Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh

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2001

Livornese Traces in American Jewish History: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh

Arthur Kiron University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Kiron, A. (2001). Livornese Traces in American Jewish History: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/library_papers/71

Suggested Citation: Kiron, Arthur. "Livornese Traces in American Jewish History: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh." in Per Elia Benamozegh. Ed. Alessandro Guetta. Edizioni Thalassa De Paz, 2001.

This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/library_papers/71 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Livornese Traces in American Jewish History: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh

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Comments Suggested Citation: Kiron, Arthur. "Livornese Traces in American Jewish History: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh." in Per Elia Benamozegh. Ed. Alessandro Guetta. Edizioni Thalassa De Paz, 2001.

This book chapter is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/library_papers/71

LTRR VOLUMR PUBBLRC TR ~

Aa. Vv., Pensare Auschwitz, Pardes Italia 1, 1996.

Aa. Vv., Ebraicita e Germanita, Pardes Italia 2, 1999.

A. Guetta, Filosofia e Qabbalah. Saggio sul pensiero di Elia Benamozegh, 2000. Sedici autori Per Elia Benamozegh.

in appendice:

L'Origine des dogmes chretiens, cap. III. e Da Em La-Miqra: commento a Genesi I, 1. Per Elia Benamozegh. Atti del Convegno di Livomo (settembre 2000) (Testo origin ale. Presentazione e traduzione di Alessandro Guetta) Alessandro Guetta (ed.). Con due appendici: L'Origine des dogmes chretiens, cap. III, e da Em La-Miqra, comrnento a Genesi I, 1 - Di di Elia Benamozegh.

Progetto grafico di Flavio Consonni Elia Benamozegh. Stampa FDA Eurostampa - Borgosatollo (BS) Un ringraziamento particolare aHa BRA.MA. Edizioni di Milano per la sua cortese collaborazione

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I O"~'l n!)'?n!) ~IU"" eJlft'C!) Cl1l '?PC:l, I C"M!)"nCM C"n''''M nol!)M n,yc C""p" Alessandro Guetta, Presentazione p. 9 n,~pn n"'~n '37 n,;,"" '£)0 '37 .,~." C~£)W Samuele Zarrough, Saluto del Presidente della Comunita Ebraica di Livorno 15 ,m.,tiJltl '~N~'~ ", ~N'Crv c." tttlll "'P,nn c~nn' Isidoro Kahn, Riflessione 19 'l.,""tl l"CN t:l 'n'~N ntttl 1. IBenamozeglb. ll1l.el suo cOll1l.testo stOIr-o.co cultuIrale 27

Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Percorsi dell' emancipazione ebraica in Italia 29 NOUVEAUX DIALOGUES Arthur Kiron, Livomese traces in american jewish history: Sabato Morais and Elia Benamozegh 45 SUR ...LA KABBALE Bruno Di Porto, Elia Benamozegh, un volto mediterraneo dell'ebraismo ou integrale e modemo, mistico e storico, nell'incontro con l'Italia 67 Rerutation critique , historique, et theologique des Dialogues sur Ia meme 2. IL:El1IraislIllO di fIronte al CIrisiianes-o.m.o, de M. Ie Pror. LUZZATO de Padoue all'rrslaID e al Monote-o.srno U niveIrsale 87 .par ·.. ELIE BENAMOZEGH Richard A. Cohen, Benamozegh and Uvinas on jewish universalism 89 Rabbin Predicateur it Livourhe. Paul Fenton, Rabbi Elie Benamozegh s attitude to other religions: the case of Islam 107 Shmuel Trigano, La dimension politique de I 'Alliance dans Morale Juive et Morale Chretienne d'Elie Benamozegh 119 LIVOURNE Marco Morselli, Il manoscritto impubblicabile: CHEZ L' AuTEun- ET C. De l' Origine des Dogmes Chretiens 141 1865. 3. 153

Mino Charnla, Ebraismo "vivo" e spinozismo secondo Benamozegh 155 Irene Kajon, Rivelazione ebraica e razionalismo antico e modemo in Elia Benamozegh 167 8 9

Leonardo Amoroso, Benamozegh e Vieo 187 Alessandro Guetta, La modernita inattesa del pensiero di Elia Benamozegh 207 Giuseppe Laras, Elia Benamozegh: tra mistieismo e positivismo 223

4. P ercorsn Jel pe snero: TraJnznoll1l.e , PlRE§E T Z[ E U nnversainsm.o, Psncoal1l.al" sn 231 d.i " GueHa

Donato Grosser, L'importanza della Torah orale nell'insegnamento di Rav Eliyauh Benamozegh 233 Catherine Poujol, Quelle aetualite pour le Noaehisme? Seetes, Jondamentalisme, antisemitisme 245 Gerard Haddad, Laean et Benamozegh 259

5. 269

Appendice I: De l'Origine des Dogmes Chretiens, par Elie Benamozegh. Chapitre III: Caraeteres du Saint-Esprit 271

Appendice II: Elia Benamozegh: da Em la-Miqra (Matriee della Serittura), prima parte del eommento a Genesi I, I: 297 Presentazione di Alessandro Guetta 299 Traduzione di Alessandro Guetta 301 Testo originale 314 Frontespizio di Em la-Miqra 315 45

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'I_especiolly gratejullOAlessan- Among Sabato Morais' personal papers, which are a-tta and Samuel Zarrugh jar mainly hou ed at the Center for Judaic Studies Library ",y 10 -;'vIM.. I participation. and Heit/iunwrand Benjamm Nat/lOllS at the University of Pennsylvania, there exists a printed fo'trtJl/ing an earlier draft· pro pectu titled' Manifesto." On the top of the first page, in Morais' hand, appears the date "June 1876." The announcement, written in Italian, proposes a new work of theology for publication, aiming to serve not only a pedagogic purpose but also to stimulate, it is hoped, a new ecumenical rapport about the underlying unity of all religions, as based upon Judaism. The pro pectus was i sued by the Livome e rabbi, Elia Benamozegh. According to the Manifesto, the forthcoming book will bear the Italian title: Israele e l' Umanita. Printed beneath the announcement appears an excerpt from a letter written by Giu eppe Mazzini, the prophetic spirit of Italian unification, in upport of the religiou principle found in "I rael and Humanity." Benamozegh, according to Mazzini, had ent him the manu cript to read and comment upon. Mazzini managed to do 0 before his death in 1872. He therefore was able to aid po thumously the cau e of it I Sabato Mora is Papers, ellter jar publication a formally proposed four year later2. Judaic Studies Library {hencejorth SM-CJSL}, Ullil'ersityojPeIUlsyll'ania. Here we find a rather typical yet entirely neglected Box 16, FF5. triangulation: Jewi h religious humani m, Italian nationali m and American Jewi h hi tory. Where doe thi document come from? The city ofLivomo. Where do we find it today? In Philadelphia. The existence of thi rare printed notice for what would eventually 46 ARTHUR KiRON LIVORNESE TRACES IN AMERJ CA J EWISH HISTORY 47

become Benamozegh's most famous work (Israel et J NB: Benamozegh's year of 5 1hefol/oIVing essay builds on sections rabbis in America).5" frequently and erroneously L'humanite) in fact hints at a hitherto unexamined d· sertation, "Golden Ages, After Morais left Livorno, the two remained in touch. 1822. On Benamozegh's life, ~~: TIle VtctorianR abbinic relationship that ultimately bridges the Atlantic Jewish Guglielmo Lanes, Vita e opere di . oj.Sabato Morais " (Cohmlbta Their extant correspondence is not substantial, but Morais H~n nd world of the nineteenth century. Benamozegh (Leghorn: S. 1999), especially chapters one.a . 1901) and additional OIOI,rOJ!r4!lJJ1 V., The quote is from The Yudishe publicly spoke of Benamozegh with great respect>. He compiled by Alessandro four. ("T" J . I Benamozegh and Morais' intellectual biographies eten (New York) ,Ie eWI 1 claimed to have read nearly everything Benamozegh Benamozegh: bibliografia," gaz ") Pesah Blat ("Passover provide a kind of case study for comparison and Gazette , MensiJe di Israel [hencefonh ") March 24, 1899, p. 12, quoted wrote, and summarized enough of his works to provide Issue ' K· "D t d 7 contrast. Both Benamozegh and Morais, despite the 53, nos. 1-2 (1988), pp. 67-81 and cited in Anhur Iron, . LIS an . evidence to confmn as much • different locations in which they lived out their lives, PhiJosophie et Cabbale: Essai Ashes: The FW1eralandForg~ttmg .ofSa pensee d'Elie Benamozegh ( bolO Morais, " American JeWish History, Thus, each shared similar formative life experiences in first and foremost must be understood in relation to Montreal, 1998), pp. 307-352. ,'01. 84, IW. 3 (September 199New York City in 1886, the achievement for which no, 1990), pp. 23-59. According 10 development ofPhil adelphia, see Sam allowed each family and individual to engage in the historians chiefly remember him. Unlike the research, there were 4,771 Jews in Bass Warn el; The Private City: private, self-interested pursuit of wealth, the better off vorno in 1841. For the history of Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its reputation Benamozegh garnered in Europe after his growth of the Livornese Growth (Philadelphia, 1968). would be all members of society from the ensuing death, Morais' legacy quickly faded from view. community, see Renzo Toaff, La competition that would results. This ideology could ne Ebrea a Livomo e Pisa (l , On the "civic humanist" republican Nonetheless, his Yiddish-speaking contemporaries (Florence, 1990), pp. 60-64, tradition, see especially, J. G.A. not have been more different from Morais' own civic memorialized his passing in 1897 as the loss of "der 141-54 and esp. pp. 119ff. where Pocock, The Machiavelli an Moment: humanist9 religious outlook that called for the dutiful discusses the sourr:es and measures Florentine Political Thought and the grester fun ale ortodoksishe rabonim in amerika, uhn population growth, mortality rates Atlanti c Republican Tradition subordination of one's private interests to the needs of solek (without doubt... the greatest of all orthodox other demographic infon-notion. (Princetoll, 1975), pas im; Gordon the collective. Whereas the enlightened liberal self 48 ARTH R KIRO LIVORNESE TRA ES I AM RICA J EW I H HI TORY 49

Wood, The Creation of the 'nci' .Jell tall)' the name oj the looked to one's own private ambitions as the key to a /J Not COl u· , flourishing economy and culture in their political, Repu blic (New York and . Reshithokhmah ("thebegilVlil1g republic's succes , Morais' religious republican notion )'tshiWJ, / •Oo -i religiou and economic arguments for the admis ion 1969), pp. 46-90; Joyce , .. .J~ ") deril'e fivm t U! wlSuom "Republicanism and f! H·/.)UAftTl, • of self derived from communitarian traditions of .. .JlltOIl" S Of the Hebrew Bible; see and naturalization of Jew in Christian land ". Right American Quarterly, vol. trau ~ looking outward, not inward, in order to achieve the prul'ervSJ. 1.,'7' 9'10. alld Psallll. 111 . :10 or wrong, their treatises popularized the opinion that (Fall 1985), p. 465 and {"the Jear oj God is t~l~ beglllllll1g .0J redemption of the republic. Capitali m and a New Social Hisdom "]. On tire rabbull al acadel/lies the expul ion of Jews brought economic decline to their The Republican Vi ion of the ondscholars oJul'omo, See Rel1~ T~ Morais' religious and political belief y terns, in short, (New York, 1984). This 'one, op. cit., pp. 341-5 ; GUido former homelands and introduced pro perity to their NaZI , d' U " l2 derived from his youth in Livorno and early adulthood discussed ill Kiron, SO"II;'IO, un 'Talllllrti Tora I vomo, new place of re idence • Promised Lands, " op. cit., RMI 1'01. 10, IIOS. 4-5 (A ugust.. Se~~el1lber when he lived among emigre Italian nationalists in one alldfour. 1935),pP.I83-96;A/fredo Toaff, /lCol London, not from his time in America. Despite his own leglOI • Rabbinico di UI'onlO," RMI vol. Livorno came to enjoy a reputation among Jew not 10 For more detailed inJomUllliorilalMi 12, /lOS. 7-9 (1938), pp. 192-95. belief in the fundamental compatibility of the two sides this chaner; see Renzo ToajJ, only for tolerance and prosperity but al 0 culture. of his Atlantic experience, in many important ways just zione Ebrea a Li vomo e Pisa /I "Los Sititbulldos, " i.e., those who Livorno' rabbinical academie ,frr t e tabli hed in the 17(0),op. cit., {the definitive "thirst " Jar kllowledge. J. Isaiah the opposite was true. The variegated world of the Ri Livomo:S Jews in the early 55: I ("let all who tlri I' t. come for 1600s, included Reshit Hokhmah, where David Nieto sorgimento, in short, helps explain the similarities as period I, pp. 41-48 and pp. water"). See al 0, Flora Aghib Levi served as rosh yeshivah 13 . In the late seventheenth Bemard Dov Coopemum, d'AIIColla, "17le Sephardi Community well as distinguish important differences among the Settlemellf: The Estl1blishnlenl of Leg/10m (Uvomo)," The eph~di century, a literary a ociation Academia de los outlooks of Morais, Benamozegh and their common Heritage: The We tern Sephardlm, Sitibundos l 4, was established in Livorno. Thi eds. R.D. Barnell and W.M. S /llvab. inspiration: Giuseppe Mazzini. 21'01s. (Grendon, 19 9),2:185. Academia provided a forum for Jewish men, as well as some Jewish women, to meet and discu s science, 15 Se e, for example, Jose Faul; Livorno: the port city as a place "Sephardim ill th e Nineteenth recite poetry and write and stage play. Jo e Faur has Century: New Directions alld Old drawn attention to the religious humani t strand in Values," PAAJR, 1'01. 44 (1977), pp. The historical background to thi tory begins in 29-52; idem. , " Vico , Religious Livornese Jewi h thought. He has focused specifically 1591-93 with Grand Duke Ferdinand de' Medici's Hum anism alld tire Sephardic on the relation hip between orne of the city' Jew Traditioll, " ludai m vol. 27, 1l 0. promulgation of a set of charter of toleration designed (WiJJlerl978), pp.63-71; idem. , "77,e and Giambatti ta Vi co (1668-1744), the brilliant and to attract merchant trade to Livornolo. The "Livornina" SpJinil/g oJthe Lagos: ome Remarks creative philo opher of history from the port city of on Vicoand Rabbinic Traditioll, " ew of June 10, 1593 was more than a remarkable set of VICOSlUdie vol. 3 (1985), pp. 85- 103. Naple 15_ Amaldo Momigliano has cautioned against privileges for Jews and other merchant group. It wa reading too much into a note in Vico' autobiography " Vico, Autobiography, trails. Engli h the legal precondition for the emergence of a thriving by Fischalld Bergin (Jllracawrti WIUIOl~ that he formed a friendship with Livorne e Jew like cosmopolitan free-port urban culture. The is uing of 1995), p. 173; Amaldo Momiglia l1o, Joseph Attia 16. It i nonethele clear that in the 19th " VicosSciell~ LlOl'a: Roman Bestiolli the Livornina directly affected the formation of a and Ranum Emi, " History and Theory, century Livorne e Jewi h intellectual like hospitable environment for Jewi h re ettlement in an 1'01. 5, no. 1(1966), p. 9. Benamozegh and Morai ,a well a Morai ' teacher era otherwi e noteworthy for its expulsions, 17 Isaiah Berlin, Vico and Herder: Two and friend from nearby Pi a, Salvatore De Benedetti, ghettoization and climate of intolerance. The favorable Studies in the Hi t ry of Ideas ( ew were reading, publicly quoting and otherwi e engaged York, 1976); idem, Again t th Current reputation engendered by Livorno' local conditions (Nelli York, 1980); idem., The Crooked with Vico' writing. In the la t century, Vico ha in turn, attracted to the city refugees and heretic , Tunber of Humanity ( ew York, 1991); become even more widely read, particularly in Anglo 12 J. oopermall, "Trade Amos FlInkellstein, " afural cieflce Conversos and Sabbateans, di enter and believer Selllemellf," op. cit., pp. 247: and Social 17leO/}': Hobbes, Spilloza American circle including by Jewi h intellectual and Vieo, "Giambattista Vico' cien (Jew and non-Jew ) alike. Later, in the 17th and 18th que rtioll£Jble whether the Jews uch a I aiah Berlin and Amo Funkenstein 17 . majorfactorin the l~cOl:romicdeWlO'" of Hu manity, edited by Giorgio centurie , figures uch a Simone Luzzatto (one of oj Leg/10m. Nel'enheless, Tagliaco::::nalld Donald Phillip Verene; Faur wa one of the frr t cholar to empha ize Vico Venice' leading rabbi ) and John Toland (an Irish-born qllestioll that Leghol1l did COl/slllting editors, Isaiah Berlill ... let importance for Benamozegh, a relation hip that Ale - their coming, (urti Europei1llS al./; special advisors, Emeslo Gra si freema on and advocate of religiou and political linked the two phellomenn. " ... lef al.J (Baltimore, 1976), pp. 187- andro Guetta ha further analyzed in hi recent tudy toleration) point to the role of Jew in Livorno's 212; idem, Theolog and the Philosophie et Cabbale: Essai sur La pensee d'Elie 50 ARTHUR KIRON LIVORNESE TRACES IN AMERI CAN J EWISH HISTORY 51

Scientific Imagination from 22 Benamozegh (1998)18. Benamozegh, Faur writes, II Sabato Morais, "~api tal that bright mode1. " Morais clearly shared with Vico Middle Ages to the ~evlente_ . hment " Sunday DI patch "realized the momentous importance of Vico's punlS ' 1870 and Benamozegh a religious belief in the common Century (Princeton, 1986), esp. phj/lJdelphia), FebrLlary 27, . methodology" for modem Jewish thought, and how 202-213, 279-289 and passim. ( . ted in the Jewi h Mes enger, origin of all humanity created in the image of God. Repnn . . d', "philology and history (serve as) the link between Marr:h4, 1870 fa clippmg IS paste 3 n rht Morois Ledger, SM-CJSL, p. 4 J. He applied this moral code universally to all people - rhetoric and jurisprudence." According to Faur, "for what Benamozegh elsewhere systematically and JJ For the Seven Laws of Noah, see the Jew, Vico's vision of religious humanism and Genesis 9:1-7; TB Sanhedrin 56a.- explicitly formulated in terms of the Seven Laws of cultural pluralism represented the fIrst modem alter 600. On Benamozegh and the Noah23 . Moreover, Morais not only defended the Noahide Laws, see eg., 1 rael and native to the predicament imposed on him by Cartesian 19 Jose Faur, "Vico, Humanity, op. cit., esp. pp. 260-~0 Hebrew Bible and rabbinic tradition from their critics; epistemology and the secular rationalism of the Humanism and the ond passim. There is an extensive he also aligned himself with the well-known views of Tradition," op. cit., pp. 63-71. secondary literatLire about th e Enlightenment. On the one hand, the Jew could now Noahide laws. It is lIoteworthy that yet another leading fIgure of the Italian enlightenment, participate in the cultural and political life of the state. 20 See the Morais Ledger, lsooc I.A Peyreyre, Voltaire, alld other and an opponent of the death penalty, [Cesare p. 74 for a clipping of a enlightened philosophes, as weil as On the other hand, this new culture taught that there set of essays sunlevil.o their admirers in th e nineteenth Bonesana, Marchese di] Beccaria in his 1764 work are absolute canons determining the ultimate value of Hebrew Uterature, " pubjfisMdilti century, such as Isaac Mayer Wise, entitled Dei delitti e delle pene [On Crimes and Jewi h Messenger (New denied th e Biblical account of all cultures and societies at all times and in all places. 19" between January 1, 1875 common origins in favor of the view Punishments]. In so doing, he reaffmned, in the context In 1876 (the same year Benamozegh's Manifesto 16, 1875. In this articl~. ofseparate humall development. For of a partisan debate about capital punishment in the concluding essay to the discussion alld SOLirces, see Kiron , appeared), Morais translated into English a lecture by Morais translates an essay "Golden Ages, Promised Lands, " op. United States, ideas familiar to him from his Italian De Benedetti about the originality of the Hebrew "Originality of the cit,pp.218-19. background. Language" by Salvatore De language. In a footnote to that publication, Morais delli, which Morais Easy to overlook, however, is that in the footnote to identifies for his American readers the opening originally delivered by his translation of De Benedetti's essay, Morais teacher," the "Professor reference to the "Neapolitan genius" mentioned by his Languages in the royal unllfenrlllJ' demonstrated his awareness of Vico; in fact, this teacher (De Benedetti) as "Gian Batista Vico, a deep Pisa" to his students. footnote is the first trace of Vico in the history of thinker of the seventeenth century regarding the 21 See Moshe Idel, Appendix American Jewish letters. In this barely discernible way, common origin of all nations.20" Here we find a and Humanity, translated frotrt the Livornese-born Morais was engaged in introducing French, edited and witla common ideational thread. Morais' own views about introduction by Maxwell LuriIJ Vico to his American audience. Still, easier to fInd than the originality of Hebrew and the underlying unity of York, 1995), p. 394. this one stray footnote Morais authored are the parallel humanity parallel not only those of Vi co but also what intellectual threads which recur in his sermons, Moshe Idel has called Benamozegh's Renaissance published writings and in the institutions he founded. based understanding of the antiquity and unity of In a general sense, Morais' understanding of a special, religion21 . So, for example (in the context of a public yet universal mission providentially assigned to the debate about the death penalty in 1870), Morais framed Jewish people to disseminate this ancient Jewish moral his defense of the Mosaic legislation in universal terms, theology paralleled that of Vico. Despite the overall even as he endorsed the rabbinic view circumventing difficulties involved in interpreting the problem of the clear statements in the book of Exodus [eg., 21: 12] causation and determinisim in Vico's notion of affirming capital punishment. In the course of his providence (i.e., how to discern the way in which God defense of Jewish tradition, Morais explained that the participates in a human-made historical process), there Bible's divinely authored moral code was intended by i little question that for Vico the Jewish people as a God not only for "the government of His priestly nation have escaped the historical cycles of birth, nation," the Jewish people, but for all the "offspring development and decay, and in that providentially of Adam" who "strive to shape their moral code after invested sense are the bearers of a divine law whose 52 A RTH R KIRON LI ORNESE T RA E I AMERJ C J EW I H H ISTORY 53

observance prevent people from returning to an 24 Cf Mark Lilla, G.B. Vico. . G Lo Romer, Merchant In the e chools, modeled on the Lancasterian sy tern antediluvian state of be tialit 24. Making of an Anti • II [)aVId ' . Li vorno 1814-1867 y Refonn In ' (Cambridge, MA and and Los Angeles alld London, of education brought over from England, one head Morai left no doubt about the univer alism 1993), pp. 16-23. lilla ([krlce le)" 1987). p. 287. teacher would train a head student, who in turn would underlying his own providential under tanding of the theological and 26 Biblical dimensions . . all I 91 e say he train other students . In thi way, all the tudent Jewi h hi tory when he declared "I firmly believe that Vico's thinking over 17 MoraiS, ", . I Iished sketching thelllstOlY ojt Ie became 'reciprocally" responsible for each other' the dispersion of Israel was de igned by Providence "secular interpretation" pub .r L ' 'omo praised the I/ ew 27 to Croce and subsequent Jews OJ /I '.. . ' Li education . David LoRomer, who ha tudied 'ish edllcationallllstltll{/OI/ III - to effect the moral regeneration of the gentile world. 25" Jt'It .h re: "scores oj il/Jant Livorno' merchant reform program, explain that the .·omo K e .r II The mis ion idea also was widespread among 19th under {he slIperimendence OJ w~ - reciprocal chools empha ized a " pirit of a sociation," century RefOlm Jewish thinker, uch a David Einhorn trained female teachers acqUIre rudimental kno wledge alld are cultivated gentlene (mansuetudine) and harmony for example, who turned the 9th of Av into a day of ted 'rom grade to rade, promo J' [' , among the students. The program aimed at nothing celebration to empha ize that thi holiday of always joining secular to re I g l ~us studies. so {Iiat while, to a male elnld, less than the "moral perfection of the population". Also lamentation (which commemorates the destruction of thai institution affords the means ~f characteri tic of enlightened educational reform at this the Temple and the dispersion of the Jew), also becoming a bookkeeper, a mechalllc or a Rabbi, to a girl it of!ers the time wa the growing effort to provide instruction for initiated their univer al mi sion. Morai and facilities ofgainin g accompllshmellfs fining her for the parlor not less th~n female 28 . According to the new way of thinking, Benamozegh, by contrast, embraced the universal in very fragile condition. for the kitchen. .. See abatoMor~ ' s. women needed to be properly educated because they mission of the Jew while adhering to traditional clippings are acidic, and "The History oj the JeWish articles have occ'asitmal'/y Congregation ojLeghorn , .. Menorah were increa ingly viewed as responsible for understandings of Judai m's holidays and practices. off. I discovered the Monthly. 1'01. II, I/O. 6 ( 189 1), p. 356; tran mitting correct value and behavior to their For each, Judaism provides a particular and neces ary if. SM, /HL. p. 190. NB: G. Sonnillo, "II Talmud Tora di Livomo, .. op. cit. , children, the future citizens of the newly emerging hi torical means to realize a universal, messianic end. p. 190, who states that the iIlJa.n~s republic. Thi outlook was intrin ic to the kind of In each ca e, the conceptualizations echo familiar school institLlted by the Massan 111 1771 was "i! germe del piu jiorente activities to which Morai would devote him elf later theme found in Italian religious humanist a well a asi/oche sorgeraJra i! 1833 e il 1837, in life a a minister and teacher. in Jewish traditional sources. sotto gli aLlspici di Salvatore U:ie/li.{ "th e seed oj (h e later At the arne time that educational reform wa flowerin g pre-school th at arose underway, the ecret ociety of Carbonari, followed Livorno in the time of the Risorgimento hem'een 1833 and 1 37, under the auspices oj Salvatore Uzielli.' /. by the Giovine Italia (Young Italy) journal (1832-1834) Inlt~restin I)" th e 1771 directive, and movement founded by Mazzini, began to organize In the econd quarter of the nineteenth century, in the wrinen i1l Portugue e, also calledJor co-educatio1l: "para a boa educa~ao the politically divided penin ula into revolutionary aftermath of the Napoleonic occupation and the das criancias {creel/cia } de hum e cells. Thi circle of political activist, which included rea sertion of the Hap burg hegemony, albeit indirect outro sexo, es lI ecessario de proveer hua maestra, qual e aSLlma 0 a number of Livorne e Jews, began urging in print and over Tu cany, there were two decisive hi torical event tIlcargo de educar os ragasses de later by force the unification and independence of a that affected young Jew growing up in Livorno. Both tendre etade jin alIOS seis, e as Jemias fin hua etad conveniente." [Jor a new Italian republic. In fact, one of the first Young factor helped to hape a modem religious humanist good education ojth e belieJs of both Italy lodges to be organized wa e tablished in Livor outlook: one wa the program of enlightened educational sexes, it is necessary to provide one female teacher, who is en/rusted with no by Mazzini him elf in 1830. Already a a youth, reform introduced by the city's merchant cla s; the other lhe task of edu atillg boys Jrom the , Sabatino", a he wa known, upported the republican wa the political drama of the Risorgimento. lender age oj six alld girls until the appropriate a e iformarriage). "}. 1 revolution again t the ancien regime. The hou ehold In March of 1832, shortly before Benamozegh and am grateJIII to Esperanza Alfon 0 Jor in which Morai wa rai ed was infu ed with her help with thi translation. Morai 'ninth birthdays, the Jewi h community opened revolutionary fervor. Samuel Morais, Sabato' father, a new co-educational chool of 'Reciprocal II Lo Romer, Merchant and Refonn, op. cil., pp. 171-7 . reportedly once uffered imprisonment as a u pect in In truction" as part of a broader merchant reform a plot to overthrow the government. According to Sal program then underway to educate the lower cla e. vatore De Benedetti, Samuel' creed what De Bene- 54 ARTHUR KIRO LIVO RNESE TRACES I AMERICA J EWISH HISTORY 55

detti calls "La religione [della} sua vita" was Already within the first few years of his arrival in republicanism. In his memorial address honoring America, Morais was expounding his religious Samuel, De Benedetti repeatedly referred to his abne republicanism before American audiences. He did this gazione: "his was a real abnegation, the exercise of as a pulpit preacher, as a teacher, as a public lecturer, virtue illumined by an acute sense of duty, not as a writer and as a tran lator. Morais insisted on the something done in the hope of reward ("Pero fu vera valid role of religion in public life: "For the American abnegazione la sua, esercizio di virtu per istinto e co people to be virtuous," Morais wrote in 1852, only a scienza del dovere, non per isperanza di prerruo"). year after he had arrived in Philadelphia, "she [Ame Samuel Morais raised his children on these same au rica] must be religious; for virtue disconnected from stere principles29• 19 Salvatore De Benedetti religion is a word void of sense; it is but a mask to His son Sabato similarly embraced religious di S. D-B. Lette in nome di conceal ambition or avarice. [The Republic] must be Giugno 1862 ne ll'occtlSio~~tI.I republican ideas not only in theory but also in practice. nerali di Samuel Morais, religious by excerci ing those virtues willch the Bible 27 Maggio 1862," p. 2. 33 ~s a teenager, Morm joined the freemason ,following JJ Anonymous (Sabato Morais), "A n inculcates. " The fact that Morais was already located in the SM-CJSL, In the footsteps of his father and grandfather; as he Address. Delivered by a member of propounding these views so shortly after arriving in FF27. " ... cadde in sosj1ettt.ldilfJ lhe Masonic Order on the 24th of later put it: "at the hazard of being ostracized for plicito in una conspi,·azi(I~.QI NOl'ember. it being the thanksgiving America, suggests that he brought his point of view holding revolutionary tendencies I patronized with al1 till)' appointed by the governor of tI~ e with him to the U.S. from London and Livorno, and Stale of Pennsylva nia", Ma OOI C who acted secretly willIe hoping for the realization of complicitolls in a con:rpirtlC.YG. Mirror and Key lone (Philadelphia), did not derive it from his new home. Additional 30 the government and Dtcember 7, 1853, p. 3 {clipping Italian Uruon. " Morais also did so in the language incarcerated. "). found in the Morais Ledger, SM evidence can be adduced in support of this claim. and terms of his religion. He once drew upon the CJSL. p. 3J. In December of 1876, the same year in which he had Exodus story, for example, to justify his claim that translated De Benedetti' article alluding to Vico (and Judaism could never be equated with de potism or the same year in which he received Benamozegh's servitude, that Judaism never recognized "nobility of Manifesto, which quotes from Mazzi~i's writings), birth," and that the notion of monarchy found in the Morais delivered a public address about Giuseppe Bible was never intended in the medieval sen e of Mazzini. His address in 1876, during the Centennial being divinely infused, but rather only existed as a 31 Sabato Mo rais, "A anniversary of the founding of the American republic, Delivered on Jhanks ;~ivilralt means to a greater end: the ervice of God. The type (November 25, 1852) offered a public occasion to honor the memory of his of king found in the Bible, Morais argued, "was only a Congregation Mikveh Israel lamented friend. It also provided Morai with the Synagogue in Cherry Street supreme magistrate, the representative of the laws, a Rev. S. Mo rais, Reader opportunity to introduce Mazzini to his American man who exceeded others in wisdom, who exhibited Cong regation (Philad4~1p14 audience (including American Jews) and to convey to 1852) ," p. 3. 31 f humility, and enforcedjustice. " Moreover, throughout them his understanding of the mearung of patriotism 31 It is noteworthy that each his writings appear characteristic sprinklings of U Sabato Morais, "'A Patriot, ' and the duties of citizenship34. Italian humanists prOlmot4~d (Mauini) Lecture Delivered at the allu ions to or analyses of Jewish and non-Jewish Italian vernacular as a YMHA (Youn g Men 's Hebrew Morais' personal relationship with Mazzini dated authors such as Bahya Ibn Paquda, Maimonides, and language, just as Morais Association) of Ph iladelp hia from the five and a half years (1846-51) he had spent emphasize Hebrew as the (1876)." The manuscript is found Moshe Hayim Luzzatto (Rarnbal) as well as Dante, language of the Jewish people. inSM-CJSL. Box 12, FFII. in London where he had lived among a community of 32 Petrarch, and Manzoni • In short, Morais' concept of emigre Italian nationalists. If one report i correct, he republican virtue, like that of his contemporary and Mazzini clearly formed a relationship of trust. Benamozegh, wa ful1y steeped in Sephardic and Henry Morais, in a memoir of his father, reports that Italian humarust writings as well as in the contemporary Sabato, upon leaving London for America, gave his events of ills time. passport to Mazzini, enabling the exiled leader to travel 56 ARTHUR KJRO LI OR ESE T RA I AMERI A J EWISH HI TORY 57 in ecret to the continent under the name of a Livornese A an ob ervant and faithful Jew, Morai did not Jew. After arriving in America, Morais remained in (unlike Benamozegh) ever try to re olve the implicit touch with Mazzini, though the extant correspondence ten ion between his own faith and the explicitly 35 is cant • The depth of intellectual influence Mazzini 35 For the accoullt of Morail Chri tian dimen ions of Mazzini' belief system. In exerted over Morai , however, is readily apparent from his passport to Mauini, see fact, de pite the e differences, Morais' attachment to S. Morais, Memoir, pp. 12-1 a perusal of Morais' voluminou publi hed and Elmalell , (who kllew Mazzini was 0 deeply felt that in his memorialization unpublished ermons and addre e. ucceeded him as of him, he rhetorically reca t him in Jewi h term. Congregation Mi One main idea in Mazzini's political program which Commemoration of Though ' not even a Jew" Morai wrote, [Mazzini] appealed to Morai was the effort to ground Anniversary of the , bore the highe t type of a Hebrew, the deepe t impre s Reverend Doctor Sabato republicanism on a religious basis. Mazzini believed Congregation Mikveh of a Rabbi; Aye, a Melchizedek was he, ministering to ity of Philadelphia, 37 , religion and politics are inseparable ... Religion is the 11 H.S. Morais, Memoir, op.cit. . pp. the altar of the Most High God. " Perhaps the most vening. April 18. 1923 /2·13. supreme, educative principle, politics is the application 1923). Cecil Roth tirring feeling Mazzini inspired among hi follower , of the principle to the various manife tation of human aCCOl/llt as factual in Morais ob erved, wa a willingne to sacrifice oneself the Jew of Italy ( life." Mazzini made thi point explicit and recurrent 1946), p. 457. 011 to a higher cause, and in particular to be willing to in hi famou e ay,' Dei Doveri dell'uomo" [On the Italiall Jewish ubordinate individual concern to the Duty and need Duties of Man], publi hed in 1851. Thi principle of ci israeliti di Giuseppe of nation-building. "Many a noble youth," Morais "DUTY," according to Mazzini, involved convincing RMJ vol. 5, no. 12 (April. wrote, "kindled with enthu ia m by the teachings of Delll1i Mack Smith, MazziDi "men that they are all sons of one sole God, and bound Haven and Lol/doll, 1994). the Apo tIe of truth, bent to receive the death shot as to fulfil and execute one sole law here on earth: that 48, 49-76, pa im. light-hearted as a fond chjld runs to [hi or her] mother's 38 arms. " "Abnegazione," the mo t crucial element of each of them i bound to live, not for him elf, but for JI ibid. other that the aim of exi tence i not to be more or Morais' religiou republican outlook, al 0 tood at the Ie s happy, but to make themselve and others more heart of Mazzini' demand upon each individual to virtuous.' Mazzini specifically criticized the moral adopt a per onal tance of humility and acrifice. consequences of the poverty and economic injustice This concept of abnegation i a con tant thread which he beheld. "Working Men!" he declared, "We live in recurs throughout Morai ' later moral-theological an epoch imilar to that of Christ. We live in the mid t writings publi hed in America and is characteri tic of of a ociety as corrupt a that of the Roman Empire ... virtually every description of him. Morai may have The ufferings of the poor are but partially known to inherited a natural shyne s. Shortly before hi death, the wealthier cla e; known but notfelt.' The remedy, Morais would till write of him elf: "From the earliest Mazzini believed, was to teach people to imitate year of my life which I can recall I remember myself Chri t' example, to adopt a pirit and mode of action a hy, ea ily cared creature, trembling all over at the of humility and acrifice. "Chri t' every act was the idea of being brought forward, preferring solitarines visible repre entation of the Faith he preached and to merry company." Whatever per onal idio yncracie around him stood Apostles who incarnated in their his shyne reflected, Morais nonethele came to for action the faith they accepted. Be you such and you mulate the concept of humility a an e ential principle wilJ conquer. Preach Duty to the cla e above you and a defining guidepo t of practical conduct. He and fulfil - a far a in you lie - your own. Preach J6 Jo eph [Giuseppe} Mauini. repeatedlyempha ized thi arne theme throughout his the Duties of Mall," Life virtue, acrifice and love, and be your elves virtuou , Writings of Jo eph Mazzini, 6 life in America a the ba i for the moral and religious 36 (Lolldon, 1891), 4:222-230. loving and ready for elf- acrifice ' . education of young people. LIVOR ESE TRACES r AMER1CA J EWISH HISTORY 58 ARTHUR KJRO 59

This element is already clearly present in the earliest putrid drop") and to where are you going: "li-mekom sermons Morais delivered in Philadelphia. Consider, 'afar, rima ve-tole' ah ("to the place of du t, worms for example, Morais' inaugural Sabbath sermon and maggots. And before whom will you give an delivered at Congregation Mikveh Israel on March 21, account: before the King of Kings, the Holy One 1851, only a week after arriving in America. "True blessed be He"). Akabyah's view aptly sums up Morais' worship," began Morais, speaking his first public own outlook. As Morais once put it, commenting on words before the judging eyes of his future the oft-quoted verse of the prophet Micah (6:8) ["And congregation, "resides in the heart, and truly it is by what does the Lord require of you: only to act justly, purifying our hearts that we best worship God; still, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God"]: "Let the ordinances [mitsvotl which we are enjoined not the performance of religious ob ervances be a cloak [commanded] to perform aim but at this object: to to your vanity... Let it be the conviction of your sanctify our immortal soul, to make it worthy of its nothingness and the necessity that frail mortals have sublime origin ... We must also be on our guard lest the at all times to fly to the footstool of the most High for essential should become secondary; we must take heed _ Pirke Aboth 3:1. Cf Kiron, coun el and sUpport.40" "Golden Ages, Promised Lands," Morais' exploration of the reason why a Jew should not to confound true devotion with false piety. [True cp. cit., pp. 53-55. worship] is simple, modest, it does not strive to attract pray and perform mitsvot - to purify one's heart and the attention of men, but like the devoted Hannah, it sanctify one's soul - points to the difference between speaks with the heart, the lips move and the voice is his own understanding of 'anavah and various other scarcely audible. [False piety] is clamorous, affected, interpretations of the concept of humility. The genre of 39 Jewish literature which treats this vexing problem of full of ostentation. " )9 News item. Asmonean(New There are a variety of sources that could have vol. 3, 110. 23 (March 28, explaining the reasons underlying the divine 181. informed Morais' concept of abnegazione, such as commandments is called in Hebrew ta ' amei ha-mitsvot. Bahya Ibn Paquda's Hobot ha-Lebabot, Moshe Hayim The contrast between Morais' view and that of other Luzzatto's Mesilat Yesharim, and Giu eppe Mazzini's treams of Jewish thought on this topic is clearly evident own literary output. A pre-existing Jewish musar 4/ Rivka Schatz- UJJenheimer, by the way his differed, for example, from the doctrine Hasidut ke-mi tikah [Ha idi m a (moral-pietistic) tradition easily fused in Morais mind Mysticism: Quieti tic Element in of self-abnegation (bitul ha-yesh) propounded by Eastern with Mazzini's rhetoric of humility, duty and sacrifice, Eighteenth Centu ry Ha idic European Hasidim. The performance of the mitzvah of Thought] translated into English by albeit without him being overtly troubled by his explicit JCHlQthan Chipman, (Princeton and tefilah (prayer) for Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezhirech Christian references. One illustrative rabbinic lesson Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 67-79, pp. (d. 1772), as Rivkah Schatz-Uffenheimer has shown, 1/1-143; Louis Ja cobs, "Th e Natu which Morais, as was typical of his religious education rr of Hasidic Prayer, " in E ential served a theurgic purpose. To pray successfully, a Hasid knew by heart, i found in the early rabbinic work Papers on Ha idism: Origin to had to achieve a state of self-annihilation for that prayer Present, ed. Gershon David Hundert entitled Pirke Aboth. Attributed to Akabyah ben (New York and Lolldon, 1991), pp. to be truly effective. In other words, in order for a pious 330-62; Daniel C. Matt, " Varieties Jew to effect changes in the supernal realm through Mahalalel (to whom Morais once referred in the course of Mystical Nothillgness: JelVish, of a round of publi hed polemic about the (un) Christian and Buddhist, " Fe t chrift prayer this Hasid would first have to be capable of for David Win ton. Studia Philonica completely emptying himself of all sense of self and importance of credentials), is the following saying: Annual : Studie in He lleni tic "Ponder three things and you will not sin: know from Judaism vol. 9 (1997), pp. 3 16-3 1. any petitionary intent to satisfy any needs of the self. Mosh e Idel, Ha idi m: Between While the degree of self-denial varied, the "Hasidic where you come and where you are going and before Ecstasy and Mag ic (AlbaIlY, 1995), whom you will ultimately have to give an account. pp. 105-1/; 114-23,130-32, 141-42 ideal," according to Louis Jacobs, was contemplative and passim. 41 From where do you come - mi tipah seruhah ("from a prayer through self-annihilation . 60 A RT HUR KJRO L IVOR ESE T RACES I A ME RICAN J EW ISH HISTORY 61

Morais, in fact, explicitly di tingui hed what he an entire chapter to explaining the correct, esoteric deemed to be the misguided and harmful my ticism under tanding of 'anavah. He identified this attribute of the Hasidim from that of the mystical outlook of hi of humility with the sefirah of malkhut, the la t of the contemporary Benamozegh. Morais cautioned his esoteric divine emanations that provides a gateway to readers that they would "err egregiously who should the perception of divine mysteries. Benamozegh fir t suppose that Elias Benamozegh countenances the presents this familiar kabbalistic symbolism and then vagaries of Kabbalism as exhibited in Sadagora" [in takes a more radical step: i not the humility ('anavah) Galicia, where one ofthe Hasidic leaders held court]42 . 42 Morais, Italjan Hebrew characteristic of malkhut, identified with God's female Benamozegh himself emphasized in his writing not a op. cit., p. 2 13. indwelling presence, "shekhinah," he rhetorically theurgical but rather a world-historical purpose in the argues, al 0 characteristic of the humility of Jesus performance of mitsvot: "This task [keeping the mitsvot ("N'est-ce pas las Schechina qui est appeh~e 'anavah and the seven laws of Noah] is, in fact, the only reason (humilite) ... et qui explique l'humilite caracteristique for Israel's existence and per istence. Israel is to be de Jesus, cette autre incarnation, cet autre 43 the cornerstone for the religions of the world. " In "£lia Benamozegh. Morale Juive et malchout ?)"?45 In fact, Benamozegh continues, the op. cit. one sense, Morais agreed. Mitsvot, Morais once wrote, Morale Chretienne (2° ed., Firen ze, attribute of humility which marked Jesus' personality "are not indeed the ends, but they are the means ... 1925). p. /1 3. is the indispensable supreme condition for the study [E] xternal observances ... keep alive national of the amazing "myst eries" of the merkavah [i.e., the sentiments, prevent the laws and the prophets from esoteric divine chariot doctrines flowing out of the being forgotten, and ... are calculated to uplift our souls interpretation of chapter one of the book of Ezekiel] to their maker and thus withhold u from sin." For (" ... c'est que, toujours et partout, on a fait de l'humilite Morais, prayer and mitsvot were not under tood as la condition supreme, indispensable, pour l' etude des either theurgic or world-fleeing acts seeking an ecstatic forrnidables mysteres de la Mercaba, c' est adire, selon

union with the divine (devekut)44 . In a similar vein to 44 On devekut, see nous, des doctrines qui furent la source de celles de Scholem, "Devekut, or Jesus")46 . what Moses Mendels ohn argued in the second part of with God," E ential " Ibid. p. 11 5. Jerusalem, Morais believed the observance of the Hasidis m, op. cit., pp. 2 Though Morais clearly did not share this theosophical Note, however, the critical mode of understanding, nor Benamozegh's radical commandments prompted their ob ervers to ponder Moshe Ide l, Kabbalah: the divine legislator. Morais' was an entirely human Pe r pective (New Haven attempt to reconcile the historical tensions between London, 1988), passim, who Jewish and Christian doctrines, Jewish and Christian interpretation of the need for commandment , not for for the interpretation of a God's sake but to remind people of God, to prevent unio my tica among Jewish doctrines, he did share with Benamozegh a similar people from sinning, and to pre erve the Jewish people conception of the instrumental function of mitsvot in as a nation. the service of a messianic historical outcome. Both Benamozegh explicitly located the concept of Morai and Benamozegh believed that the ultimate humility at the heart of his theosophical ystem. He purpose of keeping the commandments was to preserve and Morai , thus, shared an appreciation of the the Jewish people as a nation of priests instructing all centrality of the concept of 'anavah. The same word, of humanity about the universal truth of God's however in fact referred to a different et of meaning revelation. For both writers, moreover, the fulfillment according to each respective theosophical or of this mission did not require a radical negation or theological ystem of thought. In his Morale Juive et self-annihilation or complete assimilation into a greater Morale Chretienne, for example, Benamozegh devoted reality, whether it be nationhood or the divine through 62 ARTH R KIRON LIVORNESE TRACES I AMERICA J EWISH HI TORY 63 an unio mystica. Here we see, thus, a hint of common abnegation as a concept neither derived from nor ground between the "rationalist" rabbinic humanist referred to either the image of the Cross or to the Morais and the "theosophic" rabbinic humanist Zoharic malkhut. Rather, abnegation belonged to the Benamozegh: the end of days, as in the beginning of Jewish historical tradition of martyrology which he days, assumes unity and undifferentiated universality. dates from the time of the Maccabees in the second For both, Jewish particularism is respected in historical century, B.C.E. terms. In the universal messianic thinking of both, Morais most vividly identified this martyrological however, particularism ultimately collapses into a tradition of sacrifice with the historical experience of fundamental kind of Universalism. the Conversos from whom he personally descended. These writers clearly shared a similar rhetorical So for example, in commenting on the question of repertoire. Closer examination, however, shows that recognizing the newly-installed revolutionary for each of them the same word could have different government in Spain in 1868, Morais wrote: "I will referents. From an analytical perspective, three distinct not judge Spain by her past. The atrocities committed types of abnegation are discernible within the religious in her name have indeed thrilled mankind with horror. republican triangulation with which we began: the (non The shades of millions consigned to the rack by autos Catholic) Christian, the Theosophic, and the Moral. For da fe flit now before my vision. I see that hideous Mazzini, abnegation refers back to the image of Jesus monster, brought from the Vatican, to devour on the Cross. Patriots adopt a posture of sacrifice in the Andalusia; that accursed Inquisition which turned a service of nationhood and should be prepared to make lovely spot on earth into a charnel house. Every stone an ultimate sacrifice, in imitation of Jesus, in the service therefore is reddened with the blood of the martyrs of of humanity. For Benamozegh, abnegation ultimately 17 SabaIO Morais, "Thank giving the Jewish faith ... " 47 . Sumon, " reprinted ill th e refers to the sefirah "malkhut, " represented by the female Pbiladelphia Inquirer, No vember 27, On many occasions, Morais referred to the memory divine presence or shekhinah. Benamozegh took the 1868{clipping, Morais Ledger, SM of the martyrs to emphasize the obligation incumbent radical step of identifying his theosophical interpretation CJSL,p.36]. upon each Jew to remain religiously loyal, ritually with both the Christian understanding of Jesus' attribute observant and to imitate the models of faith offered to of humility and ultimate sacrifice. In this instance and him or her from the Jewish past. Already in London in in general he relied upon parallels he detected in the the 1840s and continuing later in America, Morais monotheistic faiths of both Christianity and Islam to repeatedly drew upon these ancestral, moral and prove the antiquity of the Zohar. In so doing, he felt he religious meaning to fuse a new, programmatic vision could successfully argue as a universalist for Judaism, of Jewish national-religious regeneration in America. his own particular faith tradition, as the original source At the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation Sha 'ar of this ancient theology (prisca theologia). Shamayim at Bevis Marks in London, where he served Morais, by contrast, shared with both Mazzini and as the Head Master of its Orphan School, Morais Benamozegh the rhetorical trope of abnegation as well delivered a Sabbath sermon in 1850 praising the as their universalist religious republican political ideals. Maccabees for their courage and religious strength and He did so, however, from an entirely Jewish reference declaring them role models of piety for imitation for point, and so without an ulterior agenda of needing to his young charges. Nearly forty years later in New York demonstrate the antiquity of the Zohar, and thus the City, in December of 1887, on the eve of the opening authentic original truth of the Kabbalah. For Morais, of the first classes of the Jewish Theological Seminary, LIVORNESE TRACES IN AMERICAN J EWlSH HISTORY 64 ARTHUR K IRON 65

Morais again returned to the model of the Maccabees' Taken together, these elements of abnegation - the "abnegation - the regard for duty before life" as models defining place of the human condition of mortality as of faith for all Jews to follow. The memory of the the ultimate measure of things, loyalty to tradition and martyrs' willingness to die for their faith, Morais hoped, family, the republican duties of citizenship and would inspire all Jews to observe "the sabbath of the sacrifice, underscored by a vivid historical Decalogue, the covenant of Abraham and the dietary consciousness of the Converso martyrs from whom laws." he descended, and the severe morally refIning principle The fact that Morais repeated a similar sermon on of humility, of being but a putrid drop destined to the same holiday (Hanukah) is beside the point. become dust whose final reckoning will be made by Morais' main point transcended the particular occasion God not man - recur in Morais' words and deeds not upon which he delivered his sermon. A year earlier, on merely as a personality trait but as part of a broad January 30, 1886, the day before the Seminary was religious and political world view. This worldview was officially founded, Morais declared: "the basis of the based in particular on the prophetic teachings of the [seminary] shall be humility, not hostility, its sustaining Bible, the rabbinic tractate Aboth, the Sephardic musar pillars steadfastness and fealty to the ancestral tradition. It emerged in the context of the Risorgimen traditions, not boastfulness and vainglory." Morais was to, and specifically in relation to the teachings of Giu unequivocal about the centrality of humility for the seppe Mazzini. Morais brought his rabbinic future seminary. It is noteworthy that from that day republicanism with him to America in 1851. He forward, and continuing on an almost weekly basis devoted the remaining forty-seven years of his life in throughout the first year of the Seminary's existence, the United States to advancing it in a programmatic as he rallied financial support for the new institution, way in the community in which he lived. Morais delivered a series of lectures on the Sephardic To conclude: rabbinic humanists like Benamozegh and Italian Jewish heritage in which he had been raised. and Morais advocated abnegation as a religious There is no evidence, conversely, to demonstrate that political stance. They embraced Mazzini's teachings Morais, as the chief founder of the Seminary in New and fused them with Jewish prophetic, theosophical York City, had imagined the Breslau Juedisch and musar traditions. I would suggest here that Faur's Theologisches Seminar (or Zecharias Frankel's theory basic insight regarding the distinction between of positive-historical Judaism which is often associated humanism and enlightenment is correct. The with it), as a fundamental model to imitate. Rather, fundamental antagonism between humanism and Morais tried to implant his notion of abnegation and If Cf Salo {Wj Baron, "Ghetto and enlightenment for some Jews, however, was not Emancipation: Shall We Revise the between religion and secularism. The most dramatic the role models he identified with its core meaning at Traditional Vie w? " Menorah Journal the heart of the institution. As he put it in his first 1'0/. 14, no. 6 (June 1928), p. 524: change affecting them in the nineteenth century was "Emancipation was a necessity even the relationship of the individual to the state. As Jews presidential address in 1890: "The knowledge imbibed more for the modem state than for in our Theological Seminary shall tend to qualify Jewry; the Jews' medieval status was became fully enfranchised citizens, their coercive mode anachronistic and had to go." See believing Jews to go forth as heralds of duty; not such of self-government as an autonomous community by also, Pierre Birnbaum and Ira 49 as is woven into a laurel of self-glorification, neither K~/son, "Emancipation and the necessity changed . Henceforth, each Jew would relate liberal Offer; " Paths of Emancipation: 48 Sabato Morais, "Address individually to the state and not indirectly through the such as is forged into a lever to raise up high one's Jews, States and Citizenship ed S. Morais, L.L.D., " P B'rnhaum ' . material interests, but a knowledge free from egotism, I and Katmelson (Princeton mediated relationship of the self-governing Jewish Biennial Convention (he£ct onJIIII 19(5), pp. 4.36 ' fruitful of humanizing and soul-elevating results."48 16, 1890j, p. 27. communal authority. To act religiously as a citizen 66 ARTHUR KiRON involved fashioning a new notion of the individual. For some liberals, the separation of religion and state, and the sharp delineation of private and public spheres, seemed the obvious solution. For Mazzini and those who identified with his outlook, the individual citizen had to be religious and the content of their religiosity had to inform the character of their patriotism. The legal emancipation of Jews across Europe and the de facto reality of citizenship for Jews in American created new and unforeseen kinds of tensions. Philosophically, two versions of the self now stood in conflict: the self-referential self and the self-abnegating self. The former celebrated the autonomy and natural rights of the individual, the autonomy and universality of reason, the separation of Church and State, and defended on moral and sometimes religious grounds the pursuit of ones' private economic interests; the other subordinated private interests to the needs of the collective, rejected the autonomy of reason, subordinating it to the needs of moral-religious cultivation, saw religion and state as inseparable and demanded the emptying of the ego as a precondition of both piety and patriotism. The Sephardic model Morais advanced (and in keeping with Mazzini's teachings) resolved this conflict not by separating religion from state but by basing state on religion, with the Hebrew Bible serving as the source of a universal moral legislation in keeping with a belief in the common origin of all humanity and universal applicability of the Noahide laws. Morais, as his contemporaries tell it, was the outstanding exponent and defender of the enlightened orthodox Jewish point of view and the founder of an institution to secure its place in American society. To understand the origins of that institution, we must understand its chief founder. To understand Morais and Benamozegh, we must return to their sources. In other words, we first must look to the port city of Livorno.