The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-03
A SCHOLAR OF THE GHETTO
One Among Many in Humble jew
ish Quarters in New York.

Aiming in His Old Age to Preserve
the Literature and Religion of His
| Ancient Race-DevOted to the Cos
pei in Which He Was Taught.
a ragged man, who looks like a peddler
or beggar, picking his way through the
crowded misery of Hester Street. or as
| cending the Stairs of one of the dingy ten
ement houses full Of sweatshops that line
| that busy mari of the poor Ghetto Jew.
| may be "a great Hebrew scholar. He may
be able to speak and write the ancient
tongue with the facility Of a modern Ian
| guage-as fiuently as the ordinary Jew
| makes of the '.iargon, the Yiddish of
the people; he may be manifold author
with deep and pious love for the beau
tiful poetry in his literature; and in char
acter an enthusiast, a dreamer, or good
| and reverend old man. But matter
| what his attainments and his quality he
| is unknown and unhonored, for he has
| pinned his faith to a declining cause.
writes his passionate accents in tongue
more and more unknown even to the Gull
tiyated Jew; and consequently amid the
| crowding and material interests Of the
| New World he is submerged-poor in
] physical estate and his moral capital I'M
! recognized by the people among whom
he lives
Not only unrecognized by the ignorant
and the busy and their teachers the rab-
| bis, who in New York are frequently
| nearly as ignorant as the people ne is
| also tas his learning is limited largely to
the literature of his race. looked down
| upon by the influential and intellectual
| element of the Ghetto-an element So
| in
rather than Hebraic intolerant of every
thing not violently modern welded to
| movements and scornful of the past
| The ''maskil,' therefore, or man of wis
dom the Hebrew scholar-is called ''oid
ciaists.
! OF such men there are several in tbe
humble corners of the New York Ghetto
one peduies for living, another has a
Silali printing Once in basement on Ca
mai Street, a third occasionally tutors in
| some one of many languages and sells
patent medicine, and a fourth is the prin-
cipdI OF the Talmud-ThOra, a Hebrew
school II. the Harlem Ghetto where he
teaches the chiidren to read. write and
pray i'll the Hebrew language
moses Reicherson is the name of the
principal. Man of wisdom OF the pur-
est KIND, probably the finest Hebrew
grammarian in New York and one of the
hnest in the world, his income from his
position at the head of the school is 81 a
week lie is seventy-three years old
wears a thick grey beard. little cap on
ms head, and a long black coat His wife
is old ami bent. They are alone in their
miserable apartment on East fO6th Street
Their son died few weeks ago and 10
cover the funeral expenses Mr. Reicher-
son tried in vain to sell his Encyclopedia
britannica. But nevertheless the old
scholar. who had been bending over his
closely written manuscript, received the
visitor with almost cheerful politeness,
| and told the story of his work and of his
a nusFf Tics.
| tions he said little, but they shone
through his words and in the character of
the room in which he lived.
Born in Wilma, sometimes called the Je-
rusalem of Lithuania, or the Athens of
modern Judea, because of the number of
enlightened Jews who have been bern
there, many of whom now live in the
Russian Jewish quarter of New York, he
has retained the faith of his orthodox
parents, a faith springing. however from
the pure origin of Judaism, rather than
holding to the hair-spIitting distinctions
later embodied in the Talmud He was
n teacher of Hebrew in his native town
Tor many years, where he stayed until
ne came to New York some years ago
To be near his son. His two great intel
lectual interests, subordnated indeed to
the love of the old literature and religion
nave been Eebre v grammar and the NOR
al tables OF several Languages. on the
former he has written important work
and OF the latter has translated much of
I.essings and Gelert's work into pure
Hebrew. He has also translated into his
faVorite tongue the Russian fable-Writer
hrllow, has written fables of his own
ana Hebrew commentary on the Bible
IN tWenty-four volumes. He loves the
fables because they teach the people and
are real criticism; they are profound and
combine fancy and thought"
Many of these are stIll in manuscript
which Is characteristic of much of the
work of these scholars. for they have no
money, and publishers do not run after
Hebrew books Also unpublished written
LOVINGLY minute he haC
Hebrew prayer-book in many volumes
He has written hundreds of articles for
the Hebrew weeklies and monthlies
which are fairly numerous in this coun-
try, but which seldom can afford to pay
their contributors. At present he writes
exclusively for a Hebrew weekly plll,-
llshed IN Chicago Regeneration the
object of which is to promote the knowl-
edge OF the ancient Hebrew language and
the nation, for which he receives no pay.
the editor being almost as poor as him
self. But he writes willingly for the love
of the cause, FOR universal good: for
Reicherson in common with the other
neglected scholars. is deeply Interested in
revivifying what is now among American
Jews dead language. He believes that
IN TINS way only can the Jewish people
be taught the good and the true.
when the national 'ansuage and liter
allure live" he said, the nation lives:
when dead. 50 is the nation. The holy
tongue in which the Bible was written
must not die. IL it should. much of the
lTulnepi tns BlDle. many OF its spiritual
secrets. much Of its beautiful poetry.
would be lost. | have gone deep into the
Bible. that greatest book. all my life, and
/ know many of its secrets He beamed
with pride he said these words and
his sense of the beauty of the Hebrew
spirit and the Hebrew literature led him
10 speak wOnderingiy Of Anti-SemitisrI1
This cause seemed to him to be founded
on ignorance of the Bible. IF theAAnti-
Semites would only study the Bible would
go deep into the knowledge of Hebrew.
and the teaching Of Christ. then every
thing would be sweet and we'll II they
would spend a little of that money I'm sun
porting the Hebrew language and litera-
ture and explaining the sacred books
which they now use against our race
they would see that they are Anti Chris
tians rather than Anti-Semites'
The scholar here bethought himself of
an old fable he had translated into He
brew. Cold and Warmth make wager
that the traveller viii unwrap his cloak
suner to one than to the other The fierce
wind tries its best, but at every cold blast
the Traveller only wraps his cloak the
closer. But when The sun throws its rays
the wayfHrer gratefully opens his breast
to the warming beams. Love solves
all things, said the old man. and hate
closes UP the channels to knowledge and
virtue. Believing the Pope to be Il good
man with a knowledge of the Bible he
Semites, but desisted on the reflection
that the Pope was very old and overbur- |
dened. and that the letter would fall
into the hands of the Cardinals
All this was sweetly said for about
him there was nothing of the attitude cf
complaint. His wife one or twice during
the interview touched upon their personal
condition, but her husband severely kept
his mind ON the universal truths, and
only when questioned admitted that he. |
a 10