The Panola weekly star., 1884-04-12

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hig ifayelei e1niIiafMliY. sHd n, w
tlfiua ~ lhls and hla superior falHnis,
lDpt ~ 40 ~ hy hls eufsilglUaisla IN lha
seeilgn nfqffed ~ Iei BE- e w NJ
maaha IN 1fihDios jew 'Uh, ~" i"
he lad IN shsesf a. iha reporters ins
'uify, "lhai business ls pretty ofisB.
slFelY carried ~ IN iAls elif. anil. In
faet, HI ofer The world anIsng Polish
and llnsalAn Jews and the UefmAn
jews are AliO prone ~ u. II IA sn
Oriental practice and hgufishss best In
HHasla, Hgumann nnd other plaeoa that
DO B1i enjoy tho benefits ~ civilized
life. IN Che Orient young people do
not enjoy The free intercourse that they
have IN this country. There few mar.
fiages are contracted aniong Jews
without tho fundamentally " ihe
Hli1lchen. q. The iniermediatOr Is called
In the Hebrew yernacular. and lhere
are many who thrive nj tho profession
aud travel from one country 10 another
In the pursuit VI their calling. much NJ
commercial drummers do. Their rec.
ompense depends generally upon tbe
llborality of tho contracting parties, but
quito frequently they bargain for and
receive from the groom percentage of
the BRIDES dowry Sometimes the com.
mission Is over ten per cent
There are number Of shodchon In
this city, especially In this locality.
Every young jew who starts In business
or appears capable oi supporting a wife
Is looked upon by the intermcdiators as
legitimate prey. and no matter how DC.
lermned he may at first appear 10 re-.
main bachelor. their Establishments
and arguments soon convert him 10
their views. They are cunning set,
and number among them women rs well
as men. BY clever diplomacy they often
succeed 10 getting their man 10 promise
them $1,000 for desirable wife and
leave the merccnary groom 10 discover
after marriage that his wife has cost
him more than her dowry amounts to
by hundreds OF dollars"
'Do rabbis ever act MS go.betweens
in matrimonial matters?"
"Yery frequently; yet not 80 often as
Is generally supposed. In France, how
ever. matrimonial affairs are nearly al
ways arranged through rabbs. ! know
II Instances where one OF them has re.
ceiyed twenty-five or fifty thousand
francs as a fee. | recall one case In
particular. The rabbi found an accept
able husband for u daughter OF Rus
sian General In the person OF German
Hebrew baron. The brides dowry was
about 2O.OO0,O 900 francs. The General
Is worth something like 20O.0O0,0OO
francs, and at one time donated ono
million roubles to the Russian schools.
The baron is regarded among tho Jews
OF Europe as fully as benevolent as tho
Rothschllds. His most noteworthy act
OF charity was the presentation Of a
million francs TO the Alliance lsraeltc.
II myself was engaged through n
shodchen to the daughter Of n wealthy
Russian at the ago OF seventeen. ] was
then studying tho Talmud at Seth
Hamcdrish. For eighteen months I
was engaged without having seen my
prospective wife. She was to bring n
dowry OF five thousand roubles, which
was balanced on my part by my family
connections, us am the descendant of
noble family OF Munich. Philosoph-
ical studies were something delighted
In, and that broke OIL the match, "a IL
was too evident that | was drifting
away from ancient orthodoxy. Did |
have no voice In the selection OF the
womanp II would have been consid.
cred glaring audacity for mo TO have
made any objections or given utterance
10 my impressions OF the lady, no mat
ter how homcly or dlsagrceable she
might have proven. Il Is considered a
grave transgression among Polish and
Russian Jews TO break of an engage.
mcnl. They are more willing TO over
look separation after marriage"
"Arr there no love malches?''
"very few. The Oriental Jews are
too practical 10 give way to sentiment,
and regard love rs purely poeiical
feeling, n passion that only grand
minds arc susceptible OF. Vory frc.
quenily the contracting parties never
see ono another until their wedding
day"
II should not think that such a
custom could be- successfully trans.
planted In this country
ut will flourish here just as long as
the Polish and Russian Jews cluster
in colonies, as they do In this part Of
the city. Il would be necessary TO dis.
tribute them over the country TO lead
them TO drop this and other old coun.
try practices. Only by dlspersiug them
can the poorer class of Jews ever be
thoroughly Americanizcd. In the
higher circles Of Jewish society hero
ronized. .
How did the custom originn,opn