Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-12-26
A suPERsrlTlous JEW.
dc Refuses to Swear With His Hut o
 and Is Sent to Jail.

| do Refuses to Swear With His Hut Or and Is Sent to Jail. A queer scene was witnessed in Justice Ogden's court in Oakland the other day,
 says the San Francisco Examiner. Solo,
 mon Baumgarten, an aged Hebrew, was l the defendant in suit to recover $50 judgment. When it came time for the | old man to take the stand he was called
 Into ;,rt. He entered with his hat on
 and refused to remove it. When the
 court threatened him he explained that his religion forbade him to uncover his l head. When tho clerk called him up to I administer the oath Baumgarten again | refused to remove his bat, and he as pos ltively refused to either swear or affirm
 with his hat on or off
 The justice finally lost his patience | and sentenced the old man to the county Jail for contempt of court. | It is rumored that Baumgarten's l friends propose to make test case of the matter.
 Meanwhile he lies in jail, and Justice Ogden says that either the law or the
 religion which Baumgarten professes
 will have to be changed before he is re- leased.
 Dr. Aaron J. Messing, rabbi of congre- gation Beth-Israel, when called upon
 explained the position of the orthodox
 Jews upon the interesting question in- | volved in this peculiar case. ''In my humble opinion" said Dr. Messing, "as the case is presented to me,
 l think that the old man, if he is an or thodox Jew, was certainly justified in refusing to take the cath with uncov- cred head.
 "According to the religion of the or l thodox Jew it would be sacrilege for him
 to approach his God except with covered
 head. The word of God is: You shall
 be unto me 8 kingdom of priests,' and by
 that is meant that all Jews shall be pure
 and priestly, and observe the forms and
 doctrines of their religion. ''The high priest in Jerusalem laid down and prescribed the habit and l clothing of priests and of all orthodox
 Jews, and one of the prominent features | the prescribed form was that no oae | should approach his God, address Him 1 or take an oath with uncovered head.
 That was one of the greatest distinc- tions made between his relations with
 his God and with human beings. "To his fellow-men, his tailor, his
 baker or his barber, he may doff his hat,
 but in the presence of his God he must
 appear with covered head. His position
 in this is exactly opposite to that of the
 Christian, who may keep his hat on in
 the presence of men, but must take it
 off in the presence of his God.
 "No sincere and devout orthodox Jew
 will take an oath with uncovered head, and I should have little faith in the oath of one who would do so. ''This is not only matter of religion,
 but it is also an old Oriental custom,
 which is matter of common usage in
 the Orient to-day.
 "You will remember that about two years ago Lord Rothschild, who is an
 orthodox Jew, when he took tho oath as
 member of the English parliament,
 asked permission to stand with covered head, and the privilege was readily granted.
 "I can see no reason why the same
 privilege should not be granted to ortho-
 dox Jews by judges in this country. ''But as to entering and remaining in
 the courtroom with his hat on, should say that if the old man did that he was in error. Merely entering courtroom
 certainly does not imply an entrance in-
 to the presence of G. d, and until he was called upon to take the oath he was not bound by his religious belief to cover his head.'