vh~
exception of few artisans, the poorer
classes of the Jews Of Smyrna carry on
some petty trade, whereby they are en-
abled with the utmost difficulty to OBJ
tain the means of subsistence. In
country as rich as this is, regarded from
the point of view of the produce of the
soil, the Jews ought to be at the head of
| cur commerce: but they have allowed
themselves to be outstripped by the
Greeks and Armenians, so that there are
actually but few of our coreligionists
who trade directly with Europe. From
what [ have stated your readers can
form fair idea Of the heartrending ma
terial situation Of the Jews in Smyrna.
According to information | have receiy-
ed there are at least 400 families who
are totally dependent on the communal
funds for support.
This fact leads me to speak of the
spirit of joint responsibility and Of
charity which animates this community,
and which proves that our brethren, nc
matter how their condition has decayed,
have preserved intact our holy tradi-
tions of humanity The well-to-do Jews
of Smyrna, must do them justice, are
very charitable towards their less fortu-
nate co-reEgionists, and | may add that
the amounts which they devote to chars
ity are out of all proportion to theirs
means. Their purse is always open, and
the small shopkeeper frequently de-
prives himself of the necessaries of life
in order to come to the aid OF poor
man who implores for lip. 1t would,
however, be more logical to attack the
evil of the prevailing misery at its root
by establishing proper Institutions to
remedy it. To this subject | will refer
more fully in treating of our schools.
Meanwhile, the following is list of the
principal Jewish charitable societies in
Smyrna the number and importance Of
which may give an idea Of the incalcul-
able evils which they are called upon to
allevi~ te ;
l, GABBAE TsEDAKA-This society,
founded two years ago, has for its object
the suppression Of public mendicity, Ii
has taken under its wing all the INDECENT
| poor in the community, 10 whom it
makes weekly grants on condition that
they do not begin the streets. This ex-
celIent society merits the encourage
ment Of every kind-hearted individual,
and may serve as Il model for all Jewish
communities in the Orient Its income
is derived from an annual subyention of
the community (amounting to 10000
francs), and from voluntary gifts. | am