II ADVERTISEMENTS Should be in Every Jewish Home AN EPOCH-MAKING WORK COVERING A PERIOD OF ABOUT FOUR THOUSAND YEARS PROF. HE1NRICH GRAETZ'S HISTORY OF THE JEWS THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HANDSOMELY AND DURABLY BOUND IN SIX VOLUMES Contains more than 4000 pages, a Copious Index of more than 8000 Subjects, and a Number of Good Sized Colored Maps. SOME ENTHUSIASTIC APPRECIATIONS DIFFICULT TASK PERFORMED WITH CONSUMMATE SKILL "Graetz's 'Geschichte der Juden1 has superseded all former works of its kind, and has been translated into English, Russian and Hebrew, and partly into Yiddish and French. That some of these translations have been edited three or four times—a very rare occurrence in Jewish literature—are in themselves proofs of the worth of the work. The material for Jewish history being so varied, the sources so scattered in the literatures of all nations, made the presentation of this history a very difficult undertaking, and it cannot be denied that Graetz performed his task with consummate skill."—The Jewish Encyclopedia. GREATEST AUTHORITY ON SUBJECT "Professor Graetz is the historiographer par excellence of the Jews. His work, at present the authority upon the subject of Jewish History, bids fair to hold its pre-eminent position for some time, perhaps decades."—Preface to Index Volume. MOST DESIRABLE TEXT-BOOK "If one desires to study the history of the Jewish people under the direction of a scholar and pleasant writer who is in sympathy with his subject, because he is himself a Jew, he should resort to the volumes of Graetz."—"Review ofRevitvit (New York). SPECIAL OFFER TO MEMBERS SIGN AND RETURN THIS ORDER FORM TO THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 608 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA. GENTLEMEN : Kindly send me, expressage prepaid, a set of Graetz's "History of the Jews," in six volumes, cloth bound, lor which I am to pay you ¥8.50, this being the special price for members. Sign The American Jewish Year Book 5673 September 12, 1912, to October 1, 1913 Edited by HERBERT FRIEDENWALD for the AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE PHILADELPHIA -,,„.,- ^ THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY of "AMERICA • v 1912 COPYRIGHT, 1012, BY THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMEEICA PREFACE The leading article in this, the fourteenth, issue of the AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK is devoted to a survey, by Mr. Leonard G. Robinson, of the Agricultural Activities of the Jews in America, with special reference to the experiments, failures, and successes in the United States. It is a contribu- tion to the history of a phase of Jewish activity to which too little attention has hitherto been paid, and which should re- ceive widespread notice, as the achievements recorded, to- gether with much unsuccessful endeavor, are of a high order. After the publication of this article, the ground will be taken from under the feet of those who contend that agriculture is an occupation which has no attractions for the Jews. Easily first of the events last year in Jewry, not only of this country but of all the world, is the abrogation of the Treaty of 1832 with Russia. Its epochal significance makes it take rank with such historical events as the emancipation of the Jews in France and the removal of the disabilities of the Jews of England, if it does not surpass them in importance. A measure of the extraordinary extent to which public attention was focussed upon the indignity which Russia, for more than a generation, had put upon American citizenship, may be gathered from the multiplicity and variety of the articles in the public press, an incomplete collection of which numbers no less than 3300 clippings. When made familiar with the facts, the newspapers from Maine to California, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and from Washington to Florida, with rare exceptions, demanded the abrogation of the Treaty. To this powerful voice, raised in the cause of justice and in de- VI PREFACE fense of American citizenship, Congress gave willing heed. The hearings given to the American Jewish Committee and other organizations by the House Committee on Foreign Af- fairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Eelations were so full, and the arguments were presented in so convincing a man- ner, that the Congress was moved to take practically unanimous action favoring the abrogation of the Treaty, which, by notice of President Taft, tendered to Eussia on the 17th of Decem- ber, 1911, brought to an end from and after January 1, 1913, the principal instrument binding the United States with Russia. Without the doors of Congress, the most significant single event in connection with the Treaty-abrogation movement was the great mass meeting held on December 6, 1911, at Carnegie Hall, under the auspices of the National Citizens' Committee of which Andrew D. White, formerly Minister to Russia and Ambassador to Berlin, was President, and Wil- liam G. McAdoo was Chairman of the Executive Committee. Mass meetings were held in other cities as well, and were ad- dressed by men of distinction, but none had the national im- portance of the Carnegie Hall meeting. If the passport question reached a culmination, gratifying to Jews the world over, the same cannot be said of the attempts at the passage in Congress of bills aimed at restricting im- migration. Though it has been the traditional policy of the country merely to regulate and never to restrict immigration —except in the case of the Chinese—the Dillingham Bill which passed the Senate was a strongly restrictionist measure with many harsh provisions. In the House Committee on Immigration, the Burnett Bill, subjecting all immigrants to an educational test, was substituted for the Dillingham Bill, PREFACE VII and favorably reported to the House. At this writing, no ac- tion has as yet been taken upon the bill, but if it fails at this session of Congress, it will unquestionably come up again at the next session, and the friends of the immigrant must be prepared for another contest, to prevent him from being shut out of the country. Though the United States Immigration Commission, appointed under the act of 1907, did not report any bill, it recommended the restriction of immigration, and advocated a reading and writing test as the most feasible single method of carrying out its recommendations. For this proposed reversal of the traditional policy of the country the immense and undigested mass of miscellaneous data gathered by the Commission furnishes no justification. As has been freely admitted by its own experts, the Commission collected a much greater mass of material than there was op- portunity properly to examine, and when forced by Congress to conclude the investigation at a definite date, it made hasty generalizations, which its own collection of material does not warrant. The immigration question is still a pressing one, therefore, and it is safe to say that more will be recorded about it in subsequent YEAR BOOKS. As before, it gives me pleasure to make acknowledgment of the helpful suggestions received from Miss Henrietta Szold and Dr. Cyrus Adler. HERBERT FRIEDENWALD. NEW YORK, JULY 30, 1912. SPECIAL AETICLES IN PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK THE ALLIANCE ISRAELITE UNIVEBSELLE, 5661, pp. 45-65. THE JEWS OF ROUMANIA (two articles), 5662, pp. 25-87. THE AMERICAN PASSPORT IN RUSSIA, 5665, pp. 283-305. THE PASSPORT QUESTION IN CONGRESS, 5670, pp. 21-43. DIRECTORIES OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS, 5661, pp. 67- 495; 5668, pp. 21-430; 5669, pp. 19-64; 5670, pp. 146-189; 5671, pp. 229-253; 5672, pp. 217-265. STATISTICAL SUMMARY BY STATES (JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES), 5662, pp. 126-156. THE JEWISH POPULATION OF MARYLAND, 5663, pp. 46-62. A LIST OF JEWISH PERIODICALS IN THE UNITED STATES, 5660, pp. 271-282; and in subsequent issues. PRELIMINARY LIST OF JEWISH SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO SERVED IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 5661, pp. 525-622. THE HUNDRED BEST AVAILABLE BOOKS IN ENGLISH ON JEWISH SUB- JECTS, 5665, pp. 309-317. ONE HUNDRED AVAILABLE BOOKS IN ENGLISH ON PALESTINE, 5666, pp. 153-162. A LIST OF AVAILABLE STORIES OF JEWISH INTEREST IN ENGLISH, 5667, pp. 130-142. A SYLLABUS OF JEWISH HISTORY, 5666, pp. 163-170. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF RABBIS AND CANTORS OFFICIATING IN THE UNITED STATES, 5664, pp. 40-108; 5665, pp. 214-225; 5666, pp. 119-125. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEWS PROMINENT IN THE PROFESSIONS, ETC., IN THE UNITED STATES, 5665, pp. 52-213. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JEWISH COMMUNAL WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES, 5666, pp. 32-118. URIAH P. LEVY, 5663, pp. 42-45. GEHSHOM MENDEZ SEIXAS, 5665, pp. 40-51. PENINA MOISE, 5666, pp. 17-31. FROM KISHINEFF TO BIALYSTOK. A TABLE OF POGROMS FROM 1903 TO 1906, 5667, pp. 34-89. SUNDAY LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS HAV- ING REFERENCE TO JEWS, 5669, pp. 152-189. THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK CITY, 5670, pp. 44-54. IN DEFENSE OF THE IMMIGRANT, 5671, pp. 19-98. THE PASSPORT QUESTION, 5672, pp. 19-128. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE SPECIAL ARTICLES IN PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK VIII TIME OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET IN SIX NORTHERN LATITUDES following Contents CALENDARS 3 AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF THE .TEWS IN AMERICA, BY LEONARD G. ROBINSON 21 A LIST OF EVENTS IN 5672 AND NECROLOGY 116 THE PASSPORT QUESTION 196 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND AFFAIRS OF IN- TEREST TO THE JEWS 211 LIST OF JEWISH MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 216 DIRECTORY OF JEWISH NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 217 NEW JEWISH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 247 JEWISH STATISTICS 264 A LIST OF JEWISH PERIODICALS APPEARING IN THE UNITED STATES 268 APPOINTMENTS, HONORS, AND ELECTIONS 274 SYNAGOGUES AND HOMES OF SOCIETIES DEDICATED IN THE UNITED STATES 288 FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 12, 1911 291 REPORT OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH YEAR OF THE JEWISH PUBLICA- TION SOCIETY OF AMERICA, 1911-1912 315 TIME OF SUNRISE AND SUNSE (Adapted, by [permission, from Lat.