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

there there were seven Jewish congregations in
new ork The Portuguese congregation
was the oldest, he says, and the oldest
Portuguese was a Polish Jew. At the
hhngilsh-Polish synagogue In Elm street
and was laughed at for his greenness.
Who even at this day will not relish thIs
bit Of description?
&c, On C.. Center street, IN the second story.
Was the Polish synagogue; went there
the next evening and heard some in
dlvldual sniffie through a bit of Rashi in
~ pitlaply ignorant manner between
| there again.
%, OF the German congregations he says:
me congregation was orthodox, and just
as tll-behaved as in Germany; the cantor
had on a Christian gown, triIied like a
mock nightingale, and leaped about like
a hooked fish. After the selling Of the so
called mitZvoth, l lost all patience at the
lntolerabie- sing-song with which the read
er 1ntoned the portion and read from the
Iorah and at the innumerab'e Missile
t peracn. ny is this nuisance tolerated
IN metropolis?' l asked of my ne gh-
DOT l do not know he answered, but
II takes PLACE in all the synagogues of
Or Wise was, however, much impressed
with the preachings of Lilienthal and
Mefzoacher, outside of whom, he SAYS
there was not one leader in New York
He speaks of the men of culture he met
and adds:
SOME OF NEW YORKs JEWS.
In the mercantile world Walter
Dlttenhoefer, Moses and Content were
wei, Wen known; Lehmaier. seligman, Stett-
nelIner and Bernheimer We're as vet IN
Known beginners; Belmont, Speier, Bal
I'm, Sanders and others of the same
stripe 81 did not want to have anything to
/ 90 with IN the Jews even as long ago as
thdt une; Chatham square was dis
grace; Houston street was a vanity fair.
on tne Bowery, on Division, Grand and
oIner streets there We're small stores
owned by Jews; but on the whole the
Jew cut no figure. Thus matters stood
Ill New York In 1916, and when I COM
prehended the real position Of affairs 1
advised me to have nothing to do with
the Jews. Add to this the fact that
H es a good prospect of receiving a pro-
censorship at a prominent college, and
it will be readily understood that I be-
gan to waver in my intentions of Dur-
suing the rabbinical career 1 talked the
begged me instantly not to withdraw my
energies from Judaism for the very rea-
son that 1t stood in such need of them
thereupon | resolved firmly to give my
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
ana for which service he received $50
which seemed like a fortune to him. Next
he was called on to dedicate q syna-
6O6NN III OS AUST anu stopped over 10
preach in Albany. There are tears in
every line of the description of the first
parting from his wife, but an inexpH- |
sable ffo force, he says, directed his atten-
Ion TO the interior of America. He |
frankly admits that he failed in Albany.
although he was literally paid and fnvit-
ed to MI 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 beat.
He LOST HIS ENGLISH.
II have seen and experienced quite a
great deal in life, but [ can recall no
Impression that can be at all compared
TO that which l received on that dav
The steamer seemed to be floating pal
ace, the people higher beings and he
Hudson second Hidekel (Tigres), flow
walls of rock above New York seemed
to shut off the Old World and the steep
heights in the vicinity of West Point
were for me the mighty door, the giant
come with awe and devotion l could have
embraced every mountain, every rock:
then we reached the broad valley near
Rhtnebeck. There l awolxe from nv day
dreams, for there the New World seem
ed to begin. All hail, thou great and
glorious land; l cried out so loud that
. nankee 1, standing by asked me, You
speak French? 1 suppose I answered
nm; put l DO not know what I said;
, most likely he did not understand me,
for he did not disturb me again
when l began to feel somewhat more
prosaic saw man who seemed to be
countryman of mine walking through the
boat anX1Ously and searchingly
Have you lost anything? I asked
Have l lost anything? VIE heisst?
| have lost everything he cried; 4 have
lost my my English language.
You have lost the English language?
l do not understand
You do not understand Neither do
l. and therein lies my misfortune. [ ar
rived in New York. and after / had paid
all my debts I had 800 and shllings left
so they said to me- Cohen, you must buy
a basket for Shiliings and $40 worth of
kuddel muddel, what we call in German
MeshoWes, and then you must go ped
ding in the country. cry out, the coun-
try speaks English and [ do not How in
the world can | get along? That makes
no difference, they told me- We will write
everything down 70" you. Well, they gave
me the basket filled with kuddelI muddel,
and wrote down for me the English Ian
guage on piece of paper and sent me
to Hudson. Now [ have lost the English
language and am perfectly helpless
&" If that Is all you are in need of i can
help YOU; with these words I comforted
the tortured fellow; be brought some pa
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
X for g He persisted in saying, You
FAINT to puy somdink? Can l shtay nit