Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-01-21
STRICT JEWS AT TABLE.
A NEW YORK RESTAuRAs WHERE
THE FOOD is koSCHER.
Additions, Prayers and Covered Heads.
The Bill of Fare-Excited Disputants
Who Remain FriendIy-CIosed on Sat-
urday, bat Open on Sunday.

DGt open on sunday
Some time ago the jewish Ministers as
ISOLATION, which includes the leading rabbis
OF New York, considered means OF inn
proving the observance of the Jewish Sab
bath. Among other things that were dis
cussed incidentally was the rapid decline
of the observance of the Mosaic dietary
laws. 1t was frankly admitted that many
jews no longer remained loyal to them.
This was declared to be the case even with
those who were otherwise good jews
But there are some wealthy Jewish mer-
chants who still adhere to the strict letter
of the dietary laws, and the most promi-
nent of these meet every noon in a Jewish
restaurant in Mercer street. 1t is the most
typical place of the kind in this country.
Here may be observed the Jewish customs
in regard to meals as they are in vogue in
the most orthodox communities of Rus
sian Poland
TWO PRAYERS BEFORE THE MEAL
A reporter accompanied Coroner Levy to
the Mercer street restaurant the other day
IL was noon when they reached there A
large sign which hung suspended from an
iron rod outside the restaurant described
its character through the three mysterious
looking Hebrew characters which spell the
word "koscher." The interior was in no
way unlike that of any other restaurant.
except that the decoration was odd and old
fashioned and that the floor was bare
The reporters first inclination upon
entering the place was to remove his hat,
but his hand was checked on its way to
his head, for he noticed that all at the
tables wore their hats. There were about
twenty-five men there, all solid looking
business men, with unmisLakable Hebraic
features.
The rear end of the room was divided off
by means of curtains from the space re-
served for the tables Just inside of these
curtains was washstand, with ru. ning
water, hidden behind a screen As each
! customer came in he would take off his
overcoat, hang it up, and then go to the
washstand and wash his hands, looking
very devout in the meantime, and moving
his lips in rapid muttering. He was re-
peating in Hebrew this prayer:
Blessed be Thou, o Lord our God, King
of the universe, who hast sanctified us with
Thy command, and hast ordered us to wash
our hands.
Having thus performed his first duty he
took his seat and ordered his dinner He
began this by cutting off little piece of
bread, which he dipped in salt. Before
touching it he repeated this prayer:
BLESSED be Thou, o Lord our God, King
of the universe, who bringest forth bread
from the EARTH
Then he bit off piece of the salt bread
and swallowedit before touching anything
else The meal was an elaborate one.
There were two kinds of soups, four entrees,
five roasts, a lot of vegetables, four kinds
of dessert, and coffee. All the dishes were
of the German-Jewish type-that is. they
were German dishes prepared in the jew
ISL way. There was goose breast, and
stuffed goose neck, and calves tongue with
sour-sweet sauce, and almond cake FIX
cepting the abundant grease, everything
was well cooked
The portions were very large; still with
nearly every course the diner was asked by
the waiter whether he did not want more
OF course there was no butter served
Butter being made of milk cannot, accord
ing to the dietary laws, be eaten with meat
or any substance containing blood. There
were three walters, all of them remarkably
attractive in appearance and typical in
character.
SOME OF THE DINERS.
At half-past u the restaurant was pretty
well filed. The talk at the table was very
loud, and at some of the tables il was ex-
| tremely argumentative. From the way in
which the clinched fists came down on the
tables, making the glasses and plates jump,
| and from the loud and savage words, the
reporter expected to see blows struck. But
the differences, if there were any, were
smoothed over, and apparently those en-
gagged in the controversies remained as
friendly as ever
One man who came in alone attracted
the coroner's attention He was very sol
emn looking, with a gray beard, deep set
gray eyes, and heavy eyebrows. Before
going to the washstand he removed his hat
and replaced it with little skull cap.
THAT man." said Coroner Levy, lis a
very wealthy Broadway merchant, and is
noted for his great piety. Even in his own
home he never sits down to meal with
his head uncovered The Jewish theory,
you know, is that it is an insult to the
Deity to appear before him with uncov-
cred head / know one very wealthy up
town Hebrew, who is noted for his Tai
mudic knowledge and devotion to religion,
who believe would rather cut off his right
hand than sit down to meal with his
head uncovered He has half a dozen
children, all boys, and several are not
more than or ) years old. 1t is very odd
to go TO dinner at his house and see all
the male members of the family come
Then they all say grace, even the little
shayers."
Il have been here a number of times"
said Coroner Levy, land always find about
the same persons. Very few of them will
eat anywhere else unless they have absolute
assurance that the meals are prepared &C
cording to the dietary laws. This is the only
Jewish restaurant in New York that is
sanctioned by Chief Rabbi Joseph. 1t closes
every Saturday, but is open on Sunday.
Occasionally you see man come in here
and take off his hat in a defiant manner, as
though he wished to impress upon the
others present that he has Outlived the re-
gard for the old custom which they follow.
Everybody looks at him angrily and he
must be pretty thick skinned if he can
stand the glances and remarks directed at
him"
For a moment after emerging into the
busy street the reporter felt lost. The
American character of everything around
MIN seemed foreign to what he had just
seen, and he felt like a traveller returned