The Advocate and news., 1898-03-02
The Jewish sisterhOod.
le New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune
Since It's earliest existence the JeWisl
synagogue has made It's an imperativ,
duty to uplift it's fallen ones, and in thu
allovlation Of their distress it has ever
relied upon the aid Of its women, whether
In the Olden times, when it thrust them
into It's furthermost corner during divine
service and carefully screened them from
view, or to-day, when it welcomes them
to its front pews, no longer fearful that
| their presence will detract from the
proper decorum of the place or cause the
thoughts Of men to stray from higher
and holier things.
So, from the beginning, it has been the
work of the Jewish women to succor the
poor, and the sweetness of their charity
has never been questioned. 1t has not
alone the ties Of kin-strong as these un-
doubtedly are-nor yet the stern behest
Of the Mosaic law that prompt the He
brews Of to-day to help their poor to
become independent and self-respecting
citizens. They are actuated by still an
other powerful and praiseworthy motive.
Here or abroad, the Jew, recalling the
long centuries Of awful persecution, is
deeply grateful for the light of freedom
that at last has been permitted to shed
It's rays upon his head, and once again,
standing erect, he proudly resolves that
the land that offers him free and peace
full home shall not be burdened by his
poor and helpless.
Prosperity made easy the endowment
Of the great institutions whose doors
open alike to Jew and Gentle and whose
able administration reflects honor upon
those who support and conduct them
But the great hospitals and asylums and
homes extend relief only to the sick, the
orphan and the aged, leaving unsolved
the problem of caring for the ever-in-
creasing mass Of the poverty-strlcken.
Various well-known sociological fac
tors, easy to recognize and equally easy
to account for, but, as things go, wholly
impossible to prevent or neutralize, null
tiplied the numbers of families more or
less dependent upon others for aid. Char
liable societies found 1t expedient to
unite and through central Office to con-
tinue their good work, but the arrival Of
the hOrdes Of penniless Russian exiles
and the prevalence of disastrous strikes
in the trades by which the majority were
trying to earn bare living magnifled the
difficulties Of the situation a thousand
fold. More now than mere money, more
than good judgment in it's expenditure
was needed to raise these people; more,
too, than the influence Of the schools and
other educational movements that, with
an eye to the future, were once set afoot.
So the rabbi Of Temple Emanuel, the
Rev. Gottheil, by his persuasive elo-
quence, called into existence the first
Sisterhood of Personal Service, and one
by one others, naming themselves from
the congregations to which their mem
bers belonged, steadily swung into Line.
The women who Joined them at once set
about reaching the helpless families in
their homes, each firmly bent upon rails
ing at least one of them to It's feet and
teaching it to keep there.
They quickly learned that this was not
so easy as 1t seemed, and that it could
be accomplished only by frequent and
friendly visits, from which the least sus-
piCion Of patronage, even more hateful
to the poor than to the rich, must be
absolutely banished. 1t is hard to gain
the real confidence of these people, so
long at the bottom that they sullenly re-
sent all advances save those Of money
or it's equivalent, and suspect some hid
den. and ulterior motive in every act Of
kindness from the woman too fine to
wear shawl upon her head. Yet slowly
the ciVilizing and educational influences
make themselves felt, often in entirely
unlooked-for directions, and the hasty
cleaning up Of premises and children
when SisterhOod visitors are expected is
the first visible favorable sign.
In New York City the Sisterhoods have
found it best to work In connection with
the United Hebrew Charities, each ac-
cepting the city district allotted to it,