Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-02-27
! ORIGINAL DETECTIVE

| himself to the study of the original language
of the Old Testament, and after he has fn-
| ished it, to try bis skill with the exegesis and
| the history of the compilation. | will guar
antee him that he viii then be able to Judge
, with more impsrtiality and with less prejudice
against a work which, notwithstanding its
old age, is still the standard of the moral law.
l furthermore promise him, to aid him in
such pursuit without any charge whatsoever,
and without fear to go myself into bank
ruptcy.
Admitting, however, for arguments sake,
that the Jew should have grown clsnnish or
exclusive, will the gentleman dare to deny
that such was not the inboru character
Of the Jew; but driven to the wall,
prosecuted and hunted down like
wild beast for 2,000 years by every
Christian nation or people on the globe, cut
lswed and deprived of the holiest rights of
man, and this because the Jew had the moral
courage to stand by his better convictions.
and never change or sell bis belisf-preferred
even to be burned at the stake, to be driven
from country. to preserve his honesty. What
people could have, under such adverse cir
cumstancss, resisted the evil influences of the
dark ages? All that the Jew was permitted
to pursue was barter, and then only to give
him the chance to accumulate and to be rob-
bed again Of his honest toll. Can the honest
thinker study this historical Thenomina with
out giving the Jew at least the oredit that he
must have been the flttest 20 survive in his
tory? Must we not admire the perseverance
of this most unjustly sianed against and per-
secuted people In all their vicissitudet? And
yet this very people today willingly and
readily havo forgiven the past, for the sake Of
the promotion of humanity in these days.
Let the San Francisco correspondent &C.
quaint himself with the history of the jews
in France, England, Holland, ETC., where the
race question has long since become an i'm
possibility, and where TIE Jew hes been per-
mittea under equal chances to labor for the
veal of bis country. and where it will be seen
he stood second to none. If the Jew has been
exclusive, it was only to better guard his re-
ligious precep.s againlt contamination if he
has not attempted proselyting, it was notbe-
cause he is clannish. but because he is gov
erned by noble principle, to permit every
fellowmau to live up to his own convictions.
IF the Jew was exclusive in his religious
practices, it was only 70 be in his practical life
as a man and as citizen as broad and as
liberal in his ideas as his religious precepts.
The world to-day enjoys the labor of Jewish
genius and talent, not because that Jew kept
it for himself or for his race, but because he
devoted it to the world.
Only narrow minds, the fends of the
human cause, have Eeen it in our days to
revive from the grave Of the Middle,Ages the
spectsr OF race prejudice" InsGermany
and Russia il served, for the time being, the
policy of Statesmen. The race prejudice =
was revived TO countersct the spread of
Socialism and NihilisIa /; and as soon as found
futile it was quickly given up. to leave it for
q sport to some crank in this broad land. Is
q strange snd sad to reflect that in this great
co,,>-tfr-. the advocate of universal suffrage.
indene1den72- of freedom and liberty, men
can be- found to beccEs> the traducers of her
fair name; that men CO pe !nouceu
to lay their soilsd hands SS9alnst q
race simply because they eulmise>so
have found in some old rubbish
gathered in the daEk ages relic from the old
Ghettoes and 1ewries. Or, as in the instance
of an Eisenmenger, and his confrere, your
author Of Race Prejudice" who think
themselves discoverers of some horrible mys-'
terry in the ancient ewish writings. Why go
go fer back as g. 800 years. when the works of
more modern ages may be consulted-men
like Spinoza, an Abailard, Msimonides,
Mendelssohp, down even to Beaconsfeld 2
For PHYS sake l have undertaken to write
this, and for no other reason. Not even o
defense is intended, for we Jews have full
confidence in the intelligence of our American
fellow citizens, and know that these are able
to Judge for themselves. Only against the
made against the unstained Jewish
CN3tdCtGE, anu dSdAAbh tLO dkNSLiDb 10
terpret scripture that we must cry out
Hands off
Says the San Francisco correspondent
" But the one black spot in the Jewish char
acter (how kind-only one y proceeds from
clannish race instinct IL is written in the
sacred law Of this people, and claimed to pro-
csed from the mouth of Jehovah. Then
shalt not eat of anything that dieth Of Itself,
nor sell it to t}r BIC heT, but thou mayest
-TTs - a. -.
thy gstes, that he nsy eas it,"
Mark the language, "msY.' I luppose
this refers to Dent. xiv, 81, Now, MIR.
"Racs Prejudice, if you would possess only
. superficial knowledge of the history and
character Of this so-called sacred book of
Moses, or realize the meaning Of Deuter-
onomy, you would, as it is requisite
for every scholar who assumes to quote for
reading public, certainly know that we
have in this book but the works Of the second
compileg-no doubt mystery TO you. To
understand this We must refer to its original
sources, which in this case is Exodus xxi,
80, and in Levitieus xvii, 10. In both cases,
as well as in the quotation from Deuteron-
omy, it is requisite to discern clearly the
technical terms of the Hebrew words. such
as ger" i. e., the stranger, who has becoma
proselyte in worshiping the Gcd of Israel,
while " nochri" means literally the foreigner,
while dwelling in the country of Israel. Only
the Hebrew is bound to observe those strict
observances appertaining 10 sanitary usages
or peculiar rites. If you refer to Levitt
icus xvii, 10, you will find it
clearly demonstrated that the Gentle
is virtually exempted from these ebservances,
and he becomes not guilty of trespassing
o law. To the Hebrew the flesh of an animal
that died through disease or age, as wall as the
- I'll 1 4
clesn to ths touch, hence prohibitive as a
food. But TO the heather it was nothing of
the kind; he had no religious scruples in
touching or eating it.
It would carry me fer heyoud the compre-
hension Of your correspondent TO enter into
details. But this much I will add before
close. The early Christians, as well as Mo-
hammed, enforced this law, and to these the
Jews dared not dispose Of the Terefah or
Exodus XXX, 80. we .esd The flesh
that is torn of beasts in ths field Il. e., unfit
for food shall ye not eat Co the dogs shall
ye cast it" This is the exact version f our
case.
Itrequires no great intelligence to catch
the folly committed by your writer. but
it is difficult to find his logic. If. however,
he should insist on going back as far as
thirty-fve centuries TO Judge from single
verse, WHICH ne certainly uOes not understand,
the source Of his race prejudice, and the
source of the clapnish race instinct of the
Jew, would invite the gentleman to visit
only the slaughter.houses, especially in the
large cities, and judge for himself whether
or not it would be a wise thing
for sanitary reasons to copy sona of those old
Mossiclaws. If there is any clannish instiact,
it is certainly there, where even the food Of
tie people is deluded for the sake Of the ST.
! Il.
CONSEQUENCE even in aChTistisn country. The
Jewish law of diet was protection for all
who would live up to il, and I have no doubt
if the San Francisco gentleman viii only ap-
ply himself to It's study and practice, he viii
be surely aud speedily cured Of his trouble
some Nightmares. j. BLOCH.
Sacramento, February %, 1883.