The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-06-17

there were seven Jewish CONGREGATIONS in
New York. The Portuguese CONGREGATION
vas the Oldest, he says. and the oldest
portuguese was q Polish Jew. At the
iEngllsh-Polish synagogue In Elm street
and was laughed at for his greenness.
Who even at this day Will not relish this
bit Of description?
IN center street, in the second story,
was the Polish synagogue; l went there
the next evening and heard some in
dtvidual sniff1e through a bit of Rashi in
so pitiably ignorant manner between
M1ncha and Maariv that I never went
there again.
OF the German congregations he says,
The congregation was orthodox, and Just
as ill-behaved as in Germany; the cantor
had on a Christian gown, trilled like a
mock nightingale, and leaped about like
hooked fish. After the selling of the so
fntolerable sing-song with which the read
er intoned the portion and read from the
Torah and at the innumerab,e Missile
perach. ny Is this nuisance tolerated
In metropolis? l asked Of my neigh
Dor. l do not know he answered but
Il Il taxes page In all the synagogues of
Dr. Wise was, however, much impressed
with the reachings Of LiIienthaI and
Merzbacher, outside of whom he saws
there was not one leader in New York
VINO could read unpunctuated Hebrew.
He speaks OF the men OF culture he met,
and adds:
SOME OF NEW YORKs JEWS.
I'm the mercantile world Walter
Dittenhoefer, Moses and Content were
Well known; Lehmaier, Seligman. Stett-
helmer and Bernheimer We're as yet IN
known beginners; Belmont, Speier, Bal
l1n5 Sanders and others of the same
stripe did not want to have anything to
40 with the Jews even as long ago as
that time; Chatham square was a dis
grace; Houston street was a vanity fair;
on the Bowery, on Division, Grand and
other streets there were small stores
owned own by Jews; but on the whole the
III New York In 1916, and when I COM
pretended the real position of affairs I
understood why the two physicians had
advised me to have nothing to do with
the Jews. Add to this the fact that I
mad good prospect Of receiving a pro-
tiessGTSIIp at q prominent college. and
1t VIII be readily understood that I be-
gan TO WAIVER In my intentions of pur-
SUNG the rabbinical career. | talked the
matter over with Joachimsen, and he
begged me instantly not to withdraw my
son that it stood in such need of them:
thereupon [ resolved firmly to give nv
self entirely to work for Judaism, to rise
or to fall with it"
DR., Wise made his first essay at preach
ing in this country in New Haven,
where he went to dedicate a synagogue
and for which service he received $50.
which seemed like fortune to him. Next
he was called on to dedicate O syna-
gogue In Syracuse and stopped over TO
preach in Albany, There are tears in
parting from his wife, but an inexpli-
cable force, he says directed his attefl-
ton to the interior of America He
frankly admits that he failed in Albany,
ed to fill the pulpit for the holidays. Poe
try and comedy are interviewer in his
description Of his trip to Albany and of
an incident that occurred on the boat
HE LOST HIS ENGLISH
81 have seen and experienced quite a
impression that can be at all compared
to that which Irreceived on that day.
The steamer seemed to be floating pal
ace, the people higher beings. and The
ing out Of the Garden of Eden. The lofty
walls Of rock above New York seemed
to shut off the Old World, and the steep
heights in the vicinity Of West Point
We're for me the mighty door, the giant
gate leading into the New World. 0vers
come with awe and devotion could have
then we reached the broad valley near
Rhfnebeck There | awoke from my day
dreams, for there the New World seem
ed to begin. All hail, thou great and
Yankee standing by asked me, You
speak French? 1 suppose 1 answered
him, but do not know what l said;
for he did not disturb me again
when 1 began to feel somewhat more
prosaic L saw a man who seemed to be a
countryman of mine walking through the
boat anXiously and searchingly.
Have you lost anything?' 1 asked
Have | lost anything? Vie heisst?
have lost everything he cried; Z have
lost my English language
p" You have lost the English language?
l do not understand
" You do not understand! Neither do
j, and therein lies my misfortune. I ar
rived in New York and after | had paid
all my debts had 500 and shillings left
SO they said to me, Cohen, you must buy
a basket for Shiflings and $40 worth of
klddel muddel, what we call in German
Meshowes, and then you must go ped
ding In the country I cry out, the coun-
try speaks English and 1 do not How in
. the world can [ get along? That makes
no difference, they told me- We will write
everything down for you. Well, they gave
me the basket filled with kuddell nuddel,
and wrote down for me the English Ian
guage on a piece of paper and sent me
to Hudson. Now I have lost the English
language and am perfectly helpless.
g If that is all you are In need of. I can
help YOU with these words [ comforted
per; | told him to write down in German
the terms of which he required the Eng
lish equivalent and translated these
words for him. He now had his English
language again. although he insisted on
pronouncing p' for b., f. and d., and
k for g He persisted in saying, You
FAINT to puy somdink? Can L shtay NIT