Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-10-29
A CENTENARY TRIBUTE TO
MORDECAI Nj. NOAH
By RABBI ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN
Of Congregation B'nnl Jeshurun,
New York

lists who conjurc up visions of q nobler
condition for their fcllowmcn, are
Builders Of Tabcrnaclcs. Defying the
blasting cyniclsm and the scorching
enmliy around them, they dare TO build
mp the tents Of hope and vision. Though
these labcrnacleS prove frnil and col
lapse under the stress Of circumstance,
yet their noble pattern leaves some
thing TO he remembered.
1t is 100 years ago that Mordeeai
Manual Noah designed the pattern Of
a tabernacle which was to shelter
homeless Jews from everywhere, and
which was moreover to prepare the
way for the great building of jew
ish homeland.
Mordecai Noah was born in Phila-
delphia in the year of 1855. Journal
ism, the Theatre, and Law were the
three absorbing occupations which
claimed him from his earliest man
hood His political career commenced
with his appointment in 1913 as Con-
sui to Tunis, with special commits
sion to secure the release Of twelve
Americans who were held prisoners
in Algiers. On the way to his post,
he had an opportunity of observing
Jewish life throughout the continent
and of studying the condition of his
co-religionists.
When he was recalled from Tunis
three years later, he settled in New
York. There his reputation rose rap
idly. His talent as playwright
brought him to the fore of American
dramatists, and his trenchant pen as
journalist, gained for him many
friends as well as many enemies. In
1929, he was appointed by President
Jackson as Surveyor of the Port of
New York, which offices he held until
1888. In 1s41, he was appointed
Judge in the New York Court of Gen
eral Sessions. Giving up that office
shortly thereafter, he resumed his
journalistic career. For a time he
served .as editor of the New York
Sun. He was constantly in touch with
Jewish communal affairs. He was
active in the councils of the Synagog
with which he was affiliated, which
was that of the Spanish and Portu-
guese Congregation Shearith Israel,
the oldest congregation in New York.
He also maintained contacts with the
second oldest congregation in New
York which was Congregation B'nai
Jeshurun. whose pulpit he mounted
on several occasions. In 1912, he was
elected the president of the Hebrew
Benevolent Society which was the
most active Jewish philanthropic
agency in the city at that time, and
remained its president to the time of
his death.
So far as Noah's place in American
Jewish history is concerned, his
greatest fame rests upon his great
est failure. Already as a young man,
he had formed his conviction that
lsraePs Restoration to Palestine was
about to be realized. In the course of
his travels abroad, he had seen the
miserable condition of his Jewish
brethren, who We're denied political
equality and human rights in most
of the countries of Europe. He saw
Palestine as the only salvation and
felt that it was his appointed ,astiny
to lead in the realization of that hope.
Recognizing that Palestine was not
yet ready for the Jew and that the
Jew was not yet ready for Palestine,
he conceived the project of founding
a colony in America which might
serve as a training station, the pre-
liminary step to Israel's ultimate Re-
storation. In that colony, Jews would
find haven from oppression. There,
they would cultivate their capacity
for self government and learn to bear
the responsibilities of nationhood.
, In 1925, he purchaser Grand Island,
, located on the Niagara River between
Buffalo and Niagara Falls, and op-
posite the newly completed Erie
; Canal. The location was chosen be-
, cause of its fine possibilities as an in
dustrial center. The colony was to be
known as "Ararrat," in reminiscence
of Mount Ararrat which, in the an
cient history of Noah, served as
refuge and resting place for Noah's
ark. The ceremonies at the laying of
the foundation stone were held in
Buffalo, September 2, 1925, amidst
, great professional. Mordecai NJ. Noah
issued proclamation to Jews all over
the world commanding them to CO.
operate with his project.
"Ararrat' never became an actual
ity. The response which its founder
IaNnnctnl Ill %