The San Francisco call., 1896-04-12

ing, but the proprietor of the largest OF
| them is also printer, and he has printed
my little book in return. But don't think
shall fill my stomach with the sales.
Oh! the Holy One, blessed be he! Bless
you, Rebbitzin, of course Ill take cup OF
coffee; l don't know any one else who
makes coffee with such sweet SAVIOR; 1t
would do for spice offering when the
| Almighty restores us our temple. You
are happy mortal, Rabbi. You will per-
nit that | seat myself at the table"
| Without awaiting permission he pushed
chair between Levi and Hannah and sat
down: then he got up again and washed
his hands and helped himself to spare
egg;
Here is your copy. Reb Shemuel," he
went on after an interval. "You see it is
dedicated generally:
To the pillars of English Judaism
| The remark touched the rabbi in ten
| der place. 1t was the one worry of his life,
| the consciousness that persons in high
quarters dlsapproved of MIN as force i'm
peding the Anglicization of the Ghetto.
He knew his shortcomings, but could
never quite comprehend the Importance of
becoming English. He had latent feel
ing thati Judaism had fourished before
England was invented, and so the poets
remark was secretly pleasing to him.
They are a set of donkey-heads, but
one must give them u chance of rising to
higher things. 1t is true that not one of
them understands Hebrew, not even the
! chief rabbi, to whom courtesy made me
send copy. Perhaps ne will be able to
read my poems with dictionary; he GER
tainly can't write Hebrew without two
grammatical blunders to every word. No,
no, don't defend him, Reb Shemuel, be-
cause you're under him. He ought to be
under you-only he expresses his ignor-
rance in good English, and the fools
think to talk nonsense in good English is
to be qualified for the rabbinate.
"You know very well" went on Pin.
persons IN London who can write correct
holy language"
NO no." said the rabbi, deprecatingly.
Eyes, yes said Pinchas, emphatically.
"You can write quite as well as L. But
just cast your eye now on the special dedi-
cation which l have written to you in my
own autograph. To the light of his gen.
Grafton, the great. .Gaon. whose excellency
reaches to the ends of the earth, from
whose lips all the people of the Lord seek
knowledge, the never failing we'll, the
mighty eagle who scars to heaven on the
wings of understanding, to Raw Shemuel,
may whose light never be dimmed and in
whose day may the redeemer come unto
Zion There, take it, honor me by taking
1t. 1t is the homage of the man of genius
I to the man of learning. the humble offer
ing of the one Hebrew scholar in England
to the other"
"Thank you," said the old rabbi, much
moved. ''lt is too handsome of you, and I
shall read it at once and treasure it among
my dearest books, for you know we'll that
consider that you have the truest poetic
gift of any son of Israel since Jehuda
| Halevi."
II havel know i'll 1 feel It'll 1t burns
me. The sorrow of our race keeps me
awake at night-the national hopes tingle
like electricity through mel bedew my
1 wit faar it1fl o~l-, D
paused to take another slice of bread and
butter. cit is then that my poems are
born. The words burst into music in my
head, and l sing like Isaiah the restora-
ton OF our land, and become the poet
patriot of my people. But these Englishl
They care only to make money and to
stuff it down the throats of gorging rever-
ends. My scholarship, my poetry, my
divine dreams-what are these to a
besotted, brutal congregation of men
OF the earth? 1 sent Bucledorf,
the rich banker, a copy of my little book,
with special dedication written in my
own autograph iii German, so that he
might understand it. And what did he
send me? A beggarly five shillings! Five
shilllngs to the one poet IN whom the
heavenly fire ivesl How can the heavenly
fire live on five shillings? / had almost
mind to send it back. And then there
was Gideon, the member of Parliament.
l made one OF the poems an acrostic on
his name, SO that he might be handed
down to posterity. There that's the one.
No, the one on the page you were just
looking at. Yes that's it. beginning:
| Great leader of our Israel's host;
| sing thy high heroic deeds,
| Diviney gifted learned man.
81 wrote his dedication in English, for
he understand neither Hebrew nor Ger
man, the miserable, purse-proud, vanity
eaten man. -earth.'
"Why, didn't he give you anything at
all?'' said the Reb.
"Worse He sent me back the book.
But III be revenged on him. I'll take the
acrostic out of the next edition and let
him rot in oblivion. 1 have been all over
the world, to every great city where Jews
congregate. In Russia, in Turkey, in
Germany, in Roumania, in Greece, in
Morocco, in Palestine. Everywhere the
greatest rabbis have leaped like harts on
the mountain with Joy at my coming.
They have fed and clothed me like q
prince. 1 have preached at the syna-
gogues, and everywhere people have said it
was like the Wilma Gaon come again."
Now here you have it. 1t NAV be left to
you. Is Pinchas Imbar and Imbar
PlnchasF S. w. WALL.