The Jewish Publication Society of America Page

THE JEW IS H PUB LICATIO N S O CIETY O F AMER ICA

TWENTY- FIFTH ANNIVE RSARY

A PRIL FIFT H A ND S IXT H NINET EEN HUND R ED A ND T HIRT EEN PHILA DELPHIA

PHILAD ELPHIA TII II JEWISH PUBLICATION S OCIETY O F AM ERICA 1913 nu c m‘ 13 B Y C o , 19 .

Tn: tunPU B LI CA T I ON So currv or AuaCA CONTENTS

1 91 2 -1 91 3 Ofﬁcers and Committees , Introductory Note

Israel and His Book . Poem by Felix N . Gerson Programme of the Celebration 5 a Authors Evening, Saturday, April . Chairm n , Professor 19-42 Jacob H . Hollander ss Do c Addre : Jewish Authorship . By the Reverend tor David Philipson 2 1

Wolf 4 3- 84 r 6 . Mo ning Session , Sunday, April Chairman , Edwin

c . . 43 Prayer. By the Reverend Do tor Maurice H Harris

Papers : The Origin and Growth of the Society. By Ephraim Lederer How the Publication Committee Do es Its

Work . By Henrietta Szold n l a Th 6 . e After oon Session , Sunday, Apri Chairm n, Hon

orabl 8 5- 1 55 e Simon W . Rosendale : s Papers The Bible Tran lation . By Doctor Cyrus Adler ’ The Society s Publications . By the Reverend Doctor Samuel Schulman 1 08

“1 33-1 55 Addresses from Foreign and American Organizations .

v 6 . The The Banquet , Sunday E ening, April Toastmaster , Honorable Mayer Sulzberger : Addresses The Bible. By Doctor S . Schechter e The Materializatio n of the I d al . By Louis Marshall

The Society and the Colleges . By Doc tor Israel Friedlaender Charter and B y- Laws

1 8 88 - 1 91 3 List of Publications ,

ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE i 2 2 L ebman Adler , author of Sabbath Hours Dembitz Lewis Naphtali , author of Jewish Services in Syna gogue and Home C Bernhard Felsenthal , member of the Publication ommittee , 1 8 8 8 - 1 90 8

o f Heinrich Graetz , author History of the Jews i 1 8 8 8 Marcus Jastrow, member of the Publ cation Committee , 1 903

o f Moritz Lazarus , author Ethics of Judaism i S mon Adler Stern , member of the Publication Committee ,

1 88 8 - 1 90 4

Martha Wolfenstein , author of Idyls of the Gass First Seal used by The Jewish Publication Society of America page

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

1 91 2-1 913

PRE SIDE NT

EDWIN WOLF, Philadelphia

FIRST VICE -PRE SIDE NT

DR . HENRY M . LEIPZIGER , New York

SE COND VICE-PRE SIDE NT

S IMON MILLER , Philadelphia

TREASURE R E FE R NB E R GE R H NRY , Philadelphia

E N X l a B JAMIN ALE ANDER, Phi adelphi

ASSISTANT SE CRETARY DOB S E VAGE l a I . GEORGE , Philade phi

SE CRETARY To TH E PUB LICATION COMMITTEE

HENRIETTA SZOLD , New York

TRUSTEE S DR Y U . C R S Philadelphia CHARLE S EISE NMAN Cleveland Philadelphia Philadelphia

. New York E P E a JOS H H . HAG DORN Philadelphi Philadelphia DR E Y LEIPZI CER . H NR M . New York SIMON MILLE R Philadelphia

. New York JULIUS ROSE NWALD Chicago

. Baltimore T HORA CE S ERN . Philadelphia

SAMUEL S TRAUSS New York. 10 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIE TY OF AMERI CA

- E A T U . S LIGM N J . S RA SS Wilkes Barre , Pa CY S ULZRE RGER RUS L. New York H O YE B E E i N . MA R SULZ RG R Ph ladelphia Pittsburg

HARR IS W EINSTO CK . Sacramento EDWIN WOLF Philadelphia

HONORARY VICE -PRE SIDE NTS E EI ISAAC W . B RNH M Louisville R E V DR . E Y C E . H NR OH N Galveston T i LOUIS K . GU MAN Balt more R V E E DR . MA X LE . . . H L R New Orleans MISS ELLA JACOB S Philadelphia i . Wash ngton

R E . V DR T . E YE R . . MAR IN A M San Francisco H O E L N E . . . SIMON W . ROS NDA Albany , N Y MURRAY S E A S O N GOOD C incinnati H O N C O i . M . . SL SS San Franc sco R EV DR EP T C . . JOS H S OLZ hicago H ON . C . . SIMON WOLF Washington , D

PUB LICATION COMMITTEE H O E E i N Y B E Charman . i . MA R SULZ RG R, Philadelph a DR CY E . RUS ADL R Philadelphia R E V E Y E W T d i DR . . H NR B RKO I Z . Phila elph a D R C . E i S . SOLIS OH N Ph ladelphia D E RB E R DE N W A LD . R . H RT F I E New York DR E FRI E DLA E NDER . ISRA L New York FE X E . i LI N . G RSON Ph ladelphia R E V DR . MA X E E . . H LL R New Orleans DR . B E JACO H . HOLLAND R Baltimore D EP R . JOS H JACOB S New York R EV DR . . . E . J . L MAGN S New York E MO I S S E L ON S . IFF New York R E V P DR . . DAVID PH ILI SON Cincinnati D R . SOLOMON SCHE CHTE R New York R E V DR . . SAMUEL SCHU LMAN New York H O N S 'I RA . OSCAR S . U S New York SAMUE L STRAUSS New York INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The twenty- ﬁfth anniversary of the founding of The Jewish Publication Society Of America was celebrated in the city of 5 6 191 3 Philadelphia, Saturday, April , and Sunday, April , , two with an Authors Evening on Saturday, meetings on Sun

f . day, morning and a ternoon, and a banquet Sunday evening

The Authors Evening and the two meetings on Sunday, all three public sessions, were held in the Assembly Hall of the

Dro sie n at p College for Hebrew and Cognate Lear ing, Broad and York Streets, and the banquet was tendered by the Phila delphia members to the out- Of- town members of the Society

s a and other gue ts , in Mercantile Hall, Broad Street bove Mas ter Street . The Assembly Hall of the Drop sie College was hung with the portraits Of persons connected in one way or another with the work and aims Of the Society : Rabbi Li ebman

Of c Adler, the author Sabbath Hours , published by the So iety

( courtesy of his daughter, Miss Celia Adler, of Chicago,

Rabbi Bernhard Felsenthal , a member of the Publi

Oi 1 88 8 - 1 908 Of Z cation Committee the Society, ( courtesy ion a a r Congreg tion, Chic go, P ofessor Heinrich Graetz , the a uthor of History of the Jews, published in translation by the Society ( courtesy o f the Jewish Theological Seminary Of

astrow of c America) Rabbi Marcus J , a member the Publi a

mi c 1 8 8 8 - 190 3 - in tion Com ttee of the So iety, , and Edito r Of Chief the Bible Translation (courtesy of his daughters, the astrow e Misses J ) Rabbi Alexander Kohut, a memb r of the 12 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

e the 1890 - 18 94 Publication Committe of Society, (courtesy of the Jewish Theological Seminary Of America) Isaac Lee e ser, the found r of the ﬁrst Jewish Publication So ciety in the e United States (court sy of the Jewish Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa Newbur er ) ; Morris g , the ﬁrst President of the Society Keneseth a (courtesy of Isr el Congregation, Philadelphia, Pa t 18 98 ) ; Lewis W . S einbach, Secretary of the Society,

a . 91 t . 1 3 . . (cour esy of Mr S S Fleisher, of Philadelphi , Pa ) e a Simon A . St rn, member of the Publication Committee of

1 88 8 - 1 904 s of a the Society, (courte y the Jewish Hospit l, Phila m rt aPa. b delphi , ) Rab i Benj a in Szold (cou esy of his wife,

o Yo . M rs . S phie Szold, of New rk City) Rabbi Isaac M Wise oo (courtesy of the Benjamin H . Teller Memorial Sch l of the d i t a . Ro e Shalom Congregation, Ph ladelphi , Pa ) and Martha

o s e Of Grass W lfen t in, the author Idyls of the , and A Renegade s h o t co and Other T ale , bot bo ks published by the Socie y ( urtesy o of her father, the Reverend Doctor S . W lfenstein, of Cleve

o . land, Ohi ) All the members of the Society were invited indi vidually to take part in the celebration exercises . Special invitations were issued to distinguished ladi es and gentlemen in the Am c to e erican Jewish ommunity, representatives of for ign Jewish communities sojourning in this country at the time ur of the celebration, to organizations at home and abroad p suing purposes ki ndred to that of The Jewish Publication a all Society of Americ , and, in particular, to those persons who, as writers or in other capacities, had rendered services the and o to literary executive departments of the S ciety . The Assembly Hall of the Dropsie College was well ﬁlled the e at all sessions, gu sts to the number of about one hundred and twenty- ﬁ ve having come from cities and towns outside THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

of Philadelphia . Numerous letters of regret were received by e Co ee o A a e e e e o e c th mmittt f rr ng m nts from m mb rs f th So iety unable to at end the celebration . The Committee Of Arrangements of the celebration was com Of o i i posed the f llow ng gentlemen, all of Ph ladelphia

ai Dr . Cyrus Adler, Ch rman , Ephraim Lederer,

a 0 . Benj min Alexander, Clinton Mayer,

Max Berg, Simon Miller, t an N ewbur er David Bo tin , Fr k g ,

Fernber er . Henry g , Leon J Obermayer, e l S nellenbur Alfr d F eisher, Joseph g,

Perry Frankel , Edward Stern ,

Jacob Gimbel , Horace Stern ,

Felix N . Gerson , Hon . Mayer Sulzberger,

Joseph H . Hagedorn , Oscar B . Teller,

Jacob D . Lit , Edwin Wolf.

. Dobsev e . a M r I George g , Assistant Secretary of the Society the and Secretary to Board of Trustees, acted as Secretary of the above Commi ttee and also at all the sessions of the celebration .

TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

ISRAEL AND HIS BO OK

Written on the occasion of the twenty -ﬁ fth anniversary of the founding of The Jewish Publication Society Of America

B Y FELI X N . GE RS ON

-ﬂun Through wide g portals in this dawn of days ,

a- With hope tremble and with eyes alight,

We gird our purpose , poised for nobler ﬂight ,

With pulsing hearts that beat a song of praise . a For toward this d wn we come by rugged ways ,

Through gloom and terrors that bedim the sight , With bleed ing feet that stumble toward the height Off Far beholden , where the promise plays .

’ Far off, beyond the utmost mountain s rim, A glorious peak that holds a wondrous shrine Grows ever clearer through the clouds that dim Th o e goal our lab rs would incarnadine . a — Here , for a moment, we make p use that we

- With new found breath approach this destiny .

e And see , the threshold is b strewn with ﬂowers

Of Jewish learning, grown in many lands , a Fashioned in fr grant wreaths by willing hands , To grace the pathway through the tedious hours ; TO s bring, unto the drooping, buoyant power , a That eyes enkindle and the he rt expands ,

For knowledge heals the stricken, breaks the bands ,

And with new consciousness the world endowers . 1 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

In this high effort has our youth been spent

Toward this achievement has our spirit grown .

The Olden word was with fair fancies blent ,

Yielding a treasure that had lain unknown .

From those rich mines , with spirits high and strong, — l ! What richer ore we conquer, tel my song

III

- a An age worn wanderer, pale with thought and te rs , a With he rt heroic and prophetic look , e Comes , clasping to his br ast the Sacred Book The amulet of Israel through the years ! ! Behold he says , through ages dark with fears , Through travail and through miseries that shook ’ The soul of Judah , this he ne er forsook . It is his Book ! — Therein his God appears !

His Book ! more glorious with supernal light Thanall the beacons reared by mortal hands its an Since time ﬁrst lisped guish in the night . His Book ! That gave a God to all the lands ; Whose pages shall through us again reveal The wondrous promise grief could not conceal !

1 8 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

’ FT E E A RNOON S SSION , O CLOCK

TH E DROPS I E E E T E E T COLL G , BROAD AND YORK S R S l Chairman , The Honorab e Simon W . Rosendale Chairman of the Convention which organized the Society Presentation of Addresses by Delegates T ! The Bible ranslation , Doctor Cyrus Adler ’ ! The Society s Publications , The Reverend Doctor Samuel Schulman

’ A ET B N! U , O CLOCK

TH E E T E C B TRE E T A B OVE TE M RCAN IL LU , BROAD S , MAS R Dinner Given by the Philadelphia Members of the Society to Guests — and Out-of Town Members TH E TWENTY - FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

AUTHORS EVENING

6 1 91 3 SUNDAY , APRIL ,

E CHAIRMAN : PROFE SSOR JACOB H . HOLLAND R

the For Authors Evening, the ﬁrst exercises held in honor of the twenty - ﬁfth anniversary Of the founding of The Jewish

Publication Society of America, special invitations had been addressed to American and foreign writers that had contributed ’ as authors, translators , editors, or compilers to the Society s publications during the quarter of a century of its existence , w be and , besides, to other American Je ish authors that have come known through their Jewish literary work . An invita tion had also been issued to thegeneral public .

The exercises were Opened by Mr . Edwin Wolf, the Presi Of dent The Jewish Publication Society of America . In the absence of the Reverend Docto r David Philipson Of Of e Cincinnati , Ohio , a member the Publication Committ e of the Society and of the Board of Editors of the Bible Transla

ewries tion, and author of Old European J , published by the

Society, who was prevented by the ﬂoods prevailing in the Middle West from coming to Philadelphia and acting as the

Chairman of the Authors Evening, as he had consented to do ,

Professor Jacob H . Hollander, of Baltimore, Md . , also a mem ber of the Publication Committee of the Society, presided .

n In his introductory remarks, the Chairma spoke in part as follows I shall endeavor to ﬁll my part in this evening’ s programme

o without trespassing too much up n your time . It is proper 20 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION S OCIETY OF AMERICA

fimdam ntal for me to sound at least this note . The e economic an a . c law, th t demand begets supply, Obtains here I remem i ber the foundation of the Publicat on Society . In the early formative period, the commonest remark one heard and the commonest diffi culty the first officers and the Society exp eri enced t were that, even af er members and an organization had e been s cured, there was no one to write the books . During l e i this celebration a sto ry wi l be told which, I hop , w ll make at least incidental reference to the tragic eagerness with which 10 ! i authors were sought . But marvellous th ngs have come ma in ’ i to pass . More re rkable the Society s l fe than the amaz ing growth of membership is the development of an extra of ordinary group co ntributors and authors, so that even more notable than the physical output of the Society is the direct w I impetus it has given to Je ish literature . As look through n a the list of authors who have accepted i vit tions to be present, many of whom you will hear during the course of the evening, I am tremendously impressed by the service the Society has rendered . m I ll And now, with your per ission, sha present the address tt c s o o i i wri en for the o ca ion by D ct r Ph l pson, whose place I o ak have been called up n to t e . THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

JE WISH AUTHORSHIP B Y TH E REVEREND DOCTOR DAVID PHILIPSON

It appears altogether ﬁtting that the Opening meeting of this happy and unusual celebration should be devote d to wel coming as the guests Of The Jewi sh Publication Society Of

America the writers who have justified its claim to existence . l be a If at the outset a persona word in pl ce , may I exp ress my appreciation in thi s presence of the honor done me by the B oard of Trustees in asking me to preside on this distingui shed occa ? a to sion It is a r re privilege extend, from the presiding ’ r a colaborers Office s pl ce, the formal greeting to my in the w e é field of Je ish lit rature, who have gathered here to give clat by their presence to the first anniversary of this nature cele ate br d . among the Jews of this country, if not of the world Two Jewish publication societies had been formed in this country before the birth of our organization, but their exist

- n ence was o f comparatively short duration . A well k own cur rent dictum based ona popular superstition declares that a third attempt in any undertaking is invested with a charm

e . that brings succ ss We do, however, not necessarily lay our us selves Open to the charge of being superstitio , in spite of this widespread notion, if we express our gratification that we are identified with this third venture in the history of Ameri can Jewish publication societies ; for, being so identified, we are here living this day, and are participating in a signi ficant l I anniversary celebration that will become historica . And am sure that all of us feel li ke speaking at this opening hour the

- time honored benediction of our faith, Praised be Thou, O 22 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

God i i Lord, our , K ng of the Un verse, Who hast kept us alive ,

a e . sust ined us, and permitt d us to reach this season The detailed story of the work of the Society in the various ’ branches of its activities will be told at to - morrow s sessions by the competent speakers who have been appointed to the e e task . It therefor only remains fo r me to indicat in a few words the men and women, living and dead, native and

e foreign, who have be n enabled by our Society to address a la s rger public than in all likelihood would have been the ca e , e had the Society not been in xistence . It is quite possible , too, that many a volume would have remained unwritten, had there not been a Society of this nature to encourage men and women to write . For, I take it that the prime Object of our to Publication Society is this , bring before the public literary productions that might otherwise never have seen the light of day and to encourage men and women to write who but for such encouragement would not have given themselves to these tasks .

Who can tell How many Of the forty- eight authors wh ose works have been published by the So ciety might have remained unknown but for the Opportunity Offered to enter the lists of Jewish Literature ? Who can tell whether the works of dis tinguished foreign authors that have been translated into English unde r the aegis Of the Society would have become

t ae l - ? o herwise cc ssible to the Eng ish speaking public Truly, the i the books of authors, liv ng and dead, be they of greater ’ w - or lesser reno n, are the Society s jewels . The eighty seven volumes of publications speak most eloquently Of the ﬁ ne O f service the Society in the Jewish cause, and if it is ever ll u e ca ed pon to justify its existence, th se volumes may well be a “ po inted to with the famous words my ns , Ye are my ! e witness s . LIEB MAN ADLER

24 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Of Jewi sh interest during a long and hono rable career . These names constitute the roll of the dear and honored dead whom

m r - we recall in living and affectionate me o y to night . mm ! n: 13 > Their memory is a blessing ! The living American authors who are honoring this meet ing by their p resence will speak fo r themselves during the i course of the evening. Communications w ll be read from such of our foreign collaborators as have responded to the in vitationextended to them to give expression to some word of e c e t m gre ting or some chara t ris ic senti ent . A glance at the names of the foreign writers whose books have been published by us indicates how co smopolitan in its aims this American e Society is . Ther are the Englishmen Israel Abrahams, Elkan N B entwi ch Adler, orman , Samuel Go rdon, Lady M agnus, and

a Zan will r o Isr el g ; the Ge man, Philipp Bl ch ; the Frenchmen, N S lousch a As ahum and M urice Liber ; the Russians , her

I and . B Ginzberg, saac Loeb Perez, S M . ubnow ; and the e in Y ellin Pal st ian, David . There is one other class of authors to whom reference must I se— be made before clo great writers of a former generation, o n s e who se bo ks, whether as tra slations or reprint , have be n made accessible to American readers through the agency of

. a this Society First mention must be made of Heinrich Gr etz, s Of who e magnum Opus, History the Jews, fo rms possibly our

- most widely circulated publication . The others in this cate u ’ go ry are Grace Ag ilar s dramatic tale, The Vale of Cedars ; ’ ’ Arséne Darmesteter s and Emanuel Deutsch s classical dis sertations m on the Talmud, ﬁne examples of literary co po si and ’ a . tion ; S . H . Mosenth l s charming tales of Jewish life r o T uly, the Society has done c mmendable work in bringing s r the e ﬁne publications before a new and g eater public . TH E TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

f The past is secure . The life O the Society during the quar

- e Mis ter c ntury of its existence is now a matter of record . ne takes there undoubtedly have been . The critics have poi t d them out without reserve . But even our severest critics will,

I believe, grant that the sum total of the achievement has been a a plus qu ntity . Worthy authors who might otherwise have a h kept forever silent have gained hearing . It as been proved to the world that American Jewry has literary po ssibilities and even literary worth . If there be, as there may be, somewhere in this great land, some mute, inglorious Miltons, it is my hope and prayer that they, stimulated by the reports of this Of celebration, may, through The Jewish Publication Society s America, be enabled to in cribe their names on the roll of fame .

And now, in closing, permit me in the name of my fellow s e authors, present and ab ent, to express her , publicly, our sense of appreciation of the tribute paid to literary workers by inaugurating this great celebration with an Authors Even mg. ’ May God s blessing continue to rest upon the work Of the

I ! Society as hitherto . May it grow and ﬂourish . mm n 1: — S O may God grant it !

’ Of a After the reading Doctor Philipson s ddress, the Chair ’ man called Oncontributors to the Society s publications to l or speak on the work of the Society in genera , on their contri r : butions thereto in particular . The following esponded

hi Pa. e Doctor Cyrus Adler, of P ladelphia, , memb r of the Bo ard of Trustees and of the Publication Commi ttee of the di o Society, Chairman of the Board of Bible E tors, and Edit r of the American Jewish Year Book ( 18 99 and Of The 2 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

c m Ki shineff Voi e of A erica on , spoke on the need of the Year Book and on the circumstances that had led to the publication of The Voice Of America on Kishi neff. Y t Of Professor S . Schechter, of New ork Ci y, member the m e Publication Com ittee of the Society, memb r of the Board Of Of m Editors of the Bible Translation, and author two volu es of Studies in Judaism , on the relation of the reading public to the books published by the Society .

Miss Henrietta Szold, of New York City , Secretary to the li criti Pub cation Committee of the Society, on the value of l m c s . f f . O O Mr Milton Goldsmith, New York City , author Rabbi

' h te . and Priest, on the events that led to writing of his book o s e Of Of Doctor L ui Ginzb rg, New York City , author The e Of ai o L gends the Jews, on Jewish le rn ng in contradistincti n n Of e to i formation on subjects Jewish int rest .

o Of Of Doct r Joseph Jacobs, New York City, member the

o Of Publication Committee of the S ciety, and author The Of Persecution the Jews in Russia, on anonymity in Jewish literature and on the effect produ ced by the brochure com piled by him . f m . O The Reverend Doctor Abraha B Rhine, Hot Springs, e ew Ark . , author of L on Gordon, on the need of creating a J ish reading public . f Pa f O . o Miss Emily Solis Cohen, Philadelphia, , author

i Of e David the Giant K ller and Other Tales Grandma Lop z, on the need of the English Bible Translation for the young .

ri d nwald Of Doctor Herbert F e e , New York City, member of the Publication Committee of the Society and Editor of the American Jewish Year Boo k ( 1 908 on the value of the Year Book . TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

t il . Go the Professor Richard J . H , of New York City , author of Z b the the monograph on ionism to be published y Society, on the welding together of the American Jewish community through the publications of the Society and on the need of a

Bible for the young . f O Pa. r Professor Max L. Margolis, Philadelphia , , Secreta y to the Board of Editors of the Bible Translation , Edito r of the Of Translation, and author of a Commentary on the Book

and s . Micah , on the Bible Translation Bible Commentarie

The Reverend Doctor Julius H . Greenstone, of Philadelphia,

Pa. , author of The Messiah Idea in Jewish History, on uni versal peace and universal knowledge as the characteristics of the Jewish conception of the Messianic period .

The following telegram was received from Mr . Morris New

of burger, the ﬁrst President the Society

N . 1 1 E . C 5 9 3 . AIK , S , April , R W DROPS IE E T T M . E EE ED IN WOLF, COLL G , BROAD AND YORK S R S , PHILA E P I PA D L H A , .

To the Presid entTrustees and Members o The Jewi sh ubli ati n , , f P c o S t meri ocie y of A ca. Greetings ! I regret exceedingly my inability to be with you on

-ﬁf th our this day, the twenty anniversary of the founding of ou Society . I am with y in spirit , however, and pray God to bless o its our S ciety, that it may continue h igh and noble mission for o man many years to c me, to the glory and beneﬁt of Israel and all kind . l Fraternal y, R EWB RGER MOR IS N U .

A number of authors residing in foreign countries ad

' be dressed letters to the Society, which were read in part 2 8 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

e tween the address s of the speakers . The following letters were received

r h m E n F om Doctor Israel Abra a s, of Cambridge, g , author Of ni wi h four books published by the Society, Maimo des ( t Y ellin Mr . David ) , Chapters on Jewish Literature, Jewish De Life in the Middle Ages, and The Book of light and Other Papers

TH E E B E TY 10 1913 . UNION SOCI , CAM RIDG , March ,

To the residento The Jewish ubli ati n i et P f P c o S oc y of Ameri ca.

E :— I D AR MR . WOLF have already been associated with the Jewish Of Historical Society England in an address of congratulation , which it was my privilege to formulate . But I gladly avail myself of your invitation to write personally in the same sense . I do indeed heartily convey to youmy appreciation of what your Society has l done for Jewish iterature . Its serv ices have been manifold ; and yet they may all be explained on one simple principle .

T - ﬁ ve l hroughout the twenty years of its ife, your Society has l worked with the h ighest ideals before it. I know full we l that it has has not invariably attained them, for it published several of my o s own b ok . But it seems to me that it has always succeeded in securing two qualities in the boo ks produced . These qualities are i absolute sincerity and genuine sentiment . Look ng over the ’ hear n volumes which your Society s imprint , one ﬁ ds that th e l authors , if not al equally equipped with scholarship or gifted with al ' genius , have all written with complete honesty and so with a thorough sympathy for the Jewish cause . It is not easy to unite these qualities ; the honest manand the partisan seem to stand at

. all opposite extremes Yet all your authors have been honest , and ? have bee n partisans . How has th is combination been possible I think that the exp lanation is to be found in the fact that there are - o O f deep seated emotions which unite all Jews in a b nd sympathy, and that when these emotions are truly felt by writers , they may i label themselves by different designat ons as to their party , but ll s they a in e sence belong to one party, and that party constitutes TH E TWENTY- E IFTH ANN IVERSARY

the whole of Jewry in so far as it is faithful to itself . Hence a e rises the wonderful phenomenon that , though th e volumes issu d by your Society have been written by so many different hands , they

w h le . do form a o , a consistent body of information and inspiration Y ou This is a fact full of promise for your future . may go on in conﬁdence, drawing your materials from all , yet assured that in the end what you receive will correspond to what you give . You

a . give freedom, and you receive b ck loyalty I know that you have already devised plans for increasing the scope of your undertakings . You need no counsel on this head . : But if I may mention what lies close to my heart, it is this I do hope that the Society may see its way to developing its activities i n behalf of Jewish children . I do not refer merely to story books , though these are highly important , and those which you have so r far published have proved a genuine boo n . But of lite ature for l d Jewish children in English there is a deplorab e dearth . I nee not enumerate the branches in which this dearth is apparent . Now , n it is most undesirable to multiply orga izations , and therefore it ’ lies with you to anticipate the agitation for a Jewish Children s Publication Society by yourselves undertaking this seriously and immediately . ou Finally, I would urge y to make a stronger effort to reach the im Jewish public in this country . Your books still remain very n s perfectly k own here , and it is obvious that a different scheme mu t 1 91 4 be adopted . It is almost certain that in we shall be making in England a fresh effort to promote the popularization of Jewish studi es : the Jewish Chautauqua Society will , we hope , associate l itself with us then , and I suggest that your Society se ect the same time to make its attempt also to become better known here . For it only needs to be better known to receive the adhes ions it deserve s and M For myself I wish to thank your Society, iss Szold in r c pa ticular, for the generosity and unfailing ourtesy with which I

a . l have, person lly, been treated I fee conﬁdent that everyone who has had dealings with you will be of the same mind . be With the best wishes for your future prosperity, I g to Sign myself

Yours very gratefully and sincerely,

ISRAEL ABRAHAMS . 30 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA

l Of o En From Mr . Elkan N . Ad er, L ndon, g , author of Jews in Many Lands

H U E 2 1 20 E TE W. 8 1 9 3 . PORC S R S ! AR , LONDON , ENGLAND, , March ,

r l D r. Cy us A d er.

R DR A DLER z— l DE A . Will you please convey to The Jewish Pub ica tion Society of America my hearty congratulations on its Jubilee ? l and The Society may wel be proud of the good work it has done ,

- look forward to a bright future of ever increasing usefulness. Y ou in America are setting an example to what we call the mother country, and , indeed , the eyes of Jewry are nowadays directed westward across the ocean with the same respect and desire to learn which our ancestors in Palestine Showed to the i nﬁrmﬂ) across the desert . I feel it a privilege to have been allowed to contribute to the an Society one of the least important of its publications . At y rate it was an introduction to my American brothers and sisters for which I am genuinely grateful .

- With best wishes for its continued success and well being, I remain

Yours Sincerely,

ELKAN ADLE R .

i . a B entw ch From Mr No rm n , of Cairo, Egypt, author of Philo - Judaeus of Alexandria :

I T Y OF U T CE 1 3 1 913 . CAIRO, M NIS R J S I , March , E dwinW l E s . o f, q — DEAR S I R : I am very sorry that I cannot be with you to take part in the celebration of the twenty-ﬁ fth anniversary of the r l Jewish Publication Society, but the modern Pha aoh , fo lowing the f O l et . bad habits his predecessor , will not me go I esteem it, however, a privilege to be asked to send you my greetings onthe ’ ou f Society s attainment of its maturity, and I give y with una fected W i and . sincerity the Oldest good ish , Be ye fruitful mult ply I i am not, perhaps , an mpartial outsider, because from your Society,

32 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

and anniversary of your Society . at the same time to express my cordial thanks for the kind invitationwith which you honored me . Unfortunately , I am not in a position to comply with your

invitation , but I value the distinction bestowed on me by your

esteemed Society . Your Society was the ﬁrst on the other side of the ocean to set itself the high aim of popularizing the results of s Jewish science among American Jews , and it olved its problem

with skill and zeal that merit admiration . The Society has the right therefore on this anniversary to look back with proud satis on faction its achievements , recognized as such on both Sides of

the ocean , and to be Spurred on by the retrospect to continue its on! way vigorously o nthe road to success . 5 3 m; w I feel that I owe Special thanks to the Jewish Publication Society for having caused me to discharge an Obligation I might have — neglected to raise a monument in the form Of a biography to my

- dearly beloved teacher and friend , the historian Graetz . At the same time I recall with gratitude the stimulating collaboration

of Miss Henrietta Szold , whose thoughtful suggestions I made use n ou of with adva tage to my work . I beg y to transmit to the esteemed lady my recognition of her help and the expression of

my high regard .

' N O better service canbe done to Judaism than to diﬁ use knowl . a v edge, and so shed light, on its p st and its imp ortance for ci iliza

tion, and this has been the aim of your distinguished Society . Your Society was the ﬁrst to raise an d wave such a torch over s the va t regions of America . May other lights , equally luminous ,

be kindled at your torch , so that in time to come there may be law ex ri ente lua: ex i dente joined , to o , occ as its equivalent.

With best wishes for the Society, and paying respectful homage

to the gentlemen who guide it so excellently,

Yours very faithfully,

E D O H . PROF SSOR R. BL C

. Of E n From Mr Asher Ginzberg, London, g , author of —‘ Selected Essays Of Ahad H aAm THE TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

1 2 E E E T K D , GL NMOR ROAD, HAV RS OC HILL , LON ON , N . W . M 24 1 1 9 3 . arch ,

l r nt s li i e Mr. E . W esid e The Jewi h ub atnS i to Ameri ca o f, P P c o oc y f , hi ladel h P p ia. — DEAR S IR z I am inreceip tOf your kind letter of the twentieth and . l ult would very much desire to be ab e , in accordance with your suggestion , to say something substantial and worth reading upon the occasion of the twenty-ﬁf th anniversary of your important

ns . i titution Unfortunately, however, I do not feel competent enough to utter any appreciation of the work of the Society during the long period Of its existence and its great value as a factor in ‘ Of the development of Judaism in America, my knowledge the subject being too meagre and superﬁcial to enable me to say m anything beyond ere general phrases . I hope, therefore , that you will excuse my involuntary modesty in restricting myself to a simple expression of my hearty congratulations and best wishes for the fruitful work of the Society in the future.

Yours very sincerely,

B E G . U . GINZ R

Of o En Of From Miss Helena Frank, L ndon, g , translator ’ r t Perez s Sto ies and Pic ures, and of Yiddish Tales, the fol lowing cablegram was received :

l s l a . Warm congratu ation . Gr tefu thoughts E E H L NA FRANK .

E n Of From Lady Magnus, of London, g , author Outlines of Jewish History :

1 6 O E E E E T Y E W. 14 1 913 . , GL UC S R T RRAC , H D PARK , , March ,

wi n l resid entJewi sh ubli cationS ci et A m To E d W o eri ca. o f, P , P o y f — DEAR S IR z I respond to your wish for a message on the

- ﬁ fth occasion of your twenty anniversary. I sen d it across the dividing seas in the form of Sincere congratulations . And I feel in as if, in some sense , I were privileged to Share the congratula 34 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

tion s as well as to transmit them, seeing that some years ago you and l a in . l et me have my tiny p rt your good works I ike to hope , a as to believe , that your public tions will help in the future , they a a h ve helped in the p st, to express the steadfast Judaism that taking root downward and bearing fruit upward is witness ! still , independently even of books

I am, dear Sir,

Yours very Sincerely,

KATIE MAGNUS .

From Isaac Loeb Perez, of Warsaw, Poland, author of Stories and Pictures

! Translation ]

W ERO S O MS Y LI KA 8 9 . WARSA ,

To the resid ento the Jewi sh ubli cati nS ci et P f P o o y. — HONORE D S I s z With great and deep satisfaction I note the fact n l that your organization , the Jewish Publicatio Society, is ce e

ei n its -ﬁ fth s br i g twenty anniver ary . WC here in Russia are accustomed to hear of Jewish cultural undertakings that originate one day and die the next. n v s ad Of e . E il wind rage here , we have small power r sistance ou l ! How we envy y , our free brethren in a free and l A quarter of a century is enough to hold out hopes for a ong, l long life , for a long existence, and fruitful cultura work in the way Of disseminating the Jewish word and the Jewish work among

English readers . ou ! We envy you , and we wish y success

Long, long and fruitful be your work, redounding to your honor and to the honor of our people .

Respectfully,

E E . I . L . P R Z

m N s From Mrs . Redcliffe N . Sala an ( ina Davis) , of Hert , En t Of g , transla or of Songs Exile by Hebrew Poets : THE TWE NTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

E T E Y E Y T E T G HOM S ALL, BARL N AR RO S ON , H R S , EN LAND, a 1 9 7 13 . M rch ,

E dwi nW l E s Jewish ubli ati nS cieto A merica hi la o f, q . , P c o o y f , P

delp hia. — DEA R S I R : Since distance prevents my being able to be present 5 6 at your Celebration on April and , I am writing to send you my best congratulations on the attainment of the twenty-ﬁ fth birthday O f your Society . A ll who love Jewish literature must feel an immense debt of r The Of g atitude to Jewish Publication Society America , which for twenty-ﬁ ve years has continued to perform perhaps the greatest of mm in send ing out to the world books needed and treasured by o Of Jews , books which , were it not for the lab rers the Jewish

Publication Society, might never have seen the light . I send you my best wishes for many more such anniversaries in the coming years . l Yours very tru y,

NINA SALAMAN .

e From Doctor E . Schw rzfeld, of Paris, France, writer of Y 5 6 62 the articles, in the American Jewish ear Book for , on The Jews of Roumani a from the Earliest Times to the Present R Day, and The Situation of the Jews in oumania since the Treaty Of Berlin ( 1 8 78 )

! Translation]

2 RUE E 21 191 3 . , PAS! UI R, PARIS , March ,

To the Presidentand Members of The Jewish Publi cationS o ciety o Ameri a hi ladel hi c a. f , P p — GENTLE ME N : I learnwith much pleasure that onApril 5 and 6 you are to celebrate the twenty- ﬁ fth anniversary of the existence 3 6 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERI CA

l of your Society . I regret deep y that the distance which separates us does not permit me to be present at a reunion that is to assemble the valiant collaborators who have contributed to the prosperity Of and l your Society, I esteem it my duty to tel you in writing what I should not have failed to proclaim aloud had I been able to be

present with you . Your Society is beyond a doubt one of those forces which have contributed most to raising the intellectual level of American

Judaism . By this very fact it has devoted itself to the mission of regenerating all those Of our coreligionists who leave the countries

of persecution as fugitives , to settle in your great and beautiful a l nd of liberty, where all human faculties may develop without let s or hindrance. It spreads the love of Jewish literature and hi tory among those who have sought and who will seek a refuge with you in order to escape the inveterate prejudices of the Old European world and the yoke Of the abominable persecution that degrad es an them physically d morally . B ut and , if your Society has been able to develop and prosper

forge ahead in its magniﬁcent way , it owes this , in turn , largely to

- d those same fugitives . It is an oft repeate chapter of Jewish

history .

In former days , towards the middle of the seventeenth century , Of the Jews , natives the same region as their persecutors , ﬂed s not o f before the massacre , yet called by the abominable name s pogrom, in which hordes of Cossack gave free rein to their savage

. O f l s s but instincts Despoiled al their po sessions, aving nothing their intelligence and their knowledge, they directed their steps towards the West , at that time only towards the West of Europe . They infused new blood into their coreligionists whom they found T had there . hey revived science and letters in communities that declined in morale, and thus they gave a great impetus to Jewish science and literature . The cas e w as not quite the same in the communities of free

America. Coming from lands in which laws and men had ruined abl them morally and materially, the immigrants were not e to s ou confer cience upon y or infuse new blood into you, but thanks a i to their number , their intelligence, their thirst for le rn ng and THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

O f education , thanks also to the knowledge of some them, they have enabled you, you and your scholars, to give a new impetus to T Jewish science and literature . hey permitted your Society to be and s n founded to progre s , and supplied the inspiratio that has brought it to this twenty-fi fth anniversary which you are about to celebrate. What may not be forgotten is that writers are workers intheir domain as the husbandman is in his . In order to trace furrows , sow the seed , remove weeds , and finally bring home a harvest , e — one must ne ds have a field . It is not husbandmen men of letters — and scholars that are lacking among the Jews of Europe , who , since the second half of the nineteenth century, have founded societies for the development and diffusion Of Jewish science and literature . What is lacking is the field , the readers . This explains the anaemia and the consequent failure of all our generous under

OVer . takings here Your lot would probably have been the same , if the fugitives who have found so generous a Shelter in your had country not given your scholars and litterateurs , not only a o number of distinguished collaborators , but als a large reading public. This public once settled , thanks to your skilful manage m s ment and your excellent ethods of absorption and a similation , has in turn furnished you , you and your writers , a vast ﬁeld of a work , re ders and subscribers exceeding ten thousand , a fabulous number compared with the supporters of Jewish literary societies ou in Europe . This is what enables y to consolidate your Society, to look forward to the future with conﬁdence, and make your country the champion of Jewish science and literature . s It is a noble duty that is incumbent upon you , an admirable ta k that awaits your Society .

It remains only , gentlemen , for me to thank you for your kind thought, which prompted you to connect me with your work on this o u occasion , and to express the wish that it may develop , so that y may celebrate the ﬁftieth anniversary of your So ciety with even greater splendor .

a distin liish d a e . Accept , gentlemen , the assur nce of my g reg rd

S CH WARzYELD E . . 38 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Of o En From Mr . Leon Simon, L ndon, g , translator of ' Selected Essays Of Ahad Ha- Am :

4 ’ E H E P E O D 1 9 913 . , KING S B NC WALK , T M L , E . C L N ON , March ,

E dwi nW l E s . o f, q

E S rR z— l D AR As you surmise , it will not be possib e for me to take part in the celebration of the twenty -ﬁ fth anniversary of The Jewish Publication So ciety of America ; but I gladly take the Opportunity Of Offering the Society my heartiest congratulations : has and good wishes congratulations on what it done, and good s wish es for its future . Among the various object for which

Jewish effort is organized , there is none that deserves a higher place than that Of spreading among Jews a knowledge of their ’ own literature and history ; and the twenty-ﬁ ve years work of the Society in this worthiest O f all ﬁelds has given it a r ecord of which n it may well be proud . Its friends can wish it nothing better tha

a future such as its past foreshadows .

Yours very sincerely , E L ON SIMON .

r N S lousch F om Doctor ahum , of Paris, France, author of The Renascence of Hebrew Literature :

! Trans lation ] M E 18 1 913 . PARIS , FRANC , arch ,

Mr E d nW l r si en . wi e d t o f, P . — DE AR s Please convey my profound felicitations to the emi O f the as nent Chairman Publication Committee, well as to all the and l members of the Committee, to al those who have the good fortune to be present at the great celebration of Jewish letters ou f l which y have arranged for the ﬁ th of Apri . I regret very much not to be able to be with you at the admirable manifestation of the vitality of the genius of the Jewish people which is expressed in the celebration of th e twenty-ﬁfth anniversary of the fruitful P activity of the Jewish ublication Society.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

D a uring my sojourn in America I learned many gl dsome things , butabove everything else I found an important intellectual move l o ment , which tends to renew the ancient traditions of Israe up n

a - a new b sis , more in conformity with the conception of present day umbedit . P a and society After Jerusalem, Tiberias , , Toledo , Wilna,

‘ the great Jewish metropolis o f the United States is preparing for O f the bright day the future renaissance . Honor to your Chairman , z O f Judge Mayer Sul berger, honor to the leaders your Society, who

work for this revival with admirable devotion , with competence l universally acknowledged , and with profound love for Israe and for h is moral and social future ! I send brotherly greetings to all

the members of your Society, the distinguished gentlemen who are be instrumental in arranging your festival, and all who may

present . runs: run: saw ' nnow new ! Tum D3 3 1 ri senni p: run-13 5 nnum

Yours cordially,

D U S LOU S CH . R . NAH M n . Y elli From Mr David , of Jerusalem, Palestine, author Of (with Mr . Israel Abrahams) Maimonides

! Translation]

E E 10 5673 . J RUSAL M , Adar Sheni ,

To the Di stinuished S i et The Jewi sh ublicati n i t g oc y, P o S oc e y of

A meri aonthe Occas i ono the Tw ent- i t nni r c , f y f f h A ve sary of i ts F undin o g. To assume the task of disseminating books among the people was accounted a great merit in Israel from time immemorial from the day of the sage who made copies O f the Torah onthe os an skins of the deer he hunted for the purp e, d distributed them p l l among the eop e , down to Rabbi Samue Hanagid , whom history s l s extols to the skie for emp oying writers to copy book , which he d r and scattere in Is ael far wide. nd w d with t ngth and with an x lt d i i n Th E o e s re e a e m ss o , you, e

J wi h P blic ti n S ci ty f ic , y nd in th w ld e s u a o o e o Amer a o er e Ne Wor , 4 0 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA

which we had reckoned lost to the law and to the literature of - Of Israel on account of the never resting whirl and rush life there, — -ﬁ ve e you came twenty years ago , and proudly mark d on your ! banner , The Book for th e People of the Book . And as a seal upon the title-pages of your books you impressed the symbol Of an the Messi ic days , the days of undisturbed happiness and pros erit l p y, when a little child , ﬁlled with the Spirit of wisdom, Shal l lead the strong wild beasts of the forest . From then unti now

your hands have not weakened . Into thousands of the houses of o o our pe ple you have carried good b oks on the science of Israel , his a literature, his history , his poetry, all the manifest tions of his h s ? Spirit . W at shall be said in praise of your virile achievement Of When we look upon the ark the covenant, the ark of our treasure , ’ w Israel s precious literature, where ith you have enriched us , we our O f lift up hearts , and we pray to the God Israel , the Author of ’ the oldest of Israel s books , the book of our exalted law, to add GO many days to your days . and spread light in all our dwellings , and may your memory be recalled by the People of the Book with s a ble sing so long as the spirit reigns in Israel . ouand I Sign myself as one who honors y admires your work . Y ELLI N DAVID .

Zan wil . l From Mr Israel g , of Sussex, England, author of

Of o The Children the Ghetto, of Dreamers of the Ghett , and Of They That Walk in Darkness

FAR E N D T P E T EX N 4 . E G. 1 191 3 , EAS R S ON , SUSS , , March , E d win W l E s . residentJewish ub i cati n t o f, q , P , P l o S o ci e y of A m ri a e c .

E E — D AR MR. WOL : I wish I could be present to Share in the cele bration of the twenty- ﬁf th anniversary Of the Jewish Publication

Society . I wish still more I could be present at the celebration of

. ou its Centenary I feel , y see , that the Jewish Publication Society has to an an come stay longer than y of us , that it is educational

factor of the highest value in American Jewry, and is destined to wax mightier and mightier with the increase O f the population and TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY a a with the incre se of its culture , and th t all of us who have been in any way associated with it may feel proud of an historic con ne i n s - : cto . My own indebtedne s to it is well known without its stimulationI might never have written my Children of the Ghetto . awas I do not speak merely of pecuniary stimulation . Wh t needed to draw this book from my subconsciousness was the wise and understanding policy of your institution in giving the artist a free d l hand . It is the trage y of the artist to supply what the pub ic does n as not yet demand . By your anticipating this dema d , so far I was concerned , by your faith in the unseen , your Society gave an u example to all bod ies who set themselves p to patronize art , be it u . B to f literary , pictorial , or musical course your s cope is wider u n . Y o tha art proper have provided history, essays , philosophy , l folk ore , biography, ethics , what not , some of these volumes by the

most distinguished o f living Jewish writers . If all the volumes e have not been up to the h igh st standard , that is , I suppose , also a necess ry in the process of educating the public . But the most important task you have undertaken is that of supplying a new

translation of the Bible . That is an ambition that might well The s appal the stoutest society . ta k is not only herculean in t has n i self, but against it the magniﬁcent E glish of the existing has Bible . Nevertheless , it to be attempted , for the English of the

a . r Bible may be m gniﬁcent , but it is not always truth The Heb aic

concept is too often distorted by ignorance or prejudice . But an exact understanding of the message of o ur great national literature is a consummation as devoutly to he wished by the world as by the a as has Jews , and in laying its h nd to this t k your Society begun a

- work of world magnitude . I was simply amazed to read in your last presidential address that the only dimculty you are finding in not l this great work is that of finding funds . It is a most incredible . ’ To and get funds should be child s play, I very much hope that your desire for your twenty-fi fth birthday to be celebrated by the placing o an a al of your S ciety on a sound fin cial b sis will be fully re ized . e Again heartily wishing success to your f stival , in which so many

of my old friends will partake , friends originally made for me

through your Society , I beg to remain

Most cordially yours and theirs ,

ISRAE L ZANGWILL. 4 2 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

’ The following American contributo rs to the Society s publi e w e cations, who had be n invited to the Authors Evening, rot anﬁeld : . . C that they were unable to be present Mr Wm W . , h a Y . T . e of Utic , N , author of Sign above the Door ; Miss

o Pa. Katherine M . C hen, of Philadelphia, , author of A Jewish ’ oo t m Child s B k, to be published by the Socie y ; Mr . Sa uel W . Pa h n Cooper, of Philadelphia, . , aut or of Thi k and Thank ; the a Reverend Doctor A . S . Isa cs, of Paterson, N . J autho r of

Step by Step ; Miss Sara Miller, of New York City, author of ’ r Under the Eagle s Wing ; Mr . Louis Pendleton, of B yn a P . s Athyn, , author of Lost Prince Almon, and of In A syrian a N Y r . Tents ; R bbi Jacob S . Raisin, of T oy, . , author of The the Haskalah Movement in Russia, to be published by Society ; o r Mr . Leonard G . R binson, w iter of the article on Agricultural c c i A tivities of Jews in Ameri a, in the American Jew sh Year 56 Y 73 . Book for ; Mrs Thomas Seltzer, of New ork City, ’ ’ o Ul n E ichelkatz translat r o f rich Fra k s Simon , of Liber s ’ s and s i i Ra hi, of Mo enthal s Stories of Jew sh Home L fe ; and

Y . Mrs . Alfred Wallerstein, of Mount Vernon, N . , translator ’ a r of Liebm n Adle s Sabbath Hours .

i ro tu s At the conclusion of the mp mp addre ses, the Chair man announced that acablegram of congratulation as follows had been sent by The Jewish Publication Society of America n to the Jewish Historical Society of England, then in an ual session

E lkanN A d ler residentJewish H is tri al S ci eto E n land . , P , o c o y f g , 15 O thal A nue Lon n E n land C l ve W. C. do . p , , , g

Hearty congratulations upon your Anniversary . We hope for co- continued and enlarged Operation . EW PUB T CI ETY o ME R J ISH LICA ION SO r A ICA.

Adjournment . THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

M ORNING SE SSIO N 6 1 91 3 SUNDAY. APRIL ,

R : R E W CHAI MAN M . D IN WOLF

’ The morning session was opened at eleven o clock with the o following prayer by the Reverend D ctor Maurice H . Harris, of New York City

Universal Father ! Thou Who hast placed man at the pin — nacle of creation through the gift of mind Thy Divine like — ness Who hast dowered him with reason that he may wisely c use the bounties Thou hast so richly bestowed, aid us to dire t i v ex an th s power of thought, this Di ine ﬁre, to the noblest p

- sion of our nature and to the exaltation of our fellow men . May the fear of Thee be ever the beginning and the end of w our isdom . May constant meditation on Thy holy word help us to discern the beneﬁoentpurp ose of our human destiny . May Israel co ntinue to deserve the title of People of the c ai i d Book, and tea h m nk nd that on the breath of the ch l ren in the school does the world depend . the u writtten May we never ﬂag in st dy of Thy law, Thy law in the books of the fathers and Thine unwritten law in nature without and in conscience within .

May knowledge grow from more to more,

But more of reverence in us dwell .

May all the researches of our explorers and phi loso phers bring us fuller revelation of Thee and of Thy providential purposes . 44 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

and t Inspire us to seek truth rather than silver, unders and

. k ing rather than ﬁne gold Scaling the heights of nowledge, a l may we at l st enter their lofty ca m, and realize that ‘ ~ ~ - mm nmnm um: um nm i.

w The Chairman read the follo ing letter from Mr . Morris

Newbur er o 18 88 - 1 903 g , the ﬁrst President of the S ciety ( )

E KE U H R 1 IN THE T 1 3 1 9 3 . PARK PIN S , AI N , SO CA OLINA , January ,

MB ow — E W z the . D AR . Your very kind letter of third inst was

e . duly rec ived I certainly appreciate the honor you confer on me , by inviting me to be present at the Twenty-ﬁ fth Anniversary Celebration of the Jewish Publication Society and to preside at so me of the meetings . a I would cheerfully accept the invitation , were it not for the f ct that I am generally far away from Philadelphia at the time of the a Of meeting, and my age and st te health make it impossible to make appointments so far ahead . With sincere thanks to you and the Board of Trustees for the honor and consideration shown me and with my best wishes for Of the welfare th e Society , I remain , with kind regards ,

Yours very truly, B MORRIS N EW UR GER.

. Of The Chairman introduced Ephraim Lederer, Esq , Phila i delphia , as one who, having been identified w th the Society e sinc the beginning, first as its Secretary, and then as a mem ber Of r - ualified its Board of T ustees, was well q to give the history of the Society .

M r . Lederer read the following paper on The O rigin and t f Grow h O the Society .

4 6 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

It was but natural that one who thus labored to promote the knowledge of Judaism and disseminate information concern and t and ing the histo ry litera ure of the Jews, who possessed, a moreover, the t lent for o rganization that is essential to con

r tof a re se ve the streng h religious denominations, should pp ciate the value of an organized Publication Society having for s its Object the circulation of Jewish literature . Mr . Lee er e n ar estly advocated the fo rmation of such a society, and it was due to his initiative and his inﬂuence with the Jews of te t h country, par icularly in the Middle States, that the ﬁrst

m Pu 184 5 . A erican Jewish blication Society was organized, in The Society was never accorded adequate support ; it con tinned a precarious existence for a few years, published four of teen books, several them of merit, and ﬁnally succumbed to adverse conditions . From this time forward for nearly the span o f a generation, there was no society in the United States for the publication of Jewish books . The individual activities

s . of Mr . Lee er continued

the In the period before beginning of the Civil War, and after the growth of the Reform Movement had proceeded in O f various parts the United States, its leaders began to employ the press to aid their propaganda and incidentally to publish books on Jewish subjects suited to the needs of their con sti u nc te y.

I a e s ac M . Wis , of Cincinnati, was constantly engaged in a o writing, pre ching, lecturing, editing, and publishing b o ks,

m and to ser ons, articles, with a view informing the minds of i e f the people and inst lling in them a d sire for organized e forts . Others of the Reform school as well as the men who were sponsors for the conservative movement contributed to the m e h li it d output of books issued for te use of the Jewish people . THE TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

— The various forms of prayer Orthodox, Reform, and Con servativw were constitu edited by ministers or rabbis . The tion of the ritual in the Reform and Conservative congrega tions led to more or less extensive alterations Of the prayer book . It may be said that atthe time the second American w 18 73 Je ish Publication Society was formed, in , the principal Jewish publications in the United States had been the transla a e tion of the Bible into English by Isa c Lees r, the ﬁrst edition a 18 53 of which appe red in , and the various editions of the

r fo rms of prayer refer ed to . The American Jewish Publication Society that was organ ized 18 73 and in led a precarious existence fo r two years, to then succumbed an untoward fate . It had published ﬁve o books, and had under considerati n several ambitious projects, when its managers concluded that the measure of support did f not justify an e fort to continue the work .

18 6 8 the Leeser, who died in , had edited and translated entire cycle of prayers in the Sefardic ritual and a part of As a c . the hkenazic ritual, whilst Isa M Wise, David Einho rn, atr w s o Marcus J , and Benjamin Szold had issued editions of the Synagogue servi ce altered and abridged to meet the re quirements of their congregations and the Opinions of the constituencies they represented . Those who wanted a Jewish translation of the Bible in

English had the Leeser version, and were satisﬁed with it . i c The rabbis and ministers were, w th few ex eptions, Still Of preaching in German, the older generation Jews, who had a Of come from Germany, domin ting the affairs most of the r congregations, including those which were adhe ents Of the

Reform movement . There were some notable exceptions, a amongst them Sabato Morais and Isa c M . Wise, the former 4 8 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA having never preached to hi s Philadelphi a congregation in any other than the Engli sh language . The German inﬂuence was, however, still prevalent . The writing and publishing of a Jewi sh bo ok in English was a rare event in the United the States at that time . Most of preachers and Scholars preached and wrote in German . From the period of the demise Of the second Publication 1 8 75 r was Society, in , fo r more than a decade, no eal effort made to establish another organization of the kind . There in e c the were frequent referenc s to the subje t in Jewish press, and an occasional sermon in one place or another by a min who e ister , in his r ligious work, felt the deprivation arising r ul from the lack of Jewish books in the ve nac ar . There was no English histo ry of the Jews generally available except ’ di its e Milman s, which, notwithstan ng lit rary merit, is biassed,

and . c incomplete, inaccurate There were in fa t very few books of any kind treating the subjects relating to Judaism and the Jews in the Jewish spirit and with the ful ness Of n e n Jewish k owledge . The pione r work of orga ization or of consolidating the various s chools of Jewish thought in the a e u United St tes had b en done by the leaders, but the act al l cu tural work had been but barely begun .

m the The Jewish Publication Society of A erica, twenty ﬁfth r i anniversa y of whose existence is now be ng celebrated, was organized at a convention held at Philadelphia on Sun

3 188 8 . day, June , The movement for the organization of the t c e Socie y dated back to the previous De ember, when the R ver s end Docto r Joseph Krauskopf, in an addre s delivered before Keneseth I c the srael Congregation of Philadelphia, of whi h had e oc he a short tim before become the rabbi, adv ated the ﬁ formation of a Publication Society . Af liated with the con THE TWE NTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY gregationat that time was a society known as the Knowledge us S eekers . It had been called into existence by Doctor Kra

hi s r kopf Shortly after a rival in Philadelphia, and it devoted its attention to literary exercises and congregational activities . 22 18 8 7 i t At a meeting held on December , , a short t me af er the delivery of the address in which the formation Of an organ ization tu for publishing Jewish books, sermons, and lec res had e b en urged, Doctor Krauskopf brought the subject to e the attention of the Knowledge Seekers . The subj ct was co n sidered and t was at several meetings, ultimately a commit ee

e . s of appoint d to proceed As a re ult its deliberations, it was decided to call a meeting of representatives of the Jewish congregations of Philadelphia . The meeting of the delegates from the local congregations

18 88 . was held in March , There was a divergence o f opinion concerning the method of organization and the nature Of the e membership . The plan pres nted to this meeting proposed that it should be made a Philadelphia organization at its m o inception, and be for ed by the local congregations and ass i io c atns. An alternative plan was presented, which provided c for the alling of a general convention , to which representa

i ew tive Jews throughout the country should be inv ted, and J n e ish orga izations be r quested to send delegates . After a very animated discussion the latter proposition was adopted by a majority of one vote .

The plan having been thus formulated, the representatives and of the congregations accepted it loyally, a report drafted by Docto r Krauskopf and Docto r Solomon Solis Cohen was t adopted as a proper pla form or basis for agreement .

Accordingly, a convention was called to be held at Touro i d Hall, in the build ng of the Hebrew E ucation Society, on 50 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Callowhill Seventh Street below , in the City of Philadelphia, 18 8 8 3 . on June , Wide publicity was given to the call for e te e this me ting, and the invitations to at nd or send delegat s

e . e were circulat d extensively As a result, about one hundr d i o i persons attended th s meeting . The pr ceed ngs were ani mate d and indicative of earnest interest in the work in hand .

The Honorable Simon W . Ro sendale , of Albany, New York, h was elected to the Chair, and Adolph Eic holz , of Philadelphia , at was the Secretary . The t endance included prominent rabbis a i a m v and other represent t ves from nu ber of cities actitely identiﬁed with Jewish communal and religious work . Na ur ally the representatives from the Eastern cities, particularly

a o . New York, Philadelphia , and B ltimore, prep nderated

o m In app inting the Com ittee on Constitution, the Chair man stated that inthe interests of peace he had not assigned e be any of the ministers to memb rship . It should noted that at thi s particular time there was a very tense feeling between the leaders of the two sch ools of Jewish thought and observ Of ance, and the intention the Chairman was to minimize “

ff . f e factional di erences The explanation o fered, in the int r ! f ests of peace, was taken by men of both schools as an a front the e w to cloth, and some of them proce ded to ithdraw from the convention . The ﬁrmness of David Teller, who was present as - the representative of Rodef Shalom Congregation Of Philadelphia, and expressed very forcibly a plea for har

t r . e mony, saved the situation Thereaf er the proce dings we e c r and pea eful, although the discussions were ea nest indicative f of the deep interest O the participants . In the course of the

o . ff meeting a cablegram was read from Jac b H Schi , of New i a l York, donat ng ﬁve thous nd do lars to the So ciety . Meyer m e k Guggenhei , then of Philad lphia, later presented a li e sum, THE TWE NTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY and the ten thousand dollars thus secured were placed in the

Heil rin Permanent Fund, designated as the Michael p Memo

M d d was e rial . The goo feeling cement d at a banquet in the evening given by the Philadelphiarepresentatives to the o visit rs from other cities . The organization resulted in the election of Morris New ‘ Of N Gal burger, Philadelphia, as President, Leo . Levi, of s veston, Texa , Doctor Henry M . Leipziger, of New York,

Al e fred M . Cohen, of Cincinnati, and Harris W instock, of

m as - Sacra ento , California, Vice Presidents, and Doctor Joseph

Krauskopf as Secretary . Subsequently the Executive Com mittee n elected Herman S . Friedma as Treasurer, and a fﬁ Ephr im Lederer was appointed Clerk, the title of this o ce

s d being sub equently change to Assistant Secretary . Upon these Ofﬁ cers devolved the executive work of building s t up the membership . The expedients re or ed to for the pur pose of enlisting interest in the work in all parts of the coun

. v u try were varied Ha ing but few precedents to g ide him, Mr . Newburger had to depend upon his own resourcefulness to i ul devise ways and means of accomplish ng the desired res ts . The chairmanship of the General Committee on Member ship was conferred Onthe Honorable Simo n Wolf of Washing ton hi s , who placed extensive knowledge of the Jewish co m munities throughout the country at the dispo sal of the Society . m n f The Honorable Si on W . Rosendale orga ized the State O o New York outside of the metrop lis . Others who were not fﬁ o cially identiﬁed with the Society, and several who are still d actively connected with the management, aide in this cam

ai nOf ee p g organization, which proc ded slowly, but on a safe and careful basis . 52 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

m At the second meeting of the Executive Com ittee, as the c s 1 9 1 8 8 8 governing body was alled, held on . Augu t , , the ttu Publication Committee was formally cons i ted . It was c e ele ted by writt n ballot, the members of the Executive Com mi ttee in having been requested, accordance with a resolution he es a. adopted at the ﬁrst meeting, to send their vot by m il T

u e l P blication Committe elected consisted of Mayer Su zberger, Marcus Jastrow a , Joseph Krauskopf, Bernh rd Felsenthal, Cyrus c Adler, A . S . Isaa s, Henrietta Szold, Charles Gross, and Simon i a e . m t was A . St rn Th s Com it ee org nized by the election of i ce Mayer Sulzberger as Cha rman, an ofﬁ which he has held continuously throughout the entire histo ry Of the Society . At a meeting held in the Board Roo m of Temple E manu- E l N in ew York, in the following January, it was reported that 8 8 2 54 0 a total of members had been secured, of whom resided i 1 76 N 53 5 1 in Ph ladelphia, in ew Yo rk, in Baltimore, and n in Alba y .

From that time on other communities joined in the work, assisted by the Ofﬁcers and most of the members Of the E xecu tive Commi ttee and by volunteers in a number of citise and ’ aOf towns, so that at the end of the ﬁrst ye r the So ciety s i c the had a 1 5 9 1 ex sten e , membership reached a tot l of , and it was estimated that an annual income of coul d be depended on .

1 1 8 90 Of On May , , the Society being then on the eve its o w sec nd anniversary, the ﬁrst publication, Outlines of Je ish

r . History, by Lady Magnus, appea ed The difﬁculty in pro curing a suitable work for the ﬁrst publication had seriously r e Of e hampered the g owth in memb rship, many thos who were appealed to for help in arousing public interest having reported that the actual issuance Of a boo k was needed to

54 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The project of publishing this work involved the expendi c i ture of a considerable sum, and would ne essarily requ re a wi numbe r of years for its completion . The plan met th

s O f enthusia tic approval from many the members, and with determined opposition from others, who feared that the under taking was too extensive for a young Society just beginning e its care r, and that the spreading out of the publication over a perio d Of years would deaden the interest of those to whom f variety and novelty are attractive . The majority O the Com mittee on Publicati ons appointed at the meeting approved the “ i be a . v Gr etz project The minority deemed it nad isable, cause such awork is not of a nature to appeal to the public ! m taste . Chair an Sulzberger, of the Publication Committee , ’ led the argument in favor of the tempo rary Committee s Of report, and the Opposition was led by Max Cohen, New e r York . The debate relat d in a measure to the futu e policy o t t o f the Society for some years to c me, and hose in at endance showed, by the interest with which they followed the pro longed discussion, that they realized this fact . The policy of the governing bodies in reference to the Graetz work was e endorsed by a substantial majority of thos in attendance .

Time has fully justified the wi sdom of the decision . From 1 8 91 the time the first volume was issued, July, , the History was of the Jews has been the principal book on the list . It distribute d to the members who were on the roll at the time e s the succ ssive volumes were is ued, and, by a special arrange ment subsequently made by the Board, members who joined after one or more of the volumes were issued were enabled to complete the sets on an equitable basis . When the five volumes s of the English edition, revised to meet the requirement of the c American reading public, had been published by the So iety, THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVER SARY an additional volume was added contai ning a Memoir of Heinrich Graetz and a comprehensive and very helpful index compiled by Miss Henrietta Szold, under whose supervision u had had the later vol mes been issued . Miss Szold become 8 9 1 3 . Secreta ry to the Publication Committee in June, Her services in that capacity therefore have extended over a period of . o twenty years In that time she has acted as edit r, trans lato r, and compiler of various publications .

Charles S . Bernheimer was elected Assistant Secretary in

18 90 e . October, , succeeding Mr . L derer, who had resigned 4 4 At this time the membership had increase d to 2 2 . The Society was atﬁrst located in the Ofﬁce Of the Assistant Secre the 1 8 90 the tary . In autumn of , it was removed to business ur 8 Newb er. 1 92 establishment of Mr . g In October, , the

Society rented its own ofﬁce, in the conﬁdent expectation on the part Of the Directors that it would eventually own and occupy its own publishing house . The expectation is still

and a . there, the building is still w nting

In the meantime several other books had been issued, and I Zan will negotiations had been consummated with srael g , of

London, for a work of ﬁction, which was supplied by him, and 1 1 8 92 sent from the press on May , , under the title The

Children Of the Ghetto . This book was the ﬁrst great popul ar ’ ‘ success among the Society s publications . It attracted atten wi tion far and de, and was welcomed not only by the con stantl e y growing memb rship, but by a large number of other The to readers . demand ultimately led an arrangement with to the Macmillan Company, who purchased the right issue an a edition for the general public, agreeing to p y a ﬁxed royalty for the privilege . With the publication of The Children of the Ghetto the attention Of the book- publishing industry was 5 6 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

h t attracted to te Society and its po ssibilities . As the ou put n s . increa ed, this attention produced ta gible results Books on Jewish subjects which the Society was unable to publish for one reason or another were accepte d by publishers mainly on ’ the strength of the Society s membership, which demonstrated the existence of a substantial interest in Jewish books on the part Of a large and constantly growi ng number of people . The subsequent publications cannot be gone over in detail

- in this review . The list of the eighty seven books issued dis closes awide range of subjects of Jewish interest and many

e . works of p rmanent value The Executive Committee, later Of e the l on designated as the Board T rust es, and Pub ication Committee have worked to gether harmoniously from the be i c fu g nning, each attending to its proper and ne essary nctions, and paying due deference to the Opinions of the other . In s the conduct of business, Mr . Friedman, the Trea urer, con ﬁ i 18 9 1 tinned his active and ef cient service unt l October, ,

e Dannenbaum Philadel when he was succ eded by Morris , of i m the ph a, who devoted his ti e and attention to duties of his

i 1 903 he de ofﬁce with care and ﬁdelity, unt l June , , when clined - was Fernber er a re election, and succeeded by Henry g , s The c r of Philadelphia, the present Trea urer . Se reta yship

o n ffi was held by Doct r Joseph Krauskopf, who resig ed the O ce 18 98 e in the fall of , after a servic of ten years, during which ’ o e he lab red arnestly to promote the Society s welfare . He c ct was suc eeded by Do or Lewis W . Steinbach, whose recent a fi has n death has caused a vac ncy in this of ce , as it in so ma y other fields Of acti vity in whi ch he displayed hi s fine publi c and spirit his devotion to the cause of Jewish learning .

- e the The Vice Presidents, in addition to those elect d at

ﬁrst meeting, have been Solomon Blumenthal , of Philadelphia , THE TWE NTY -FIFTH ANN IVER SARY a Marcus Bernheimer, of St . Louis, Herman S . Friedm n, of

who e - Philadelphia, held the post of s cond Vice President when the Occu that office was created, and Simon Miller, present of pant, who succeeded him . At the time the incorporation 1 8 98 - s of the Society, in , the office of Honorary Vice President was created, and a number of representative men and women have been elected to the position . During the first ten years of its existence the Society was e an unincorporat d body . At the biennial convention held in 18 98 t May, , it was decided to apply for a char er under the

a for laws of the St te of Pennsylvania a corporation formed, 18 88 “ as the original constitution of had declared, for the l a support of a benevolent educationa undertaking, n mely, for the publication and di ssemination of literary, scientiﬁc and religi ous works giving instruction in the p rinciples of the

c Jewish religion, whi h works are to be distributed among the members of the co rporation and to such other persons and insti tutions as may use the same in the promotion of benevo ! lent educational work . This meeting was attended by a large gathering of men and the women identiﬁed with Jewish affairs, and banquet held in the evening tendered to the visiting members by their Phila delphia hosts was the occasion for a number of notable and ih spiring addresses relating to the work of the Society . A review of the work of the Publication Committee was pre sented to the regular meeting at the afternoon session by

Judge Sulzberger . The application for a charter was approved by the Court N 4 of Common Pleas o . of Philadelphia, which likewise approved an amendment adopted at the annual meeting in ’

1910 - the , designed to extend So ciety s Scope, to enable it to 5 3 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

i publish books other than those d stributed to its members . This change holds within itself large possibilities for the d future, if the means are provide .

1 8 98 r In June, , the Board of T ustees made an appropria tion for gathering data for the first issue of the Year Book . The need for such a publication had been urged upon the Society by communal workers and those actively identified f with Jewish a fairs in a number of places . The first volume e 1 8 99 of the Year Book was issu d in , and it has Since appeared u reg larly in the early autumn of each year . The various issues O f the Year B ook have contained special articles dealing with

r i to matte s of timely and urgent interest, with a v ew convey ing information needed for a correct understanding of the o problems involved . For ﬁve years the Year B ok has been

- issued in co Operation with the American Jewish Committee . Special books relating to current issues have also been pub li hed Kishinetf s . The work of Michael Davitt on the Mas 1 90 3 e sacre was published in , and the sp cial article on the the Y o 191 1 re Passport t! uestion in ear Bo k for was published in separa e form and extensively circulated .

Newbur er e 190 3 Morris g r signed the presidency in October, , e N e . after an uninterrupt d servic of ﬁfteen years Mr . ew ’ burger s incumbency during the critical period of the infancy and growth of the Society presents a splendid record of use i ful achievement . He labored ncessantly to build up the intelli Society, and brought to the discharge of his duties an tu gent grasp o f the si ation, an ardent interest in its Obj ects , and a resolute dete rmination to place it on a sound and and enduring basis . He watched its development with care an solicitude , and brought to its Service all the resources of u r energetic and sympathetic nat re . His resignation was e B ERNHARD FELS ENTHAL

6 0 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Bo ard of Directo rs decided that a portion Of his time Should Y be directly employed in New ork City . This policy has been continued in the belief that the great Jewish population of the New York metropolis should insure a very large and con stantl y increasing membership there .

te a18 91 The membership grew slowly af r the ye r , when it 2227 l 1 8 90 off . was , a Slight fal ing from the ﬁgures of By

18 92 2 957 was it had advanced to . The ﬁrst decided increase 8 1 97 a 4 1 0 1 . 190 5 noted in , when it re ched a total of In it

54 30 c nc was , re eding and adva ing thereafter, until the num

was 54 8 6 1910 m ber in , practically the sa e as it had been ﬁve 9 m 1 912 . 1 1 1 e to 76 08 e years befo re In it ju p d , and in furth r

e 1 1 913 increased to At the pr sent writing, March , , the number of members on the books is The increase has been the outcome of plans formulated from time to time by the Oﬁicers and special committees of the Board . In the ’ - ﬁ ve e e twenty years of the Society s exist nc , the dues of mem bers have amounted to Other items of receipts

s : a show the e aggregate amounts S les of Books, F a Interest, Bible und, Capit l Fund , o m Miscellane us, including a Per anent Fund of The total receipts have been The total expenses have been

ac The books distributed , c ording to an estimate based on

to o the membership and the sales, amounted ab ut m 1 8 92 18 97 190 3 volu es to , to , to , to

1 908 an 9 . are . d 1 13 . e , to Thes ﬁgures impressive They would be still larger if the membership had remained t more stable, and so many difﬁculties had not been encoun ered

e e in the co ll ction of du s . TH E TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

The necessity for a capital fund has been impressed on the members at several meetings of the Society . The permanent fund has shown scarcely any growth in recent years . The tenthousand dollars donated at the ﬁrst meeting received additions from life membership dues , most of e r o which were s cured by Har is Weinstock, of Sacrament ,

California, and from a small number of legacies . The largest bequest made to the Society was that of Professor Morris his as w Loeb, who, in will, recently probated, provides follo s

I give and bequeath to The Jewish Publ ication Society O f

America the sum of as a permanent fund , the income of and e which shall , from time to time , be utilized for appli d to the preparation and publication of a scholarly work devoted to the t Of interes s of Judaism, and none such income shall be used toward the current expenses of the Society or the publication of works of

ﬁction or otherwise than herein expressly provided .

This thoughtful and generous bequest should pave the way for many more conceived in the same spirit . Chronologically the subject of the translation of the Bible should have b een dealt with in the earlier portion of this review, but inasmuch as it is still actively to the fore in the ’ t tu Of Socie y s programme , and is na rally primary importance , has it been reserved for the conclusion of this narrative . The ﬁrst effort of the Society to provide a translation of the Bible 1 8 92 i e was made in , when the Board of D rectors authoriz d the Publication Committee to appoint a Board of Edi tors to undertake the difﬁcult and arduous task and to place the Reverend Doctor Marcus Jastrow in charge of it as Editor - in e t astrow Chi f . Doc or J took charge Shortly thereafter, and o assigned the b oks of the Bible to a number of Jewish scholars , i mainly in the Un ted States, and most of them rabbis in active 5 62 THE JEWISH PUBLI CATION S OCIETY OF AMERICA

e o uf s rvice . The Bo k of Psalms was translated by Doctor Ka

1 903 . mann Kohler, and was issued as a separate volume in The fact that the time of the translators was largely taken up th a w e . o stro with other duties caused work to lag D ctor J , who ever displayed hi s ardent attachment to the Society and e its e as his int rest in w lfare, continued to act Edito r until 1 903 his death in . Thereafter the work was in abeyance for 90 . 1 5 a time In March, , the Board of Trustees decided to raise a Bible Fund Of An arrangement was entered 1908 into with the Central Conference of American Rabbis in , under the terms of which the two organizations were to co a s operate in the m king of the tran lation, each of them to

Of have an equal representation on the Board Editors . The

n c Max . work of tra slation was to be done by Do tor L Margolis, and the revision to be made by the members of the Editorial s Board . Doctor Cyru Adler, the Chairman of the Board, e o re re Doctor Solomon Sch chter, and D ctor Joseph Jacobs p h u tof od sent The Jewis P blication Socie y America on this b y, the o a l and Reverend Doct r K ufmann Koh er, the Reverend c o Do to r David Philipson, and the Reverend D ctor Samuel Schul man represent the Central Conference of American

lM r oli o —in- . a s Rabbis Doctor g , the Edit r Chief, is a member of the Board and its S ecretary . The methods followed by this learned body and the progress it has made will be described in detail in a paper dealing Speciﬁcally with the subject . The Jewish Publication Society is charged wi th the task of print ing and publishing the translation when completed . Even the modest sum Of whi ch the Board of T rustees de

c ask 1 905 has e . ided to for in , not b en raised as yet The total of the donations thus far received for this fund is

c - s arcely one third of the amount . It has become evident that THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

even the full amount originally contemplated will not sufﬁ ce. To insure the proper p ri nting and distribution of the trans lation when it is ﬁnished a much larger sum will be required . In presenting this outline of the history of the Society dur

the - ﬁ ve te ing past twenty years, the Board of Trustees has frained from anything more than a reference to those who are identiﬁed with its management at the present time, and then only when the exigencies of the narrative required the mention . The meetings of the Board have been attended by the Phila delphia members with reasonable assiduity, and their col N Y leagues from ew ork, Pittsburg, Baltimore, Washington,

- r a n Wilkes Ba re , and other cities h ve put in an occasio al appear s the ance . In pre enting this record, Bo ard expresses the hope the e that the usefulness of Society will continu to increase, the of and spirit wisdom, of knowledge, and of understanding will animate and guide its governing body in the years to come .

' ’ At r the conclusion of Mr . Lederer s paper, the Chai man a introduced Miss Henriett Szold, a member o f the Publication Committee from 1 8 88 to 1 8 93 and the Secretary to the same m 1893 Com ittee since . Miss Szold read the following paper on H ow the Publication

Committee Does Its Work . 64 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

HOW TH E PUBLI CATION COMMITTEE DOES ITS WORK B Y HENRIETT A Szow It happens occasionally that the publisher wrests the pen ’ from the author s hand and indites memoirs . Even when he ’ is clumsy at wielding his friend the enemy s weapon, he should e be accorded aresp ctful hearing . As the annalist of his hours he ec and his times, speaks with the authority of a sp ialist on men in their relation to books . A chronicler who is at once oo has reader, writer, and publisher of b ks , a keen professional way with him in passing judgment upon all the lesser citizens

c Of — the in the republi print authors, who write and read but i do not publish books, and the proletariat, the public, wh ch only reads books, but never writes and never publishes them . His twenty - ﬁfth anniversary would seem to be a ﬁtting occasion for presenting the memoirs of a publisher who may

i - be cla m , without excessive self complacency, to a highly specialized expert on Jewish autho rs and the English- reading c t Jewish public . He may, indeed, all himself the only exper of the sort that has ever existed . His two American prede cessors the , to whose memory he pays respect due to the hi m e . pioneer spirit, did not live long enough to blaz a path for ’ And his British confrere owes a committee s allegiance to its b w o c c of parent ody, the Je ish Hist ri al So iety England, to which he sends greeting in remembrance of co-o peration in the past, and extends the hand of fellowship for the great work still to be done on both sides of the ocean before the common goal can be sighted . When the seco nd of the American Jewish Publication 18 73 r Societies issued its ﬁrst book, in , a European obse ver TH E TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY wondered whether any society of the kind in the Uni ted States could ever become more than a publisher of transla tions of Jewish books conceived and written in Germ any and

France . The critic thought only of a dearth of writers among

. r us His judgment was pa tly erroneous, partly not penetra i f ting . The d f iculty about writers was not the most funda mental . We had scholars, and, once they were assured an

c as audience, they turned writers . But su h readers we had were of the elect, who were as well prepared to dispense with translations as their European fellows . What we lacked was

- a goodly Jewish representation of the S O called general reader .

In reality, the task before an American Jewish Publishing

ao - ﬁ ve Society forty years g , and equally twenty years ago , was creative throughout . The ordinary publisher can devote his e attention to the book alone . The reader me ts him at least

- l . ha f way, the author leaps into his arms When our Publica Am tion Society was born, the American Jewish book, the eri m can Jewish writer, and the A erican Jewish reader, all three lay in the lap of the future .

as e So far numb rs go , the problem of the public was taken O in hand by the Board f Trustees . They had a powerful ally ommite in the Czar of all the Russias . To the Publication C w was left the book, its writer, and the transformation of the

- American Jew into a reader o f English Jewish books . How a it has acquitted itself of these t sks constitutes its memoirs,

- which , like all well regulated biographies, should begin with its birth . The ﬁrst action taken by the Bo ard of Trustees after the 18 8 8 organization of the Society in June, , was the appoint

B - a ment of a Publication Committee . Under the y L ws, it may consist in whole or in part of members of the appointing 6 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Board, and it serves for one year only . The number to con s itu e TO tte the Committee is not sp ciﬁed . inaugurate the publishing policy of the Society, nine were selected, three of e : a whom were Trust es Doctor Cyrus Adler, then of B ltimore ;

o . o the Reverend Doct r B Felsenthal, of Chicago ; Doct r Charles

s c . . Of Gross, of Cambridge, Mas ; Do tor A S Isaacs, New York ; o astrow e the Reverend D ctor M . J , of Philadelphia ; the R ver end Doctor Joseph Krauskopf, of Philadelphia ; Mr . Simon A . a Stern, of Philadelphi ; Judge Mayer Sulzberger, of Phila M m d . elphia ; and iss Henrietta Szold, of Balti ore

Of this original Committee, three members are still con nected : r Of i with its activities Doctor Cy us Adler, now Ph la delphia ; Judge Mayer Sulzberger, its Chairman from ﬁrst to

18 93 . last, and Miss Henrietta Szold, its Secretary since The reco rd of the Chairman is almost unique . It tempts the c - a c hronicler to roll call st tisti s . Out of the one hundred and

' - ﬁve mi he sixty meetings held by the Com ttee, missed only and seven, , with punctuality which through him has become ss presidential politene , as it was royal before, he sat in the ’ c i Of presiding Ofﬁ er s cha r, at all but two the other one hun

ﬁft- e dred and y eight, from the pr cise moment for which they were called until their adjournment . But it must be admitted c that his record is not all so fair . A bl a k mark is set against his name for his invincible refusal to read a single manuscript or a single book of the ﬁve hundred and one which the Com mittee has considered with a view to their publication by the

Society. What must be remembered is that, in making up

-O f- school life reports, such ﬁgures and such black marks alike stand for Vitalizing counsel and priceless service . ’ Had the Chairman s personality and his judicial imperson and ality not guaranteed a consistent a continuous policy, con

6 8 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERI CA

In twenty- ﬁve years the Committee of nine has all but

O f c o doubled its number, and the seventeen members omp sing

e s . it at present, ﬁfte n are other than tho e of the ﬁrst group

S O o s far from disturbing the c ntinuity of the work, the increa e is an expression of the uninterrupted policy that has been maintained . At the ﬁrst meeting of the Publication Com “ mittee i i e , a resolution was passed wh ch prov d d that the consideration of questi ons concerni ng manuscripts submitted to the Publication Committee and other questions of lite rary judgment Shall be referred by the Chairman of the Publica c m tion Committee to sub om ittees to be appointed by him ,

c e and the a tion of said subcommitte shall not be ﬁnal, but shall be presented to the Publication Committee with a full ’ statement Of the subcommittee s reason for the action ! pro po sed] .

e 18 8 8 This resolution, adopted in Sept mber, , describes the mo dus operandi up to the present moment . The methods it e involves required the enlargement of the Committ e . For ’ evalua example, the original Committee had need of a poet s m tion of a anuscript, or of the expert Opinion of a pedagogue, t ac com or the diplomatic experience of a sta esman, or the

lishments s - p of a Ru sian reading litterateur, or the judgment se of a man of affairs . The ﬁrst time the emergency aro , and

c was . the second time , advi e sought outside When a third

to c emergency seemed demonstrate the permanen e of the need, the Board of Trustees was petitioned to incorpo rate into the

Committee the efﬁ cient member it lacked . In thi s way there developed an unprofessional bo dy Of o n s critics comp sed of professionally expert u it , an epitome of

e - the int llectual forces in our American Jewish world, and a TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

of i reﬂex all ts hues O f opinion and tradition . Reform and and s orthodoxy are represented , nationalism confessionali m , the - American born and the immigrant, the Sefardic heritage as well as the German and the Russian , the academic sphere and also the journalistic and the rabbinical , and law and medicine and literature . The full import Of the resolution under which the Com mittee has be en working for a quarter o f acentury can be conveyed only by illustrations more or less concrete . A manu n script beari g on the history of Talmudic times, let us sup

e . pose, is present d It is referred to a subcommittee of three, the consisting of a Talmudist (or Talmudist) , a member interested in Jewish pedagogics, and a literary man . The manuscript passes from one to the other, each reader aware hi s and who associates are . The three reports , separate indi are vidual , sent in writing to the Secretary . At a monthly Of meeting of the whole Committee, the three members the

the o subcommittee being present as a rule, rep rts are sub mitt - ed. Before a vote is taken, the non reading members ask

r Of fo explanations . They elicit illustrative proof the eriti

‘ cisms wa , whether passed by way of censure or by y of approval . Th ey I nqui re into the value Of the book from the point of ’ c t view of the So ie y s membership , its previous publications ,

- and its half developed plans . They desire to know on what

c ed grounds of expedien y the manuscript is recommend , if its absolute value is not described as unassailable ; o r why its d e value for our constituency is doubte , seeing that its absolut m value recom ends it . The subcommittee itself may be

or er o . divided in its recommendations, its reas ns for condemn

be . tion or approval may not clear The decision is put off,

r wo e e and a member o t are add d to the subcommitte . A 70 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Of new set reports must be submitted, and the process of weighing and judging started afresh .

c di Or, the subcommittee may be unanimous in re ommen ng i it, but one member of the larger committee harbors misgiv ngs, H s let us say about the religious bias Of the book . e request that voting shall be deferred until he has had the Oppo rtunity Of reading the manuscript and forming an opinion at ﬁrst

“ hand . His intention is not obstructionist . He does not con sider himself a more judicious Rabbinical scholar than the e subcommitt e member, o r a pedagogue of wider experience, or a literary critic of greater acumen . He is exercising not t e a privilege, but a right and a duty, implied in the insis enc of the resolution that action proposed by a subcotmmittee shall not be considered ﬁnal . The motive that ac uates him is e to justice, towards our reading constitu ncy, which is entitled the best within reach, and towards our writing clientele, which

to a is entitled the fairest hearing att inable . He desires to “ read the book in the spirit of the gentle reader appealed l e to in the prefaces of other days . At the next month y me t ing he will be qualiﬁed to tell the rest how the book is likely ! e to affect and serve the Jew on the stre t . im Meant e, two letters reach the Committee in all proba bilit m . y. The ﬁrst is fro the author He protests against the — delay . He does not realize the situation that the members Of t the Publication Committee live scat ered, and the manu c s ripts must be sent from place to place, not to mention con sideration for summer journeyings in Europe and C alifornia . and This he is told, at the same time he is given to under

a be of st nd, as delicately as may , that the members the Com ’ mittee read the American Jewish people s manuscripts , as a w u o courtesy to the Society, during scant leisure r ng fr m their THE TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

daily duties as doctors, journalists, professors, rabbis, engi neers r , and men of affairs, and it is their being inte ested tech nically in many other concerns that renders them invaluable to the Society and its eleven thousand members . The cir cumstance is which , if not concealed, at least not brought out blatantly, is the somewhat reluctant welcome accorded to the child of his muse . The time may come eventually when willy “ ! nilly the most unkindest cut of all must be inﬂicted . ff Of i Until giving such a ront is inevitable, it is the part lov ng kindness to keep the serenity unmarred . The other letter is from our Committee member in the West a or the South . He is to o far off to ttend monthly meetings, but he remains in intimate touch with the affairs of the

Society through copies of the minutes, which not only report action, but also describe the tortuous path of discussion lead ing to action . Once a year at least he is in the habit of apprising the Committee of a prospective visit to the Eastern e capitals or seaside resorts, and he couples the announc ment with the suggestion that a monthly meeting be anticipated or ’ delayed, after the fashion of the Jewish calendar s dealings with inopportune fasts. Such occasions sufﬁce to establish a

s. personal connection with methods, opinions, and plan In the intervals the rest of the Committee enjoys the advantage of Of the fresh views of one standing half outside, he alone the crowd beyond knowing the trend Of the debate within the tﬁ council chamber . His letter mayhap for i es the policy stated ’ incidentally to the last month s discussion ; or he reports a scholar at work in his neighborhood who is in a position to

ro p duce a better book than that under consideration ; or, it

o may be, he prods the Co mmittee to swifter res lves by addu own cing his sore need of such a book for his pupils . 72 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERI CA

: The next monthly meeting another discussion, and this

- - a time with the general non Talmudic, non ped gogic, non “ Let literary public represented . us suppo se the gentle ! ’ reader to endorse the subcommittee s favorable recommen no dation . His agreement with it does tsupersede a vote by e the whole Committ e on the question, Shall the History of Talmudic Times be recommended to the Board of Trustees ! ? as a publication to be issued by the Society . The decision

m i c Someti es one way, sometimes the other , but, wh hever way

s it goes, the impre sion is strengthened that the resolution refusing the right of ﬁnal action to subcommittees is wisely framed .

e Let us assume the decision to have be n negative , and the to manuscript have been rejected . What was the reason for the adverse action ? Is the book defective in literary form ? I s it not popular ? Do es it fail to instruct ? Does it lac k originality or interest ? It may be unexcepti onable in all the and implied particulars and many others, yet be declared ’ useless for the Society s purposes . There is a deﬁnite some thing that renders it unsuitable for American readers taken by and large . Either its outlook is based on a past irrevocably “ done with (the Germans call it ein iiberwundener Stand ! “ u asse p nkt, the French, p or it misses ﬁre because its Opinions and theories presuppose a situation that has no part

- - in the mental make up of an English speaking body of Jews . As our conglomerate American Jewish community contains at o least one exponent or product of every s rt of Judaism, con ceivable c and inconceivable, some one is ertain to reproach the Committee with having allowed a rare opportunity to escape it . If the supposed mistake is not irretrievable, as it would not n be with a bo ok to be tra slated from a fo reign language , TH E TWENTY—FIFTH ANN IVERSARY the di scussion and the decision are reviewed at the instiga ri tion of the c tic, whether he speaks from the outside or rises in ’ up the Committee s own ranks . In relation to public i t e tt op nion, the Commit ee thus considers its lf a subcommi ee, and it claims no ﬁnality for its actions until they are sealed

of r . by the approval of the upper house, the Board T ustees

If, however, the manuscript is pronounced acceptable, then the amount of the author’ s fee and other terms remain to be inco rporated into the recommendation to the Trustees . They fﬁ a rarely present di culties . They require an amic ble corre ’ s ondence hi s and e p with the author, and wishes the Committe s judgments are readily harmonized amid upward curling rings of smoke issuing from a dozen or more cigars, an atmosphere “ ! e - a conducive to benevolenc , benevolence akin to th t mani fested t c Com in a third le ter, which occasionally rea hes the mitte e while a manuscript is under consideration .

Should the writer happen to be within ear - shot of thi s ’ description of the Committee s procedure, he will realize the

. I futility of htis letter n fact, it does not always come before the Commit ee, because the mistake is made of addressing it th to one of e members personally . It is an appreciation of author as well as manuscript, couched in the terms of political endorsements . The writer is neither a Talmudist, nor a peda gogue , nor a litterateur of particular note . He is primarily a a o friend of the author, and second rily an equally g od friend Of r of the Society, a gentleman kindly cou tesy and charm , who occupies a prominent position in some American Jewish ﬁle— community . His letter is read and put on but not for future reference .

To There is more to be said on this subject of benevolence . a higher degree than publisher and public it animate s the 74 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

o auth r . He spurns fees, when he is actuated by the desire of disseminating his Jewish works for the beneﬁt of hi s fellow

o Jews, and his amazement knows no bounds when his gener sity meets with a refusal and his manuscript with the usual search

TO ing examination . this searching examination only one ex ceptionis ever made : When a manuscript is submitted by a

e a member of the Publication Committ e, it is ex mined more

AS searchingly than others . for the rule of paying a fee in

c c ac ordan e with current market rates, that is uniform and absolute . It is a curious phenomenon that the absence of a request for a fee is not seldom coincident with lack of craftsmanship .

The Spirit of the charter is three - quarters present in such

a ff . ltruistic o ers The benevolent animus, the educational

r purpose, the Jewish knowledge or fe vor or devotion are there .

Only the literary requirement is apt to be unfulﬁlled . The

Committee a cts deliberately in these instances . If the author

e and e can be p rsuaded to accept a fee, he appears otherwis

s amenable to sugge tions, it changes its role for the nonce from

t to le publisher to edi or . It endeavors supply the missing e ments of diction, grammatical precision, style, attractive treat

Of . ment, logical arrangement material The annals of the Committee record several such collaborations with happy re sults , not the least happy being that in general the relation of the Publication Committee to the guild of Jewish authors

coun in America is of Operators in a benevolent, educational t ! der akin . e g If sometimes, aft r years of reasoning together, ’ the Committee s benevolent efforts to rescue a useful book for

‘ eﬂiorts the public, and its educational to develop a promising author, result in the creation of a troublesome Frankenstein,

76 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

' n . eﬂi cie t tities Or, a valueless subject may be advanced by an e worker, who has gone astray merely b cause he has no under

of c r e c . standing tthe provin e o th immediate needs of the So iettty Or, an at ractive subject is presented , but there seems li le possibility of exploiting it through its inventor . If it must

be . o , it is dismissed regretfully As a rule , the c urse has been i to request the subm ssion of the manuscript when completed ,

or subject to the usual conditions, , in the most promising

to ul - be cases , the submission of an outline , give the wo d author anoppo rtunity of revealing unsuspected qualities as a thinker ’ and writer . Alas for the inﬁrmity of man s will ! In far more than three - quarters of such cases no outline and no manuscript were forthcoming . The subject had vanished into

e - thin air, or else changed into thos well known solid paving — blocks on the road to whatever our Bible Translato rs may ’ c e incon have de ided to call the plac . Perhaps it is not man s tan s c . y that should be deplored, but rather his conceit An o outline ! Perish the thought . The bo k should have been c ordered at once, the fee ﬁxed at the top not h, and no questions asked of the great author .

A third class of propositions, those originating in the Com mittee to r itself, brings us the consideration of its const uctive its i n activity, in contradistinction to cr tical fu ction as a judge

- of propositions and a semi passive receiver of manuscripts . It tc has had more to do than merely wait . From its wa h tower

a o . it keeps a sh rp lo kout on the times , the people, the forces It discerns a w riter ready to deliver a literary or a scientiﬁc

c t i message . He may be a ross seas, and the mould in o wh ch his thought is poured may be German or French or Russian to or Hebrew, but even if he happens use only our English ’ r do cousins English , he is sought out and u ged to his best THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

for us . Societies and schools are seen to be lacking literary

and to . tools to work with , steps are taken supply them The own people have no Bible of their in their homes, their schools, in their synagogue pews . Discontent with the situation is culcated t n , and a translation is under aken, though it cost lo g a pl nning, more than twenty years of work, and no one yet

. I knows how much money for its effective execution n short, questions of literary judgment are propounded within the ranks of the Committee . They are as various in character an d worth as those from the outside . Many are buried after

s n o discus io proves them vain ; some, found go d but premature W ( itness the question of a magazine) , are deferred until the

e Jewish kalends, at the coming of Elijah , and only the se m

“ in l ac c a g y pr ti able attain the subcommittee st ge . But sub committees on plans and proposals are as strictly held to account as subcommittees of readers of manuscripts . One a fﬁ o f ct should su ce to demonstrate this . It t ok three years and a half to convince the Publication Committee as a whole ’ of its duty to use the Society s publishing machinery in aid of the work of organizing the Jewish community of the United States through a series of Year Bo oks for the publication of statistical , historical , economic, and political material . Prize competitions were one of the device s resorted to by the Committee to awaken slumbering possibilities . Though none of the twenty - seven contestants competing for the prize Offered for a story for the ‘ young reached the required stand ard, yet the competition bore fruit at a time when the scope of the S ociety was not well known in large circles . The second competition, for a translation from the Hebrew, took

a o pl ce too recently tpermit of an appreciation of results . 6 78 THE JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

While seeking to stimulate the untried, the Committee did in a and not neglect the veterans learning, the schol rs investi

o c te gators whose w rks, though not cal ulated to in rest the ’ e e Society s general memb rship , satisfy the requir ments of the c e o e . e e hart r c mptlet ly To such , subventions wer grant d to the extent permi ted by the state Of the treasury . What promises to be the most successful method Of direct stimulation employed by the Committee is the projecting of

e . seri s of works Plans are partly executed, parttly under way, partly awaiting further development, for a Tex Book Series , a Biographical Series, and a series o n great movements in

c . Jewish history, like Pharisaism , Mysti ism, and Reform

e e Wh n these and other still inchoat plans are perfected, it will be seen how large a part of its deliberations the Commit tee has had to devote to the bringing together of material and force, in the shape of subject and author . At the present mo rte r e c R ment, fou e n w iters in Am ri a , Germany, ussia ,

France, and Egypt, are supposedly busy with the preparation of manuscripts of works outlined in part by the Committee

t e to r and intrusted o authorities on the subj cts be t eated .

Some of the larger schemes owe their success to the co- operation al of other agencies . The Centr Conference of American " Rabbis collaborates with the Committee on the Bible work ; the American Jewish Committee has assumed the responsi bility for the compilation Of the Year Book these ﬁ ve years ; to e a the Jewish Historical Soci ty of England, the Biographic l Se ries owes its inception ; and by the Hebrew Educati on Society of Philadelphia has been given the stro ngest impetus

B e from without to the initiation of the Text Book Series . of t ae sides, the wo rk the Commit ee has been adv nc d and complemented in various ways by the Census Bureau of the H EINRIC H GRAETZ

l n o lo mo ninthe os s o u lo nof The Jow ls h The o lo ical Fro m apalntlng by S o o mo J. S p g S o mlnary o f AmO rlca

THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

e e United Stat s D partment of Commerce and Labo r, by the

American Jewish Historical Society, the Jewish Chautauqua,

e . the Council of Jewish Women, and other sist r organizations Wh e to e as e at has been ref rred abov political mat trial, has not always been conﬁned to the Year Boo k . It is pa ent that the exigencies which inspired the articles on the Passport

! uestion, the Jews of Roumania, and the Immigration Prob lem, dictated also the production of a book like The Voice ’ of America on Kishineff and the di stribution of Davitts

so Within the Pale . What cannot be, and cannot be made,

e evident, is that the sam exigencies induced the Committee to contract for the writing of certain books of real literary value . Nor is it subject to proo f by ﬁgures that other publishers have unconsciously been collaborating with the S ociety in this ﬁeld . An atmosphere friendly to Jewish books has been created by

has . our activity . The general publisher noted the fact When t’ he fails to discern its value, this phase of the Commit ee s

ro p ductive inﬂuence is brought to his attention, in rather gross form, by the writers of Jewish books, Jews and Chris

Am c al . tians, residents ike of eri a and England Our letter

ﬁles reveal, on the part of authors negotiating with publishers, no infrequent resort to the argument, that the Jewish Publi “ cation Society will doubtless be inte rested in a given book to the extent of purchasing an edition numbering anywhere from four thousand to eleven thousand .

n - As a matter of fact, bei g a self respecting body and pursu

- deﬁned ing a well policy, the Society is not interested in such ’ bo oks in the author s sense . There is naturally an indisposi t s n the ion to treat at econd ha d, through intervention of has another publisher, with an author who disdained to treat 8 0 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA at ﬁrst hand with what is easily the foremost agency in the se world concerning it lf with English Jewish books .

e o ao But, as impli d ab ve, there is another re s n for the Com ’ mittee s negative attitude . That a politically inﬂuential or any sort of good book on a Jewish topic should get before the public through other than Jewish channels, it regards as a

e for w subj ct congratulation, and so useful an asset in Je ish life that consideration for it has dictated a series of actions

c - ﬁ ve constituting practi ally a policy . Upwards of seventy English bo oks and English translations of foreign books issued by o ther publishers have been proposed to our Society for

c c republi ation . Each has been ac orded a fair examination, and if our list shows only the vanishing percentage of four

not the republications, it is proper to infer that offered ma teria a l was insigniﬁcant . The explan tion is that in most instances a discussion revealed the advantage Of leaving to outside agents the Jewish work they had imposed upon them ’ selves naturally O r as a result of the Committee s indirect s u inﬂuence . None the les the P blication Society has had

- ﬁ ve more or less important dealings with forty publishers , and even when the negotiations did noteventuate in deﬁnite a e o c ta t action, the cont ct t nded to pr du e accep ble resul s on both sides . ’ The Committee s refusal to co- operate with publishers on certain occasions must have been a far from pleasant surprise

c e to some authors . They had a cepted commissions to writ

or books outlined by the Committee . F some paltry reason off n they broke the negotiatio s with the Society, and secured,

e partly by the assurance of our ne d of the book, the imprint of another publisher, only to have him ﬁnd on inquiry that

for our programme Of publications the year was complete .

8 2 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

its and tenths of books, whose experience and counsel have been at its disposal from first to last . The machinery has been the simplest ; one Secretary has sufli ced to transact the m ’ “ Com ittee s routine business, and in this department the unvarying policy adopted has been strengthened by the cir cumstance that during the whole of the quarter of a century ’ e e b of the Society s life, there have be n but thr e incum ents in ’ the Secretary s office . It remains only to speak of the relation of the Committee

e ffi : . to the Board of Trust es . A single word su ces harmonious The body from which the Committee derives its existence has e r a t n ve failed in symp thy with its plans, htas always s ood ready to advise in times o f doubt, has execu ed uncomplain ingly when execution implied difficulties and circumspect I has r m management. t rega ded the Com ittee as its literary l ni t all o . e ministers, and it has ves ed them with but p wers p potentiary . And what is the total outcome ? It would be manifestly un becoming for the biographer to sum up the results . Some one ’ else ought to calculate the ratio of the Committee s successes s to its failures, and compare it with the ratio obtained from ’ a roxi other publishers lists . If it should turn out to be pp c mately the same figure, it is yet con eivable that the statis i tcianwill shrug his shoulders in deprecation . Which woul d only go to prove that he scrutinizes one set of figures with his “ ! head and with a view to business, and the other set with his heart and in the light of his holy Jewish zeal . But if the same loyal devotion to the large purpose for which the Society exists does not shine forth from behind the present analysis ’ - five transfi urin s of twenty years work, g g method , delibera h be e tions, policies, and all details, then t is may not r garded THE TWE NTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

’ as a true transcript of the Committee s records . The Com mitte e can assert that every step it h as taken was consciously dictated by a sense of responsibility towards the Jewish a a I herit ge ccumulated since the day of Sinai . t conceived its e o r duty to be a reint rpretation, in m de n form and English udaisms tu garb, of the J o f all cen ries and all lands, and the demonstration of their essential unity. However far aﬁeld n its members may wander in their discussio s month by month, and beguiled by Obiter dicta, and philosophic deductions, o erudite analogies, the t uchstone of a policy is always the

Jewish tradition, the loadstar in pursuing the goal, always n o the Jewish hope . It k ows as well as its two collaborat rs, has the author and the public, that the responsibility not been a a discharged in full, and the reinterpret tion has not re ched v e e ery heart intrusted to it . But each of the three may d rive comfort from the wisdom of the Jewish idealist who en I courages every generation with the saying, t is not thy duty ! ma to complete the work . At all events, none of the three y e be accused of having desisted from the work, se ing that this day we are laying the foundations o f our structure with a

- u library of eighty seven vol mes . In the cornerstone of the foundation are engraved the names and acts of ﬁ ve members of the Publication Committe e who were not spared to see the season o f carrying home the sheaves : Al i in joy exander Kohut, w th his superb Rabbinical equip r ment ; Simon Adler Stern, whose playful wit and litera y m discri ination were harmonizing, constructive forces in the ’ astrow m Committee s work ; Marcus J , Bible editor, Tal udic r c e a scholar, historical and litera y o nnoiss ur, and unfailing d viser in all questions, practical or learned ; Bernhard Felsen

e thal, wisest of friends, gentlest of critics, mellow st of scholars, 8 4 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

o f the and Charles Gross, representative academic American , Jew alive to his duty towards the spiritual interests of his people . I and n emulation of their achievements their devotion, their associates and successors look forward to raising the building a to the next st ge of completion, with the larger means and according to the broader plans produced under the stimulus s of the pre ent celebration .

m Adjourn ent. THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

AFTERNO O N SESSION

6 1 913 SUNDAY, APRIL ,

: THE AB E E E CHAIRMAN HONOR L SIMON W . ROS NDAL

Mr . Edwin Wolf, the President of the Society, introduced , r t as the Chai man of the Af ernoon Session, the Honorable N Y 18 8 8 Simon W . Rosendale, of Albany, . . , who presided, in , ! with moderation, fairness , and tact, over the convention at which the Society was founded .

In taking the Chair, Mr . Rosendale spoke , in part, as follows :

My presence in this place of honor is evidence of the e m the court sy of the Com ittee, and particularly of President of a t the Society, fo r which I w nt to ex end my sincere thanks . As for my presence on the occasion when the Society was founded, its importance is apparent rather than real . All

to- era o here day, the males and, in the present of p litical rights , too the females, , know that the only thing the president of a co nvention has to do is to reﬂect the sentiments of the men he c hind . Duties were assigned to me, and the expe ted result a ai d followed . I was induced to come to Philadelphi to in m I launching this vessel by one for who then had, and still have, the greatest respect, a man who has the distinction of being the most eminent Jew in America . He brought me out O f my State into his, though he had no judicial functions at ul he that time by whi ch he co d force me to come . Since then has attained to interstate jurisdiction . I had hoped at that 8 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

time that he would attain, not to an interstate, but to an

e . I int rnational, judicial position need not name Judge

Mayer Sulzberger .

To continue with my metaphor, the keel of our vessel was e made in Philadelphia, which s ems to have been a so rt of

Cramps Shipyard for Jewish activities . We heard this morn ing that it was the third attempt to ﬂoat an American Jewi sh u P blication So ciety . The craft was successfully launched, — a but, suddenly, there came a squall sort of ministerial r a squall . The skies g ew dark for a while, but, fortun tely, all s and a pa sed off in peace, the vessel has been navig ting peace fully the waters not only of our own but of foreign ports as se well . Pre nt prospects for the future were beautifully Zan il se . w l phra d in the letter from Mr g read last night, that ! Let this Society has co me to stay longer than any of us . e us hope that he has spoken true . Indeed, everything justiﬁ s n the hope that it will not only live longer tha any of us, but n that it is practically permanent ad immortal . It has been decided to change the order of the exercises o slightly . The meeting will open with a paper by D ctor Cyrus

Adler on The Bible Translati on . THE TWE NTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

THE BIBLE TRANSLATI ON

B Y DOCTOR CYRUS ADLE B The Jewish Publication Society of America was organi zed 8 ts 1 90 . i in 1 8 88 . Its ﬁrst book bears the imprint of At 5 1 892 second biennial convention, held on June , , the follow ing statement was made : We look forward to the time when the Society shall furnish a new and popular English rendition

o to of the bo k which the Jews have given the world, the Bible, ! that Shall be the work of American Jewish scholars, and it “ e was Resolved, That the Ex cutive Committee be requested to examine the feasibility of issuing an English translation ! of the Bible, at a low price, for general use . I c t was thus early in the history of the So ciety, at its se ond e general m eting, that action was taken looking toward the publication of a new English translation of the Bible . The

o Executive Committee immediately c nsidered the resolution, “ and voted that the publication of anEnglish translation of the Bible at the earliest possible time was feasible and neces ! sary . This resolution was in turn submitted to the Publica m 2 7 18 92 tion Com ittee, which, on November , , appointed a subcommittee of three to make suggestions as to the metho d to be pursued in preparing for the publication of a Bible and to report a proper time and place in which to confer with persons to be named to arrange a plan of action . This sub m c of e a astrow com ittee onsisted the R verend Docto r M rcus J , o c o Chairman, the Reverend Doct r Joseph Krauskopf, and Do t r was Cyrus Adler, Secretary . A conference held at Atlantic 30 3 1 18 93 o City, on July and , , the pr ceedings of which were 8 8 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

embodied in the following repo rt submitted to the Publication t 2 5 1 893 Commi tee under date of October ,

s Your subcommittee held a conference with a number of scholar , who had been invited to assist your committee in its deliberations with reference to the publicationof a new English version of the 1 93 n . 30 3 1 8 . Bible, at Atla tic City, N J on July and , T reseii t D astrow here were p , of the subcommittee, octor J ( Chair

z E s . man ) , Doctor Cyrus Adler and Mayer Sul berger , q ( member ex oﬁicio and Do o l D ) , ctor Sz d , octor Kohler, and , by Special invitation

Of o a . D the Chairman , D ctor L ndsberg octor Wise, Doctor Morais ,

and Doctor Gottheil off ered suggestions by letter . It was decided to make the following recommendations to the Publication Committee 1 . That an English version of the Bible be published in a handy a size as soon as practic ble, holding in view the publication of a and special Bible for schools th e home . 2 . That the version be based on the translationcommonly known ’ Leeser s and as Bible, that no individual name appear on the l a tit e p ge.

3 . la o f M That the version be a trans tion the assoretic text .

4 . l That the poetica portions be printed in lines .

5 . That the headings of books or portions of books contained in th e text be different in typography from the text .

6 . That untranslated words be diﬁ erentin typography from the text .

7. h T at the headings of the Pentateuchal sections be in Hebrew character.

8 . That the translation be prepared under the editorial direction as an f th p n , t b kn wn th ing dit th ngli h o ree erso s o e o e M ag E or, e E s

. E Text Editor , and the Style ditor .

9 . a That the v rious books be ass igned to different contributo rs f vi i n in acc d nc with plant b p c i d or re s o or a e a o e res r be .

10 . That the results of the labo rs of the contributors be referred i o an t vi i n itt , t c n t f tw n th ngli h o a Re s o Comm ee o o s s o o pers s , d e E s

Text Editor.

90 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA and be ready to present at the next meeting a detailed estimate of the work and the co st of translating the Bible into English as proposed in the report and publishing it in an edition of a ﬁve thousand , the st tement to include the co st of plates, printing, binding, with a description of the Size , the paper, i the type, and the b nding or bindings ; the fees of the editors o m the and contribut rs, esti ated on basis of work to be done, not of time consumed ; appro ximately the time required to complete the work ; and suggestions of names for the positions n ! of editors ad contributo rs . These plans were reported to

e 1 894 the Society at the third biennial me ting, held in , with m the general appro val of the Executive Com ittee .

1 3 1 895 om At a meeting held January , , the subc mittee estimated the co st of publishing an edition of ﬁve thousand

' copies of the B ible inhandy size as this to include i the salary of contribut ng editors and incidental expenses . The committee recommended as Text Editor Doctor Marcus

astro w hi a i J , of P l delph a ; as Style Editors Messrs . Mayer

Sulzberger and Simon A . Stern, of Philadelphia, and as the

Revision Committee Doctor K . Kohler and Doctor F . de Y Sola Mendes, of New ork, these ﬁve to constitute the Board

o of Edit rs . Do cto r Adler also reported that a personal interview with Jewish leaders in England had convinced him that the Publi cation S ociety coul d count upon their co- operation inthe mat a n ter of Bible revision, provided cert in u essential concessions were made , such as the use of Bible translations other than ’ s a Le ser s as the basis of the work, and the doption of English orthographic p eculiarities . TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

Doctor Adler furthermore reported the following list of contributors to the Bible Revision proposed by the subcom mittee :

l an Israe Abrahams , Engl d ; Herman Adler, England ; Henry l l mbi z l rachman t . D k wit Phi d phi ; . . De i vi l ; B , Ber o z , a e a L N , Lou sae n n M. . l al . New York ; B Fe senth , Chicago ; M Friedl nder , E gla d ; a Gottheil n G ster, England ; R . J . H . , New York ; Louis Grossman , ll l a Max . . . . Detroit ; He er, New Or eans ; E G Hirsch , Chic go ; A S a astrow l Isa cs, New York ; Joseph Jacobs , England ; Marcus J , Phi a s delphia ; Morris Ja trow, Philadelphia ; K . Kohler, New York ;

Max . Joseph Krauskopf, Philadelphia ; Landsberg, Rochester ; J l l M. . Leonard Levy, Phi adelphia ; L Margo is , Cincinnati ; Claude

n ﬁor l . Mo te e . , Eng and ; F de Sola Mendes , New York ; M Mielziner, n l a i Cincinnati ; S . Me delsohn , Wi mington , N . C S bato Mora s , l l Philadelphia ; Ado f Moses , Louisville ; David Phi ipson , Cincin l h S chles a . . M. nati ; Samue S le, St Louis ; S Sc echter , England ; n al inger, Albany ; S . Si ger, England ; Benjamin Szold , B timore ; an r . Voors e M. . J g , San Francisco ; I . Wise , Cincinnati

sub om Having thus drawn up the preliminary plans, the c mittee N al l es was on its own motion discharged . ot th e plans materialized . The English Jews came to the conclusion at that time that the Revised Version with a leaﬂet, which they

r had prepared, answered the needs of their community . Afte twenty years of consideration their consciousness upon the

u e subject has ndergone a change, and it app ars that they are

sirbstantial a N again in greement with our plans . or did we secure the co- operation of all the men whose names are men tioned in the above list . They are given nevertheless to Show that our Society made an earnest effort to unite Jewry of

- every Shade of opinion in the English speaking world . 92 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

1 896 x To the fourth biennial co nvention, held in , the E ecu tive Committe e made the following statement : a l With respect to the subject of the Bible tr ns ation , the pre s l e liminary steps of which were reported to the la t biennia me ting , the Committee is enabled to report that the co- operation of a la number of trans tors has been secured , who are now at work on the various portions of the Bible which have been assigned to

them , and , upon the completion of their labors , the results will be placed in the hands of Editors and a Revision Committee to be

prepared for publication . T c his subj e t is of the ﬁrst importance , because the intelligent and assiduous study of the Bible is a necessary preliminary to

“ that general interest in religious affairs which is the solid tounda

tion of the prosperity of the Jewish Church . To promote this

i . interest we may not stop at a translat on A concise , thorough ,

and readable commentary to the whole Bible , for the use of i e accom teachers and pup ls , is also n cessary , and this must be anied p or followed by thorough handbooks on geography . . anti uities u q , and other special branches of study , designed to light p and the inner outer life of our ancestors .

This v er y interesting statement is worthy of especial note ,

because it outlines a comprehensive scheme for Bible work,

which it will be our duty to execute as our means allow . 12 1 8 96 o astrow On January , , Doct r J reported on behalf of the Committee appointed to draft the instructions for the

contributors to the Bible Translation , consisting o f Doctor

astrow n r J , Judge Sulzberger, Mr . Simon Ster , Doctor Kohle ,

c . . and Do tor F . de Sola Mendes Doctor Herman Adler, M r

n r s m e Mo teﬁo e o . . Claud , and D ctor I M Wi e , were ade corre

' ondi The B iblical sp ng members of the Revision Committee .

o r i - bo ks were dist ibute d among th rty four contributors, most of whom had signiﬁed their willingness to do the assigned the c t w wo rk . The instructions to ontribu ors , as dra n up by

the Committee , were then amended and approved .

94 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

o . Book of Chronicles ; and that in case Doct r E . G Hirsch t e as i declined to ranslat Isaiah, seemed l kely, the work be to referred Doctor K . Kohler . Doctor Jastrow propo sed that a subcommittee of two mem bers of the Publication Committee be appointed to advise with the Editor - in- Chief and the Edi torial Committee of the Bible

Translation with regard to Style Editors . Doctor Adler and

. e e Mr St rn were appo inted the subcommitte . i 22 18 98 By the tenth annual meet ng, held May , , the work un had proceeded so far that f ds were required , and a Com ‘ mi ttee f Y , of which Mr . Jacob H . Schif , of New ork, was nd Hackenbur i i a . . Ch airman Mr William B g, of Ph ladelph a , a u Tre surer, was appointed to secure a Bible f nd of which at that time was deemed sufﬁcient for the work . AS the time went on, it was evident that co st of the venture e the had been underestimat d, and at the eleventh meeting of So ciety the sum of was mentioned as the amount 19 1 requisite . By 0 it became apparent that the process of securing a complete translation of the whole Bible and issuing r m it would be a ve y slow one, and it was accordingly deter ined to print the Bo ok of Psalms in a handy shape as a separate

c . t publi ation The questions of revision, s yle, and typ ography were anxiously considered from every point of view . All s kinds of questions were di cussed . One which occasioned con siderable delay was the question whether each Psalm should be headed with explanatory note s which interpreted the Psalm s to the readers . This was discu sed and defeated . As a com e promise, brief explanatory not s were placed in the appendix.

2 1 902 r On November , , Doctor Kohler resigned f om the i o l t o o Ed t ria Revision Commit ee, and Doct r David Philips n was appointed in his stead . THE TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

The Reverend Doctor Marcus Jastrow died in October, 1 903 s , two months before the Book of Psalm appeared, and for more than a year and a half the work was in abeyance . On a 5 1 905 Febru ry , , a reorganization for carrying on the work was effected on the following basis : that the work of the Bible be carried on by a Board of seven Editors ; thatthe S ela c . present Revising Editors, the Reverend Do tor F de e v Mendes and the R verend Doctor Da id Philipson, and, in

Y . addition to them, Professor S . Schechter, New ork ; Mr N i Joseph Jacobs, ew York ; Mr . Caspar Lev as, Cincinnati ; o a and I Doct r Max L . M rgolis, Berkeley, Calif . Docto r srael Friedlaender Y he , New ork, requested to act as members of the Board of Editors ; that the Chairman of the Board have the general supervision over the ﬁnished work ; that the Secre tary of the Board perform the labor of the Managing Edito r formerly done by the late Reverend Doctor Marcus Jastrow h e be r a and t at Professor Schecht r the Chai m n of the Board, " Fri dlan er o e e d r and . acobs D ctor , the Secreta y, M r J , the

English Style Edito r .

2 9 1905 o On October , , D ctor Schechter, Chairman of the

Board of Editors, reported that the Board had organized on 2 1 1905 had e May , that the work been inaugurat d at once with a view to the early publication of the Pentateuch ; that the delivery of all the manuscripts still outstanding was promised within the next S ix months ; and that a meeting of the Edi tors for ﬁnal di scussion of moot points would be held u t Fhrther as soon as s fﬁcient material had been got en ready . o more, he urged that the honorarium of the Edit rs and of the

e r S creta y of the Board should be ﬁxed . The consideration of the points involving expenditures was postponed until the next meeting. 96 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

No funds were forthcoming for the clerical and other assist 1 7 1 90 7 Friedlaender ance required, and on March , , Doctor presented his resignation as Secretary to the Board of Editors hi of the Bible Translation . T s he was requested to withhold s 14 190 7 o for the pre ent . Under date of June , , D ctor Schech o ter stated that, by reas n of the complicated system adopted , slow progr ess had been made in the work of the Bible transla w tion . He held that it as impossible to accomplish the exten

o c o o a sive work by c rresponden e, and pr p sed plan based upon the model of the English Revision Committee .

At about this time, the Central Conference of American

had the Rabbis , through a Committee, taken up project of issuing the Revised Version rearranged in accordance with the e sequence of the books in the Massoretic t xt, and issued under the authority of that Conference . The possibilities of the acceptance of this proposal by the Conference brought about an s hi informal meeting, the result of w ch were laid before e t c di the Publication Committe . Af er onsiderable scussion e c u a and the laps of some time, Do tor Cyr s Adler was p a o pointed Committee to confer with Doctor David Philips n, the President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, s e 13 and thi conf rence was held in Washingto n, February , 1 908 m , a memorandu of which is as follows The participants both disclaimed having deﬁ nite power to bind their respective organizations . a They reached the mutual agreement that , if fe sible , the desir ability Of issuing an English version of the Bible under Jewish l auspices , which could be used genera ly by Jews in the United as States , was so great to warrant reasonable delay and mutual concessions . It was mutually agreed that in additi on to these speciﬁc changes it was desirable that Hebrew title pages for the three sections of r hi the Bible and headings for marking the Paas yotshould be used .

98 TH E JEWI S H PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Doctor Philips on stated that the Central Conference had em powered him through aCommittee to negotiate with the Oxford

Press , and that he had no speciﬁc mandate to enter into other s negotiations , but if preliminaries were atisfactorily settled , h e was willing to submit the proposed plan of co-operation with the Publication Society to members of the Executive Committee of the

Central Conference , in order to secure a modiﬁed authority ; that he would be able to attend a meeting of the Publication Committee T in April and not before . his would probably allow for a further i discussion of the prel minaries . The matter of time is one that is deemed of great importance by

the Central Conference . It was explained to Doctor Philipson that the Publication Committee equally recognized the importance of o the matter, but that while it was hoped that the manuscript c uld , d under the plan propose , be gotten ready in a year, it would prob e ably be safer to allow ﬁfte n months , and that six months , and

probably nine , might have to be allowed for the printing ; that two years would be an outside limit from the actual starting of the and work , but that the work might be done in a year a half. In view of the fact that a tentative agreement had been reached

on the larger questions , Doctor Philipson cancelled an appointment 1 4 in New York, on February , with Rabbi Gries and others , for a o c nference with the Oxford Press , and agreed to withhold any conclusive negotiations with the Oxford Pres s until the negotiations under way with the Society had been brought to some deﬁnite

results . Y U ADLEB ( Signed ) C R S , D D HI P AVI P LI SON .

The probability of reaching such anarrangement was re ferred to by the T rustees in their report for the years 1 908 1 909 , and by this time the enterprise loomed so large as to “ s require, to use the word of the Trustees, a special Bible ! r fund of at least to car y out this important project . It is now in place to describe the work as it is being carried on at the present time . MARCUS JAS T ROW

100 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

s . Joel , Oscar Cohen ( decea ed ) , Mobile, Ala

i . Amos , H . Pere ra Mendes , New York

orsan r e an . ah a . Vo e S Obadi and Jon h , J g ( deceas d ) , Francisco , Calif

Micah , Maurice H . Harris , New York .

a . Nahum, L. Mayer ( dece sed ) , Pittsburg, Pa

s an . . Zephaniah , M . Schle inger, Alb y, N Y

t . . Haggai , S . Mendelsohn , Wilming on , N C

Malachi , D . Davidson , New York .

astrow s . Job, Marcus J ( decea ed ) , Philadelph ia, Pa

Ruth , Joseph Krauskopf, Phi ladelphia, Pa.

l Gottheil a . Ecc esiastes , Gustav ( dece sed ) , New York

Esther , William Rosenau, Baltimore , Md .

s . a . I and II Chronicle , M Mielziner ( dece sed ) , Cincinnati , Ohio

o The lab ring oar was assigned to Professor Margolis, who prepared a translation in accordance with the plan agreed

o n e s up n, that the tra slation should incorporat the best result

a c of Biblical scholarship o f all ges, in luding commentaries,

the ancient and modern, various versions prepared by Jews

s or under the inﬂuence of Jews, the manu cript translations t r handed in to the Publication Society, wi h a pa ticular regard o to the work of standard Jewish exp unders of the Bible . The work of the present Board of Edi tors has been carried on i e by meet ngs, about thre a year, generally of ten days each, 9 from 1 0 8 until the present time . The following is a state

c ment authorized by the Board, whi h summarizes the views of the Editors and the principles actuating them :

Now that the Jews in the English- speaking countries of the l world h ave become an appreciable number , it is but natura and appropriate that they should desire to poss ess an English trans t lation of Scriptures of their own , as have bo h the Catholic and the

a . s Protest nt Churches This is a justiﬁable entiment, for the Bible ’ s i is the Jews own Book . Jewish prophet , psalmists , h storians ,

s . and sage produced it This is generally recognized , but it is not THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

so widely known that all the translations and versions of the la Bible are indebted rgely to Jewish scholarship , whether directly

or indirectly . Thus the ﬁrst famous translation of Scripture, the w as Greek version known as the Septuagint , made by Jewish

- scholars and became the possession of the Greek speaking world .

Jerome , the Church Father , who translated the Bible into Latin , and as the version used by the Catholic Church known the Vulgate ,

h imself expressed his indebtedness to rabbis of his day . That ’ e s G rman clas ic , Luther s translation of the Bible ( completed which was the instrument whereby the great reformer wielded his a wonderful inﬂuence, shows unmistak ble traces of familiarity with the explanations of Rashi ( 1 040 the prince of Jewish com n me tators.

The same holds true of the most famous of all English transla so- a tions , the c lled King James Version The makers of this translation were likewise greatly indebted to Jewish inter reters p and expounders of the Bible , notably the famous David 1 1 60 e Kimchi , known as Redak ( who summed up the b st The so- efforts of medieval Jewish commentators . called Revised English Version ( 1 88 5 ) aff ords frequent evidence that the scholars who produced it made use of the keen explanations of Scripture by the Italian exegete Samuel David Luz zatto ( 1 8 00 Apart from the inﬂuence that the Jews exerted in these and

other translations of the Bible , they have at various periods of their history translated Scripture into the languages which they

spoke . The modern history of the Jews may be said to begin with Moses Mendelssohn ’ s famous translation of the Pentateuch into a Germ n in the eighteenth century . Since that day Jewish scholars have translated the Bible into the languages of their countries . n These have been Germa , French , Italian , and other languages .

Of translations into English , special mention may be made of that la 1806 by Isaac Leeser, of Phi delphia ( whose version is in

- . a general use among English speaking Jews This tr nslation , which made many revisions of the King James Version , preceded the

Revised Version by thirty years .

However , all these modern Jewish translations have been the work of individual scholars . Th e present movement is the ﬁrst 1 02 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

effort in modern days among Jews to produce a translation of the

Bible by a body of scholars , representative of Jewish learn ing

- among English speaking Jews . It is the hope and expectation that when this work shall ﬁnally appear it will be accepted as the standard version o f the Synagogue among English- speaking

peoples , as is the King James Version by the Church . and Now, it may be asked very reasonably, what is the need of the justiﬁcation for such a translation ? Does not the King James Version in its revised form meet all needs and requirements ? These questions may be answered brieﬂy by indicating that the i a translators of the K ng James Version and its Revisers n turally ,

even if unconsciously, brought into their translations the Christian

point of view , and if for that reason alone their work cannot be

accepted as a standard version by the Synagogue . Another feature of this new version will be that it will follow

the order of the Books as given in the Hebrew Bible . One example The a must sufﬁce . Book of D niel is found in the Hebrew Bible in the section known as the Hagiographa ; it is an apocalyptic bo ok according to the Jewish view ; the Christian Church places Daniel

among the Prophets , and hence the reader of the King James Ver sion and all other versions used in the Christian churches will

n. a ﬁnd the book in the prophetic sectio It is a not ble fact that here , as o f in other instances , the results Biblical study in modern days o show a turning to the standpoint f Jewish tradition . Modern scholars are now quite generally agreed that the Boo k of Daniel

is not the production of a prophet but of an apocalyptic writer .

Th e principles on which the new version is based are determined ,

s . in large mea ure, by the objects aimed at , as indicated above Thus ,

- as being intended for English speaking Jews , it utilizes , as far s s po sible, the diction and phra eology of the King James Version , which has so long been sacrosanct to all English writers and

readers . It avails itself also of the many improvements in accuracy

1 8 8 5 . of reading introduced by the Revisers of Indeed , in one s a n direction it goe step farther tha the Revised Version , for whereas the Revisers introduced the practice of printing the es poetical books of the Hebrew Scriptur as poetry, this version applies the same improvement to the poetical passages of the n f e ad e . prophets, much to the increase of readablen ss e fectiven ss

1 04 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Version of the Hebrew Script ure s has gone along for upwards of twenty years . The attempt was made to include in so im portant a labor every competent indi vi dual in English - speak ing lands whose co- operation it was thought could be reckoned upon . In some cases there was an erro r of judgment either as - I to the ability or to the co operativeness of the person . n s o other ca es, where b th seemed to be present, the individual ity of one or the incompatibility of several rendered co- opera i itu tion impossible . But the great driving power of an nst o tion, in which a large number are banded t gether for the oo s the general g d, overcomes or set at naught individualism o of the genius, real o r imaginary, and unites the men of go d talents who are willing to merge their individuality in a great cause . c The present plan, resultant from the facts and for es just

described, differed from its predecessors in two important

- n- . r o i points P ofess r Margolis , the Editor Chief, prepared a

c thorough revision of the whole English Bible, in ac ordance with the plan agreed upon this great task he accomplished in e the short space of ﬁfte n months, a fact rendered possible only

by his rare combination of learning and industry . The other important change from the previous plan was the substitution r e of actual meetings for co r spondence . The members of the ’ Mar olis s Board each have before them Professor g revision, ro they study it, they discuss its proposals, they make new p o a — ﬁnall — a s ls t . p , and they y length vote

So much for the translation . A few words must now be c said about the proje ted Commentaries, which were made a 1 896 part of the plan as early as . Professor Schechter is the one of our numbe r who has consistently urged the great impo rtance o f the series of Com TH E TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

mentaries the to Bible in English , and it was decided to issue a the an a sample comment ry, which might give public idea of e i the kind that was int nded, and also invite cr ticism from a practical point of view. A small bo ok, the Book of Micah , r s s was selected , and P ofes o r Max L . Margolis was cho en for 908 adver T 1 . the work . his Commentary was issued in The tisement tu to the series, which is as follows, gives the at it de of the Society on the publication The present volume is the ﬁrst of a preposed series of Com mentaries on the Books of the Holy Scriptures which The Jewish P ubli cation Society of America has undertaken to prepare . T his series is intended primarily for the teacher, the inquiring ad an pupil , and the general re er, who needs help to obtain under n oi l sta ding th e Scriptures , at once reliab e and Jewish . Wh ile s the progress of Biblical study in modern time , rendered possible n a chieﬂy by the discovery of ancient monuments and lost la gu ges , is recognized , due account is taken of the fact that the people to c whom the Scriptures were given , and who founded the s ience of of s their interpretation, possess in the works the Jewi h com mentators of all ages val uable material which has not yet fully

- l found its way into English . Post Biblica Jewish literature ( Tal a i s mud , Midr sh , the Book of Prayer ) . drawn upon to show the continuity o f Jewish thought ultimately rooted inScripture . c o Ea h Bo k is divided into sections , and each section preceded by a summary of contents . A concise introduction seeks to make l s known the genera a pects of the Biblical Book, its date , compo n sitio . , contents , and spirit as The translation will follow, far as possible, the English Version which is now being prepared for the Jewish Publication n Society, based on the historical E glish Versions , with only such s change as represent more correctly the accepted Hebrew text .

to r . This brings us up the p esent day Thirteten meetings of the reorganized Board have been held, the shor est lasting one

e e e . we k, the long st three w eks They were held in Philadelphia , 1 06 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

’ Y s oc ﬁrst in the rooms of the oung Men s Hebrew A s iation, Dro sie e then at Gratz College, and later in the p Colleg Build ing ; in New York, at the Jewish Theological Seminary ; the um i s mer meet ngs were held in Atlantic City, where the wo rk

- was ﬁrst organized about twenty one years ago . A meeting will probably be held at the Hebrew Union College in Cin i ai c nnt.

When the manuscript is completed and ready for the press, the real publishing work of the Society in connection with the

Bible will begin .

n e We foresee a cheap ha dy edition . We foresee a stat ly quarto edition . We foresee an edition with Hebrew for litur ical g purposes and for general purposes . More impo rtant

a . than all, the series of comment ries must be pushed forward The Bible is our greatest contribution to the world’ s literature ’ n and our greatest claim to the world s attention . It is not o ly and the foundation of Judaism everything that this implies, but lies at the root of all modern states and of our public and private morals . It would be an everlasting disgrace if it

- should be unknown to English speaking Jewry . This it is we the purpose of our work to avoid , and when have presented s i i e you with the manu cr pt, it w ll be your duty to tak the

r necessary steps to the desired end . At one time o another the proposition has been made that a special Bibl e Society be r e founded for the p inting and circulation of our Bibl , but this and we oppose . The printing circulation of the Bible, how e a ever, is so larg task that it will require an enlargement equal almost to a reorganization in the management of this

u . P blication Society On the other hand, it will be the great of l est asset the Society, not only in the commercia sense, but in the ideal sense as well . Someone once said that the way to

1 0 8 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA

TH E SOC IETY ’ S PUBLICATIONS B Y TH E REVERE ND DocronSAMUEL SCHUL MAN The most important Jewish educational agency in this

s o h country is The Jewi h Publication S ciety of America , w ose

- fifth e twenty anniv rsary we are celebrating, for it brings to bear the influence of the Jewish ideaof the writer upon the is t Jewish mi nd of the public . This the age of the prin ed and can be rather than the spoken word, though there never a complete substitute for the peculiar power of inspiration which the eloquence of a spoken message animated by convi ction con veys to the human heart ; though the greatest spiritual trans formati ons have always been produced by the living speech of personality rather than by the cold letter, which is its monu o o ment or commentary, yet for the purp se of culture, b th ex e e tensive, as reaching large numbers, and int nsiv , as fructify ing all the powers of the mind in silent and sheltered reflec tion, the published word is the incomparable fo rce for the r education of men . Even our count y, the home of the great of est influence eloquence, where to be a live American meant c the ability to make a spee h, h as, during the last generation, witnessed a striking decline of the orato r before the ever and growing prestige of the writer in newspaper, magazine, book . I f Jew and Judaism, therefore, are to be kept alive in this country, there must be a special institution to present Jewish thought and life in a literature that shall reach every Jewish household in the land, and be so worthy as to attract the

- attention and stimulate the interest of the non Jewish world .

The Jewish spirit, if it is to be maintained, must be properly THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

e presented, with adequat resources and by the most competent minds in such a literature . Such a presentation is the pur

of . ar pose the Society Because Jews e a minority, and as Jews represent distinctive ideas that are presumably over . shadowed by other considerations inthe mind of the larger um al reading public, they must have special instr ent ities to encourage and promote the production of literature expressive N of Jewish ideas and interests . ot only are the Jews, in a in a i s measure, the s me posit on as other religious bodie that use a special organ for the expression of their ecclesiastical interests, but, because by their position as a people carrying on the traditions of a religion and a life they stand out with

v - a unique indi iduality in the larger non Jewish world, a o t l Jewish b ok na ural y confronts particular obstacles, which it has to overcome before it can obtain a hospitable hearing

c through the usual agen ies of publication .

o The p int of view, therefore, from which our Society hi approaches its work, and w ch has prevailed in all its publi of n cations, is that providing a channel for the commu ication the i t of specifically Jew sh message, in any form o f litera ure t nonJ ewish s and by any wri er, Jewish or , which neces arily ul ffi wo d meet with di culty or discouragement, despite its ri int nsic merit, at the hands of the average publishing house . Considering the early diffi culties and the comparative dearth of writers, the Society has been eminently successful . It has rendered a unique and distinguished service to American and Judaism, has been a great constructive force in building up Jewish life . Its field has been large and complete . There be is no side of Jewish thought or life, it may said without exaggeration, to which it has not granted the Opportunity of being expressed through some book or essay . It has pub 8 1 10 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

lished o works on hist ry, theology, biography, ethics, ﬁction, o travel, devotion, juvenile literature, c ntemporary events, and Y has given general reviews, in its ear Books, of great living i questions of the day . It has been catholic in ts hospitality to authors . The writers represented in its literary output have

' come from all parties in Jewry and even from outside of

Jewry . It has been fortunate in being able to encourage new and young writers and obtaining the work of authors of inter in o o national reputation as masters theology, philos phy, hist ry, and literature . It has been the means of presenting to the American public the work which is still the classic Jewish e history, which, by the comprehensiven ss of its scope, by the exhaustiveness with which it treats the pilgrimage of Israel its through the nations, by rare combination of exact scholar ship and critical acumen with warmth of heart and zealous championshi p of the contribution of the Jewish genius to and s civilization, by the perfect fusion of olidity of learning e an with popularity of style, still remains unsurpass d by y other work : it has given to the American public the English ’ translation of Graetz s History of the Jews . And considering that this is still the book that ﬁnds the largest number of o the u purchasers, it al ne would prove that Jewish P blication a Society is meeting deep need, and contributing to the de lo ntf h ve me o . p , the Jewis spirit in America It is not my purpose to attempt an exhaustive review of ’ the Society s whole literary output in detail . Neither the time for the preparation of this paper, nor that at my dis n a . posal for reading it, would permit y such attempt I shall h l have to content myself wit giving a general survey, ca ling attention only to what seem to me exceptionally meritorious productions which the English - reading public in this country

1 12 THE JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

u l volumes of St dies in Judaism, which wi l be discussed later the s more fully, picture is presented to us, in the es ay on

Woman in the Temple and Synagogue, of the role which woman played in Jewish religious life . And in the exquisite Gluckel u masterpiece von Hameln, we get a wonderf lly vivid a new: portr it of a great woman, who realizes the ideal of the 5m in the seventeenth century, and in her memoirs leaves ’ us a precious legacy of an eye- witness s impressions of the in t i i spira ions and the joys of a great fa th, wh ch followed the i him b Jew into every detail of his l fe, and made strong to ear ’ the world s hardships, cheerful to forget them, keen and intel ’ lectual to o ermaster them . And not alone woman as her inﬂuence speaks all through

as the i to - our past, but she lives Jew sh faith day, and with e enthusiasm and consecration writ s such little , but valuable, as s things Hearth and Home Es ays, or reproduces for the Jewish heart some of the masterpieces of the Songs of Exile b e of y Hebrew Po ts, with the faithfulness and the ability i Nina Davis . And not merely the woman in l terature, but the m wo an in active life, as her work is on a national scale pre sented in the Proceedings of the First Convention of the a Nation l Council of Jewish Women, and in Papers of the ’ I o Jewish Women s Congress . n a word, fr m dim antiquity o its u its unt the living moment of the day, with str ggles and s i its passions, its doubt , its aspirations, its ind fference, and i zeal, the whole life work of woman in Jewish h story may be said to have been given by means of the books published by the r l Society within the last few yea s, though , of course, on y

- c . I a cross se tion, as it were, of her work f any one wishes to n i u k ow someth ng about the Jewish woman, and if circ m stances limit him to the books of the Jewish Publi cation THE TWEN TY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

t e Society, he can get a comprehensive and satisfac ory knowl dge u from its outp t .

The Society has also felt that, where possible, it should pro has the . vide practical helps to instruction in school tIt thus put forth the little book Outlines of Jewish His ory, by Lady the Magnus, which is still, on whole, the most popular book

- as in use on post Biblical history for boys and girls . I th provided schools with suitable collections of Readings and

Recitations and Selections from Prose and Poetry . It has brought to the comprehension of the child olden Jewish legends and tales . The Society naturally felt that its duty was not merely to meet urgent demands and not merely to produce works not was above the level of actual popular interest . It fully con s ul scious of its missionary function . By reproducing the o of a im Israel as it lives in the literature of the p st, it actually parts life to the Jewish spirit in the present . It must be, an intellec therefore, slightly in adv ce of the average level of tual interest of the Jewish community . It becomes an inspira tion to culture . It therefore undertook by history, biography, and miscellaneous essays to reveal to the American Jew the - of hi s a o mi treasure house p st, to c njure up before his nd the n s e great i tellectual heroe who lived the lif of the spirit, as thinker, as scholar, as conciliator between the thought of the

- to Jewish world and its non Jewish environment ; reproduce, as as u far can be done in pop lar form , the elements that went to make up Jewish belief and Jewish practice in the syna e gogue and in the home . It has pro duc d the learned work on Rashi, the most beloved Jewish commentator, whose fame in is greater than that of any other, and whose service is still I t to Y dispensable . has presented us the admirable work of el 1 14 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

lin and Abrahams on Maimonides, that great spirit by whose

i six thoughts the Jew sh intellect lived for over hundred years, becaus e it found in hi m stimulation to its thinking with n B n ’ i a safeguard for its believi g . It produced e twich s Ph lo udmus a of a J of Alexandria, little work exception l merit, perhaps on the whole the best presentation of the subject we o e know of for p pular uses . It gives a r adable analysis of the n hi s thoughts of this great thi ker, of distinction as a har monizer ai es of the Hebr c and Hellenic worlds, of his repr enta d tive character as a great an loyal Jew o f his time . And it c re l aims for Judaism this great mind, by the misapplication of whose ideas the dogma of the daughter religion was builded o up . It shows that Phil was not only the philosopher but and o o as the Jew, that he used his phil s phy a constructive fo rce for building up Judaism .

’ In Israel Abrahams Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, a s i l work of distinction was pre ented, wh ch practica ly gave the modern Jew the ﬁrst vividly complete picture of the life of the Jew of that time . This is painted with a minute realism no e that overlooks detail, and with a warmth o f love that mak s a f n w that v nished period, with all its grandeur and su feri g, ith its and all intellectual heroism degradation, with all its inde structible nobility, despite a world in arms against Jew and i s Juda sm, live again in our heart , and reveals to us many of the roots of our own thinking and feeling . It has recently been said that the Jew as Jew had no life in the Middle Ages . w But if by Je ish life we mean the life of the spirit, that is,

- sacriﬁce Jewish faith, Jewish martyrdom, Jewish self , Jewish and idealism, Jewish culture, and Jewish vigor, initiative in l o c d adaptability to varying socia and eco n mi con itions, then, t cer ainly, the very darkness of the Middle Ages brings into

1 1 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

’ To make the Society s work complete inreproducing the r a past, its productions include its reprint of the immo t l essay e of Deutsch on The Talmud, and of a new one by Ars ne Darme tetr a ﬁnd i s e . It w s happy to at its serv ce the well known Talmudic scholar Louis Ginzberg, and, by his hand, it has given to the English - speaking public a truly monumental The e work, L gends of the Jews, which will soon be completed, m and, with the volu e of notes, giving a complete inventory of the tu sources, will prove a boon to the s dent, who must go to k English books for his nowledge of the Midrash, and will k e ma e interesting reading for the average man of the peopl , who has naivete and therefore wisdom enough to seek to dis cover the genius of a peopl e fro m its legends and myths .

to It not only did this work for the past, but it sought ex tend the horizon of the Jew in America by enlarging it tr s r e a h ough such work as Old European Jew i s , by D vid ’ r Philipson, through Elkan Adler s book of t avels, Jews in ’ n Kar eles s Many La ds, and such essays as that in p volume , c The ! uest of the Jew in Afri a . I have given this somewhat comprehensive survey, in which I was often compelled to limit myself to the bare mention of work and author, in order to bring out clearly the inclusive m scope of the work of the Society . There is no depart ent of t has e Jewish litera ure which it not, in som way, however e slight, opened to the Jewish public, and thus be n its edu l e e t i cator . tme now lay mphasis upon cer ain very str king productions of the Jewish litterateur which our Society ren i dered accessible to its readers . When I said in the beg nning d that our Society was guide , above all , by the thought that it i o should encourage Jew sh w rk which , because of its char t i ac er, would meet with special d fﬁculty on account of the THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

- i limited interest of the larger non Jewish public, for wh ch r the ordinary publishing house p ovides, I did not mean to imply that it paid a subvention to literary po verty . On the e s t contra ry, it has b en mo t for unate in securing the work of t n dis inguished writers , who had obtai ed a hearing in the

- was larger non Jewish literary world . And it also able to introduce to American Jewry works of great importance fo r w i l the presentation of Je ish faith, Jew sh ethica ideals, Jewish n individuality, and Jewish literary genius . And in doi g this, The it has, above all , shown its catholicity . distinction of the writers is expressive of the many parties of thought in modern

Judaism . u r The two vol mes of Studies in Judaism , by P ofessor al Schechter, to which I have already luded, are of great value as a practical literary force in presenting Judaism to the

e world . And b cause of their rare charm of style, they handle the most difﬁ cult questions in a manner whi ch not onl y makes a t a them attr ctive to the general cul ured re der, but gives him m an insight into the great problems of our ti e . They are a

wi . Je sh education in themselves In these essays, we see a subtle and delightful combination of profound reverence for s and religious e timation of tradition, together with the modern as i and ﬁts spirit it an mates the scholar, him to become the th e . I literary exponent of thought of his time cannot, of course, take up all these essays, but I must speak in detail of one k some at least . If any thin s that in modern times the sage is dead, that the nineteenth century could not produce a critical scholar combining sharpness of intellect with the humility of the saint, with his love of knowledge and truth, ’ and his love of Judaism, let him read Schechter s essay on ’ a ’ Krochmal . In Schechter s interpret tion of I . H . Weiss s 1 1 8 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION S OCIETY OF AMERICA

o has e é é Hist ry of Jewish Tradition, he pres nted a r sum of ’ that great Scholar s work which affords an adequate knowledge r to th I I of its contents without reso t e original . f were asked to name a piece of writing that will give a Christian the l i principles, the idea s, the theology, the ethics of Rabbin cal m e Judais in compact form, I should send him to this ssay . e In the essay on The Law and R cent Criticism , we have that e i i timely word of defens and, at the same time, of glor ﬁcat on of the Law which exposes the injustice of many Christian te h ologians, showing how the Law was a delight and not a l the S ab burden, and culminating in the beautiful eu ogy on i c bath . There is no doubt in my m nd that such a pie e of work contributed no little to the inspiration of a mind like has e Herford, who, in his Pharisaism, b en the ﬁrst Christian scholar to attempt to understand this great movement from within and give the due measure of appreciation to Judai sm e as a great religion, satisfying fully the spiritual n eds of the its own men and women who clung to it, to be judged on merits and not to be considered either as a prelude or as a u be foil to the religion that departed from it, tho gh, as we

d e . lieve, did not gra uat from it

ns a s In Sai t and S intline s, in the second volume, we have u hi m w a doc ment w ch, if William Ja es had known it, o uld have enabled him to add a very necessary chapter to his R i e Varieties of eligious Experience, and wh ch shows r ligion in u action in great souls . In the essay On the St dy of the

l o n ﬁrst- Ta mud, he p i ts out the indispensableness of hand i a the e acqua ntance, and not only th t, but sympathy and p ne trationof genius that are necessary in order to understand the real life of the Jewish spirit on the background of which the time of Jesus rises . If this little essay contained nothing but

THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVER SARY the brilliant comparison of the New Testament phrase ye ! “ s have heard with the Talmudic phrase i s: rm , I ! a might understand, showing th t Jesus, in using the phrase , s did not intend, which he could not have dared, to contra t any e his m new t aching of own with the old Command ents, but was merely using a formula similar to the technical phrase ology by means of whi ch the Rabbis entered into the deeper sense of the ethi cal moti ve and purity of intent in a com — if c mandment this little essay, I repeat, ontained nothing e else , it would deserve to be called a rare gem, mitting ﬂashes i of illumination, w thout which a ﬁeld still obscure to the non

Jewish scholarly world cannot be understood . All through these essays there run phrases that have become winged words i e . in Jew sh circles . Their styl is clear, pithy, striking They m are a ﬂower, neither stolen nor artiﬁcial, but the living bloo e of a soil rich with solid learning, watered by the t ars of the sorrow and joy with which the Jewish heart reads the story of and the its world work, warmed by sunshine of a genial soul a and a literary inte llect . The Americ n public can well read

i to these essays aga n and again and go school with them . Another distinguished spirit our Society introduced to the Jew in this country by publishing the translati on of ’ a E i of e Moritz L zarus s th cs Judaism . In many resp cts, this

great man was like Philo , the Jewish master in the Hellenic as world . Only while Philo was, it were, an outsider to

Hebrew literature , Lazarus combined, with complete mastery

ﬁ rst- of the culture of his time, a large hand acquaintance with Jewish sources and a perfect penetration into the spirit of

Rabbinical literature . The work he gave to the world is of

incalculable value . Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that, c on the whole, it is the most eloquent and onvincing apologetic 120 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

i of Judaism in the nineteenth century . For th s philosopher, this founder of a new science— the psychology of peoples e n am this master of the G rman la guage, this ch pion of ideal rmi e d s ism, and this cha ng and therefor belove pe r onality undertook, when his reputation in Europe had been estab lished an as original thinker and brilliant stylist, to present the soul of Judaism to the world by presenting its ethics . For when we consider that the dominant tendency of nine teenth- century thought was di rected not so much to creed as e so i l to de d, not much to theology as to eth ca idealism, we c can readily understand what su h a work, vindicating the genius of the Jew, meant in Germany, and what it, above all, must mean to the intelligent reader who studies it carefully hi e . in our own country, where we hav heard so much of et cs

r In the ﬁrst part of the work, published in t anslation by c our So iety, Professo r Lazarus gives a complete picture of the

r e the aim sources, the autho ity, the charact r, , the distinction, and o the operation of Jewish ethics . It is a c mplete work, al though it gives itself as only h f the enterprise . And his whole constru ction rests entirely upon Jewish sources . He points out how Bible and Rabbinical literature were the means for the full development of a common Jewish spirit, and that this Jewish spirit was always reproduced in every individual i t the r th nker, hough form in which he might p esent his o thought might be new, and that, though a given w rk may m s lack syste , as it was not the busines of the Jewish genius i to produce systemat c ethics, because of this community of spirit which overawes every individual and determines his a e thought, there ctually do s develop a complete system of e ui ethics . He points out how lit rature, ceremony, instit t on, custom, the tragic expe rience of martyrdom, how every phase

122 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

s sist in the acceptance of law to govern life . And he proves an m that it is law that ﬁrst creates y co munity, and that holi ness of life can be realized perfectly only through union in m the com unity . Brilliant is his remark that in Biblical litera “ ! ture, with reference to moral holiness, the wo rd holy in

e God . the singular is never used, becaus only is holy Men in become holy . Humanholiness can be embo died only a e hi perfect society . He attach s the universality of Jewish et cs i to its conception of the Messianic future. But wh le he thus n emphasizes the u iversality, he gives us, psychologist that he x is, a complete e hibition of the machinery, as it were , in o w u Jewish c nsciousness, which , through peculiar Je ish tho ght, c Jewish ceremony and symbol , Jewish so ial custom and insti tution n e h e , made that u iversal t ics a practical , an efﬁci nt, a i living power in the Jewish communal life . Rich as a d amond s ﬁeld is this work in brilliant apercus, profound insight , and stimulating revelations of the power of the Jewish ethical life . One su ch paragraph as that headed The community of suf fering is a stronger tie of union than a community of enjoy in ! m g, ight be taken as a formula for the psychological explanation of that Jewi sh solidarity which has been the con vin solation of Israel and the consternation of its foes . He dicates the this- worldly element in Judaism and Jewish ethics by his splendid thought that Jewish ethics taught man ’ e idealism for his own needs and realism for others ne ds . Our ethical heroes knew how to be sai nts and to content thems elves c was and with little, though as eticism never a prevalent dom inant tendency in Jewish life, however represented it might be in some ages and in some persons . But Jewish ethics taught a manthat it was his duty to provide real comforts i and solid happiness for others . In a strik ngly original way, THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

s k he shows the value of purity and con ecration, as they spea

ro e r e - and th ugh th ceremonial, fo th moral self disciplinet the ethical education in the joy of sacriﬁce . And comple ely con vincin i o g is his claim that Jew sh morality is aut nomous, that right is right because of the moral imperative within us, and ’ l because God s law does not ﬂow from His arbitrary wi l, but

e and . from His ssence being And at the same time, ethics gains and does not lose by the additional idea of the ethi cal ’ n life s bei g lived for the sake of God, whereby human life

r . becomes a p iestly service Thus Israel , who revealed to the o ru world the truths of God and righteousness, bec mes t ly a ai kingdom of priests and a holy nation . It may be s d that such a work is beyond the average reader . But such works were not beyond the average reader when Jewish life was more oc normal than it is now . And the main function of our S iety is to cultivate the Jewish mind . That such a work could be brought before the American ’ public was made po ssible by the S ociety s goo d fortune in ﬁnd e M ing a translator in the p rson of iss Henrietta Szold, the Pu To Secretary to the blication Committee . speak of the literary output of the last twenty- ﬁve years is impossible with s as out remembering some of her ervices as translator, reader, as annotato r, as bringing to bear, upon the preparation of

- manuscripts for the printer, her many sided culture and her ’ I c great Jewish enthusiasm . f a bulk of the So iety s wo rk has reference to what women did in the past and what they a are doing now, what could be more appropriate th n that its literary output should have been so ably furthered by the services of its Secretary ? For a long time the Western world had been practically i ignorant of the great intellectual energy, the literary activ ty, 124 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIE TY OF AMERICA

r i and unquestioned o iginality, wh ch one would have had to as

r i e r c sume , a prio i , ex st d in the great Russian Jew y, whi h con

- tains more than half the Jewry of the wo rld . To day we know num much more about it than we did twenty years ago . In a ber of ways the S ociety has been instrumental in spreading

r this knowledge . It has done a ve y useful service in bringing to the American Jew a translation of some of the essays of ‘ Aha H a- Am s d , the ablest Russian Hebrew write r, the mo t

ri o ginal thinker of Russian Jewry, and the man who, whether

e aor i we agree with him in d t il not, has unquestionably an or g h Ha inal and profound message for the Jewish heart . A ad ‘ Am o er is a w nderful mastt in handling the Hebrew language , and the power and beau y of his style have, in a measure, been

n o happily reproduced by his tra slat r . He is thoroughly abreast of modern thought, and he has his own original interpretation a of Jewish values, of the signiﬁc nce of our past, and of the e duties of the p r sent. Convinced as he is of his own ideals, and therefore a leader of a large party in contemporary Juda a ism, I h ve rarely read a man who is, on the whole, so fair d o ff him min ed to th se who di er from . His plea for a national t t i e c cen re, for the cul ivation of the Jew sh spirit, his insist n e upon the indispensability of this for the perpetuation and re

uvenation no j of Jewish individuality, grips the heart, and Jewry in any land should be without the Opportunity of hearing s er him . We pos ess altogether too few original p sonalities to e s ek to silence them by inattention . One need not swear by every word of this great writer in order to feel that it is a s n for n bles i g the age that it has such leaders and thi kers . ’ s c Thu Ameri an Judaism, through the Society s publications, has presented the American public with the educational in — ﬂuence radiating from three striking personalities the great

126 TH E JEWISH PUB LICATION SOCIE TY OF AMER ICA

who t much better than those theo rize about it, who abs ract who as from it in the form of principles, or , active protagonists s a a . in it, are, by their ideali m, le ding it on to a new st ge At best, the latter, though they are vital forces, represent but one a th e . . p rt of life The artist gives it whole Jewish ﬁction, if e ideal or perf ct, would give us a picture of Jewish life as it is

- r es e s m to day, with all the centu i living in us J w and someti es peculiarly brushing elbows with each other in many a mind e and, above all, in many a heart . The fascination of life s ems to in i me to consist th s, that every crowd contains people who ri live in different centu es, and that the soul in its different e e m oo ds itself liv s in different stages of tim .

The ﬁction output of the Society was therefore natural . It a encour ged authors, young and new, and thus, among its ﬁrst e t the books, it pr sen ed earnest and honest work of Milton P e e . Goldsmith, Rabbi and riest, which makes int resting r ading e From this as a beginning, it travelled far, inde d . It is the glory of the Jewish Publication Society to have been the agency i I Zan will re through wh ch the great literary master, srael g , p e the sent d his Children of the Ghetto, his Dreamers of Ghetto, e in and Th y That Walk in Darkness, books that b ecame an e r t spiration to doz ns of w iters on the ghetto, all of whom, wi h the exception of perhaps one, whom I shall soon mention, hardly a a o reached, in st ture, the pedest l up n which the recognized n l z genius of Zagwill stands . I wou d not attempt here to analy e k Zan ill these wor s of gw in detail . They have been read by

o u se . everybody that reads . They have been th roughly disc s d i Zan will Sufﬁce it to say, that in The Ch ldren of the Ghetto, g revealed the glo ries of the Jewish soul under the forbidding ’ garb of poverty, squalor, and the world s contempt . It was no small matte r to present to the world such ﬁgures as Reb TH E TWE NTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

h all ae as S muel, the type of the sage of g s, such ﬁdelity that of ’ e Hannah his daughter, the refutation of Shakesp are s slander in his Jessica, and the compelling reverence with which a r the e peddler, who car ies Talmud in his head and liv s the life u i ﬁll s ul r of the cult re of the Jewish sp rit, must the o of eve y

i - fa r minded man and woman . The Gentile world needed the

e m revelation of such a r al . The Jewish philistine world d m ttZanwill nee ed it more . In Drea ers of the Ghe o , g has given us a series of biographies of struggling souls . Some t a r itanic ﬁgures re presented in this picture galle y . There is

i - to- be someth ng terribly suggestive in the last chapter, a never the o ew— a i t forgotten lesson for m dern J th t, if the Jew sh hear no longer warms on hearing the old Jewish melody on the u Passover eve, it r ns the danger of ending the life of the Jew mi on earth , of com tting spiritual suicide, even as the estranged son in the story ends his wearied existe nce in the Venetian the canal . There is here great tragedy and pathos . There is as whole woe of one pect of the Jewish life in this book . Men e e r i run is br ak th ir hea ts in try ng to away from Judaism . It o m o als , in the form of art, a sy b lic intimation of the historic truth that so often Jewish brains and Jewi sh hearts have fed

- ul r . non Jewish c tu e Those dreamers are typical Jews, for it h a re is the business of te Jew to dre m for the world . If he n mai s within Judaism while dreaming, the worst suffering that

o the world can put up n him will not break his heart . But if an he attempts to run away, the greatest laurels the world c ’ give him cannot al together sufﬁ ce to put to sleep the heart s i ache . To have g ven the writings of one such man to the pub

i h o so lic, wh ch might not ave kn wn of his existence in far as he

i v wrote of Jew sh life, is certainly a tremendous se r ice for the t a Society o h ve rendered . 128 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA tt There is a possibility that, in the crowd of write rs on ghe o life, there may be one that approaches the master in the power t i . of the ar ist . Alas, th s one did not remain long with us Too i soon was she taken away from th s world, in which she might have delighted many hearts with the works of her genius . She

own r s has an individuality of her . She t eat of a different t Zan will And t . ghe o from that which, in the main, g depicts

r she brings to he work something which often the master lacks . t And na urally so , for what she lacks of biting wit and irony, ’ has e she of intuition and lov of a woman s heart . It must be a holy joy for the Society at its celebration to know that it was ’ privileged to present to its readers Martha Wolfensteins Idylls

e . of the Gass, and A R negade and Other Tales No one can

e m r ri help fe ling, in reading these volu es of sho t sto es, that we n d re — have here the promise of the u fol ment of a g at artist nay, mi s l . not merely the pro e, but a ready the ripe fruit There is more geniality, more sunshine, more simplicity, more dignity in the Austrian ghetto which she describes than inthe ghetto f w ll’ w o Zang i s world . Perhaps it is a difference bet een the methods of approach by the authors that accounts for the dif

. be c ference in results However that may , there is mu h of sen timent and , of poetry, of a happy mingling of the old the new,

huinor in of sublime tragedy relieved by , such qualities, for a r st nce, as are illustrated in the little sto y of Chayah in the

e volume A R negade and Other Tales , which we seem often to

s un mi s in the more incisive, sharp, unrelievedly realistic, l I f sparingly black portraya s of the master . Miss Wolfenstein

e had lived, and had performed the promise made by thes early

the tales, we should have had an admirable supplement to great an w ll portrayals of Z g i .

130 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION S OCIETY OF AMERICA

Zanwill s te t What g is amongst Engli h writers on h ghe to , an that Perez is amongst Yiddish writers . He st ds alone . He is unquestionably a master who would be recognized as a great an artist in y language he consented to use . And he gives us tu of wi i its r s a wonderful pic re Je sh l fe, with all so rows and joy , s al l with all its struggles and a pirations, with its great gloom The m Y l and its occasional glints of light . volu e iddish Ta es k is an anthology, containing the wor s of a large number of om writers . This collection has been deliberately made fr the po int of view of reproducing the Jewi sh spirit as it lives and as

c the s Ga it rea ts o n condition of Jews in Russia, Roumania,

and s r c New Y . licia, even ome incor ectly alled ghettos in ork as has w Yiddish, strange it may seem, sometimes nothing Je ish l e r about it . This co l ction, however, gives a t ue picture of the the problems of Jewish life, passing of the old, the bursting in e of the new, even upon the ghetto . Som of them are terribly I ffi e realistic . t was very difficult to find a su cient numb r with H o humor and gladness and light . w can we have more laughter than tears in the pictures of lives that are as hard as the Jewish lives written of in these sto ries are made by a cruel and nu

? cu s feeling world Take but away the perse tion and oppres ion, and the habiliments of the caterpillar are cast off, and the e and Jewish soul, with r newed youth, hopefulness, joy, opti

and e mism, ﬂies upward like the butterﬂy, the liv s of American e i redem childr n, American boys and girls, s ng its new song of p

see . I tion . This wonderful transformation we every day t woul d have been impossible for the American public to enjoy s these sto ries, were it not for the ma terly translation made of not them in both volumes by Miss Helena Frank, who, though

ewess has a J , in the most wonderful way, by the miracle of sym

t . pa hy and love, grasped and understood the Jewish heart THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

We have been asked again and again why the S ociety has so at published many books on ghetto life, why it has not e to e n tempt d present West r , modern Jewish life in ﬁction ?

The answer is simple . The Society can only present what is f o fered to it, and what will , in its judgment, make good litera

u . e are n tu ri an t re Ther u for nately few Jewish w ters, if y, r that give us ﬁction po traying the Western Jew . We should s be only too delighted to publish such literary document , showing the forces at work in contemporary life . And there are noble typ es of the Western Jew, which some day will get into literature . But at present the writers that can turn out e t o And literature se m o be busying themselves with the ghett . u e quite nat rally so . For aside from the int rest of curiosity and e s love of the strange, there is a genuin intere t in the Jewish ﬂi ient a i values that are still e c in the ghetto . It seems th t th s has i man type of Jew more nterest for the literary . He is more picturesque and interesting to the reader as anindividu e Zan will ality . Even the mast r g does not hold us as much in

c his second volume, whi h describes grandchildren of the ghetto m and much of Jewish philistinism, as in his ﬁrst volu e . Much of the life of the contempo rary Jew is commonplace . Much of is con it is very noble and idealistic, but not romantic . It v nti nal ru e o . to T e, it requires a greater artist discover to the seeing eye the eternally human and the spiri tually signiﬁcant and the everlasting poetry under the crust of conventionality i n than to paint realistically the th ng which itself, in ature or o a in s ciety, rrests attention by its pronounced or exaggerated l . hO e individua ity Let us p that such an artist will appear .

ni - ﬁ ve The Society has ﬁ shed twenty years of work . It has

e many ente rpris s in hand, one of which the preceding speaker i al has dwelt upon, and in connection w th which it has ready 132 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA produced the beautiful edition of the Psalms and a book by ar if Professor Margolis, A Comment y on Micah, which, it is

r r it to be the standard for lea ning, for Jewish spi it, availing

of c self the ri hes of Jewish tradition, and for excellent presen tation e , certainly promis s well for the commentaries which

c e the So iety hop s to publish in the future, in order to make the Bible again an intelligently possessed treasure of the Jew e ish p ople . It has laid out plans for the continuationof the

a r series of great biographies, for the present tion of g eat Spiri s e i tual movement in our history, for the r product on, in the form of translation, of Hebrew classics . What the future has in r . a . sto e, can only be judged by the past The p st is safe

There it stands . In literature and in contemporary life, as

e e r o evidenc d in questions discussed in its fourt en Yea Bo ks,

' and c Kishineﬂ in its publication of The Voi e of America on , i dl i ed ted by Cyrus A er, wh ch will prove a monument of the moral indignation of men of all creeds against the horrors of e as Russian pers cution in theology as in ﬁction, in history in i essay ; for scholar as for ch ld, for Orthodox as for Reformer,

r c for Conservative as for Progressive, by eve y aspe t of Jewish

- literature and to every element in the Jewish life of to day, the Jewish Publication S ociety has gi ven servi ce during the

- a ﬁ v . l st twenty e years . Its work has been eminently successful

- ﬁve As the Lord hath given it twenty years of success, may He

- ﬁ ve and n give it twenty years more , may its golden an iversary ﬁnd it grown from small beginnings a mighty spokesman of the Jewish spirit, not only to America, but to the world, so that, while during the last two decades and a half it has often trans

- ﬁ ve ea lated the writings of foreign autho rs , the next twenty y rs will see such a development of Jewish creative lite ra ry power in America as shall make our books ﬁnd translators in other lands .

134 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMER ICA

you may continue to bring bles sing into the Jewish home . And on this day of your celebration our institution extends especial thanks n to you for all your valuable books , which you have been ki d enough to send to us from the very beginning of your existence d until to ay . l Respectful y yours , PH M E E RAI COH N , E P MEY OHA S JOS H , D Y ELLI N AVID , JE S AI A S ES PR S ,

Members Jewish Central Library in Jerusalem.

ALLIANCE ISR AELITE UNIVERSE LLE

E PARIS , FRANC

s H arto ensis l . E s . Repre ented by B . H . g , q , of Ba timore, Md The Alliance Israelite Universelle sends greetings to its younger es sister, The Jewish Publication Society of America, congratulat its and it on wonderful achievements, indulges the fond hope beneﬁ cent l a that its activity wil be r even richer fruit in the future . There is a remarkable likeness in the activi ties of the two organi zations . a , in that both are universally Jewish Moreover, e ch ﬁnds

. our in education its principal business For ﬁfty years , in schools , 1 70 s now numbering , with pupil , we have instilled the great lesson of self- respect in downtrodden Jews living in benighted l a of ands . Thereby we have straightened the b ckbone cringing a Jews , caused them to raise their he ds , and earned for them what is

inﬁnitely more important , the respect Of their neighbors . How ! e much more have you, our sister, done You have demonstrat d to a and an l doubting Christian world indifferent Jewish clientele, iving

as - a a s Anglo S xon freemen, that we h ve, in Jewish literature, trea s ures of which we have every rea on to be proud . Thus you have

- c developed a like self respect, and added thereto a ertain creative , l - uplifting Jewish se f consciousness. l has usan D If Sau conquered his tho ds , then thou as avid hast

s. GO taken thy tens of thousand thou on , adding strength to strength ! THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

COLLEGIO RABBINICO ITALIAN0

al n fol From the Collegio Rabbinico It ia o, in Florence, the lowing letter was received

! Translation]

COLLEGIO RABB INICO ITALIANO

D IREZIONE

IA P 2 2 V T . 6 7 1913 . DI IN I, No , March ,

To the resid ento The Jewi sh ubli ati n S ci eto A meri a P f P c o o y f c , i el a Ph lad p hi .

DE s —On a AR behalf of the Collegio Rabbinico Itali no , directed ou by me, I desire to convey to y and to The Jewish Publication l Society of America over which you preside so worthily, the ively satisfaction it gives us to take part through our congratulations in the Celebration of th e Twenty-fi fth Anniversary of your admirable and Society . Through its long valuable series of publications , it has done work worthy of the highest praise for the diffusion of Jewish culture and the elevation of the Jewish spirit among our brethren in America . Permit me to express the cordial wish and the confidence that there may be in store for the Society a bright and useful future , in which you may see its good fruit growing and m a e c ever better ore abund nt, like unto the flourishing tre whi h forms its emblem. I beg to acknowledge gratefully and cordially the kind invitation extended by you, dear sir, to the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano , which

has . . l requested Mr David W Amram, of Phi adelphia, to be good e enough to represent it at the Jubilee Celebration of th Society . s Very respectfully your , The D c ire tor,

GU E . B we n8 . o H . MAR LI S 1 3 6 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA

GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCH AFT DES JUDENTUMS

E N E M N Y B RLI , G R A a Represented by the Reverend Doctor Kaufm nn Kohler, of

Cincinnati , Ohio

s o ! Addre s read by the Reverend D ctor Henry Berkowitz , of

Pa. Philadelphia , ]

The Society for the Promotion Of Jewish Knowledge and R e has search ( of the Science of Judaism) , in Berlin , delegated me to oﬂi cers n extend to you, the and members of The Jewish Publicatio

Society of America, its heartiest congratulations upon the twenty ﬁ fth O f its anniversary of your organization , and to assure you high appreciation of the good work you have be en doing all these years for the promotion of Jewish literature and the awakening

of the interest of the people in Jewish history and Jewish learning .

There is an intrinsic relationship between the two societies , which

stand on the same ground , and have the same aims and ideals in

view, however they differ in method or in Speciﬁc purpose , yours

being intended more for a larger public, which wants to have

writings in popular form . interesting to the general reader, whereas the Berlin Society has been pursuing the plan of creating works and of a more scientiﬁc character, has , therefore , been encouraging

workers in the various branches of Jewish learning to elucidate , in

systematic form, for both the learned and th e laymen , the history

and literature , the theology and philosophy, the economic and

social life , of the Jew of the past and the present. Certainly the

interests of both societies are the same, and they have the same

ideals at heart . In wishing The Jewish Publication Society of America ever as increasing success in its noble work the years advance , the P O f n Berlin Society for the romotion Jewish K owledge , as the a younger sister, entertains the rdent hope that the cordial relations w existing bet een the two societies may grow more intimate , and

1 38 TH E JEWISH PUB LICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

I SRAELITISCH- THEOLOGISCH E LEHRANSTALT

E U T VI NNA, A S RIA

The following letter was received from the Israelitisch e r n Theologisch Leh a stalt, in Vienna

! Translation ]

R Ec rORAT DER I S RAm rrscH - TH EOLOGI S OH EN LE HRANSTALT

I E M 20 1 913 . V NNA, arch ,

T Jewish ubli ati nS ciet Ameri ca hi ladel h he o ia. P c o o y f , P p

c al and We thank you ordi ly for your kind invitation , we rejoice Sincerely to be able to congratulate you on your twenty-ﬁfth anni ar vers y. of On behalf the Faculty,

RE CTOR SCHWARZ .

ISR AELITISCHE KULTUSGEMEINDE WIEN

From the Israelitische Kul tusgemeinde of Vienna the fol lowing was received

! Translation]

VORSTAND DER ISRAE LITISCHE N KULTUSGEME INDE WIEN

I E l 2 5 1 91 3. V NNA, Apri ,

Mr d n . E wi W l residento The Jewi sh u li i o f, P f P b catonS ociety of A meri a608 ChestnutS treet hi lad el hia Pa. c , , P p , — DE AR s You were kind enough to invite the Historische Kom mission der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien to the Celebra tion of the Twenty-ﬁ fth Anniversary of the founding of your o S ciety. Your invitationwas transmitted at once to the Chairman of the o Kommiss ion , D ctor Maximilian Steiner . By reason of his seri TH E TWE NTY -FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

ous illness and his subsequent death , the Board of the Congrega

- tion came into possession of your invitation only to day . s The Board of Trustees desire to expres their regret that , on account of the above circumstances , it was not possible to convey to you their sincere congratulations on your gala day . We do so i herewith , coupled w th our deep appreciation of your honoring invitation and with our best wish es for the prosperity of your useful institution .

With the expression of our distinguished regard ,

The President ,

DR F ED TE . . AL R S RN

The First Secretary,

E RE . DR . LI N

THE JEWISH H ISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND

THE MOCATTA LIBRARY AN D MUSEUM D LONDON , ENGLAN th il a . te . Go Represented by Professor Ri ch rd J H , of New York City

The Jewish H i stori cal S o ci ety of E ngland to The Jewish Publi ca ti n i t A meri o S oc e y of ca. A ll who love Jewish Literature will rejoice at this Opportunity of congratulating th e Trustees and other Oﬂi cers of The Jewish -ﬁ ve Publication Society of America . For twenty years you have — been active in behalf of a great ideal you have encouraged the ou a production of Jewish books , and y have organized a large b nd of readers . This twofold function you have performed without any ou o f truckling to a supposed popular taste ; y have given the best, and have made that best popular . It is a tenable view that Judaism cannot be in a sound condition nec s unless a goodly proportion of its followers are students , not e saril l y or primarily technical scholars , but overs of books and devotees of that type of culture which literature alone can enshrine n and propagate . For your services in recog izing this position , you will receive the thanks of the Jewish world . But we in particular 14 0 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SO CIETY OF AMERICA

l o f have a specia reason for forwarding th ese words felicitation . For a considerable peri od we worked with you on the joint pro to co duction of books , and were only compelled interrupt this operation when we felt bound to concentrate all our energies on the publication of Anglo-Jewish Records and the maintenance of the s n MocattaLibrary and Museum. None the less this close as ociatio with you will always be regarded by us as a happy and honorable incident in our history . Several of the leading members of our Society have been num bered among the authors whose works have been published by you .

They desire to be prominently associated with this address . And one and all we venture to expres s the hope that your future w ill be as and a ou as distinguished your past , th t the enterprises which y have in hand , or will hereafter undertake , may prosper . Those who best know what you have already done are the most conﬁdent as to the great things you are destined to accomplish .

E U T E U r . E . N . ADL R, President . G S AV T CK , T easurer

P TE . . M . E S IN , Hon Sec COUNCIL

B . E Y . I . A RAHAMS , S L V , SOLOMON J SOLOMON , I E B P E ME D R E L ON L A RAHAMS , RA HA L L OLA, IS A L SOLOMONS ,

. TER E E P E M GAS , S . M ND LSSOHN , I . S I LMANN , E N TE RE YE H RMAN GOLLA CZ , C . MON FIO , A . M RS ,

. I . . U E S . A H RSCH , I M RIGG , L CI N WOLF,

E . Y E ZAN GWI LL H . HIRSCHF LD , W . H R LANDS , ISRA L , E PH N E ZAN W E G ILL. MORRIS JOS , CHARL S SI G R , LOUIS

MocattaLibrary and Museum UniversrtOf o University College , y L ndon , a 1 8 191 3 . Gower Street, London , Febru ry ,

JEWS ’ COLLEGE D LON ON, ENGLAND

s . H amson E an Repre ented by the Reverend M y , of London , ngl d — MR . R E GEN TLE MaN z CHAI MAN , LADI S , AND As a delegate of the oldest and most important seat of Jewish learning in Great

TH E TWENTY -FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

’ Britain , Jews College, London , which celebrated its Jubilee some c years ago, I have the honor and pleasure of conveying the sin ere a and felicit tions of the staff , the Education Committee, the Council of that institution to The Jewish Publication Society of

- ﬁ fth s America, on the celebration of the twenty anniver ary of its activities . I deem it a great privilege to be the personal bearer of these

o i as l . c ngratulat ons , and beg to sociate myse f personally with them

We, on the other side of the Atlantic, are the Older, you on this s are a ide of the ocean , numerically spe king, the stronger section of

- ou English speaking Jewry . But y not only have the advantage of n ou prep onderating umbers , y have the exuberant vitality of youth , its courage, energy , enterprise, practicality .

We on the other side , in the older country, watch with deepest interest the marvellous strides you have made and are making in this great and glorious land of freedom and independence, s r where careers and opportunities are Open to talent and indu t y . Your great philanthropic institutions are the admiration of all T ni n visitors to the United States . hey bear witness to the mu ﬁ ce ce i of the r founders , the generosity of their supporters , and the B u efﬁciency of their administrators . tthe Publication Society

- - a whose semi jubilee we are to day celebrating proves th t , in this s ou t land of material progre s , y recognize hat man does not live by u f u h . Y o s o o te bread alone care for thing the spirit, y are alive to intellectual and spiritual side of life . You provide windows for the soul of Israel . The wondrous success of your Society proves that Jewry in the

United States is sound at the core and alive. It is responsive to the intellectual stimulus . It answers to the spiritual call . E We had , some forty years ago, a Publication Society in ngland , which did some useful work in its time . It was called the Hebrew h Literature Society. W ile it lasted , it did excellent work . It s published two miscellanies of es ays, the contributors to which o f D were men note , who have joined the majority, men like octor

LOw . Adler, the late Chief Rabbi , Doctor Benisch , and Doctor y 1 0 14 2 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

D a o a octor Friedl nder, whose p rtrait h ngs on your walls, and who was was my revered teacher of sainted memory , enabled by it to publish valuable essays on Ibn Ez ra and his translation of Mai ’ c monides Guide to the Perplexed . The Society thus did ex ellent The l work while it lasted . pity is it did not ast . It dragged on a

c . l n. weary existen e It anguished , it perished , it died of inanitio

o . h ? Your S ciety, thank God , ﬂourishes W at is the reason

You are , though you do not know it , idealists and at the same time

- r al a s . p actic , h rd headed , shrewd business men and busine s women

Y ou run this institution on business lines . Th e works you l but publish are not only valuab e intrinsically, there is a popular

T -as - s appeal in them. hey are not dry dust re earch work that

n . concerns the scholar o ly, they are not caviare to the general

Your publications cover a wide ﬁeld , ethics , history , biography , aye , ateven ass m and ﬁction . Wh p es your editors and receives their i

p rimatur is sound and pure and instinct with Jewish sentiment .

n a s. ou You have ma y capable writers mong yourselve But y are, Y ou like the Jewish people , catholic in your sympathies . realize s that all Israel are clo ely knit together, and form one brotherhood . ou and And so y welcome Jewish thought from abroad . My friend Old classmate Israel Abrahams is indebted to you for the publica a tion of his monument l work , Jewish Life in the Middle Ages . My brother- in- law Samuel Gordon owes it to you that his Sons of o as the C venant saw the light in America well as in England . I trust that your progress in the future will be as vigorous and

has in a ouma sustained as it been the p st , that y y continue to foster

s s s our and strengthen the Jewish con ciou ne s , and make people

own as realize and appreciate their noble Torah , the Bible, the tre

and Of . ures of Rabbinic thought, th e products the Jewish intellect

s the May you advance by leaps and bound , and when we celebrate l to Jubilee, which may we all ive see , when America will be the

- o f P t . l e centre Jewry, may this ublica ion Society be a wor d wid

organization fostering the Jewish spirit, strengthening the Jewish and consciousness , giving adequate expression , thus helping to

s l. do justice , to the Jewish life, the Jewish character, th e Jewish ou

144 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

c it will continue to devote its forces to Jewish scien e . We trust that it may never lack men ready to promote the realiz ation of its l idea , and that the works of the scholars which the Jewish Publication Society will put into the hands of the public may help our - in- to inspire devoted loyalty to Judaism in brethren faith , l especially our academic youth , and tend to render nul and void the prejudices of the non- Jewish world against the greatness and purity of our doctrine . s Very re pectfully yours , Das Kuratorium der Lehranstalt fii r die Wissenschaft des Judentums

MA x EI . SIMON . W SS

NE DE R LAN DS CH -I SR A EL I E TI S CH S EMI NAR IUM

TE AMS RDAM , HOLLAND

Nederlandsch- I sraelietisch S eminarium Am From the , in sterdam n , the followi g letter was received

NE D S E MI N ARI U M TE TE . ISR. AMS RDAM

E a T 1 8 1 91 3. AMS RDAM , M rch ,

To the Presidentorthe Trus tees of The Jewish Publi cationS o ci ety o Ameri ca hi lad el hia f , P p . The Trustees of the Jewish Seminary here have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to be pres ent at the celebration of the twenty- ﬁfth anniversary of the founding of your a n Society, for which they tender you their he rty tha ks . to They regret , however , to have to inform you not to be able comply with your kind invitation . The Trustees avail themselves of this Opportunity to express Of their cordial congratulations on the occasion this anniversary , with the hope that your endeavors may continue to be successful on behalf of Jewish science. The T a rustees of the Semin ry above mentioned , DE T L. HAR OG , President.

. . E rTY E . B E , Secretary TH E TWENTY - FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

BIBLIOTHECA R OS EN TH ALI ANA AMSTERDAM

From the Bibliotheca RosenthalianaOf the University of m l w t Amsterda , the fo lo ing let er was received

UN I VERS ITEITS -B I BLI OTH E EK

TE D Ma 28 1 91 3. AMS R AM , rch ,

e The Jewis h PublicationS oci ety of Am ri ca. — GE NTLE ME N : I n accepting the ﬂattering invitation of your learned Society to be represented by a delegate at the Celebration

- of the Tw enty ﬁ fth Anniversary of its founding, I have the honor on behalf of the Trustees of the University of Amsterdam to reply, that we regret very much not to be able by reason of different

circumstances to join your festivities . O f I beg to assure you, that the invitation your Society, which Of contributed so much to further the cause H ebrew learning, is

deeply appreciated by our organization. I may be permitted to express the hope that the celebration may

be successful . May The Jewish Publication Society Of Americago from strength

to strength .

Most respectfully yours , M H ILLE S M J . . U .

UN ION OF JEWISH LITERARY SOCIETIES OF ENGLAND

O f Represented by Doctor Joseph Jacobs , New York City

EB U Y 5 1 913 . F R AR ,

To the A meri anJewi sh ubli ati n iet ilad el hi S h a. c P c o oc y, P p

Of Th e Union Jewish Literary Societies, representing nearly ﬁfty Constituent A ssociations in the United Kingdom of Great as Britain and Ireland and in the British Dominions beyond the Se , Offer their congratulations to The American Jewish Publication

- Society on the Celebration of its Semi Jubilee . The Union recognize the eminent services rendered by the Society over wide 14 6 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Of l t o ﬁelds Jewish iterary activity, and hey wish for it a long peri d of continued success in its efforts to extend the knowledge Of the Of fruits Jewish genius . n TT HEW TH s . MA NA AN , Pre ide t

TH E AMERICAN JEWI SH H ISTORICAL S OCIETY

s . s Repre ented by th e Honorable Simon W Ro endale,

of Albany, N . Y .

es a . Of ! Addr s re d by the Honorable N Taylor Phillips , New York City ]

The 1 892 American Jewish Historical Society, founded in , and and with now upwards Of three hundred ﬁfty members , presents its sincere and profound felicitations to Th e Jewish Publication Of 1 8 88 Society America, founded in , and congratulates it upon the

- completion Of twenty ﬁ ve years Of successful work . The existence of both is due to impulses tending in the same and s direction , their relation have been most sympathetic and

friendly . l l n When our s ight y younger organizatio was founded , the feeling was a expressed that the two might in some way cl sh , or interfere a a one with the other, but they have lw ys worked in the closest

o- harmony and c Operation . Among the praiseworthy activiti es of the Publication Society

is the production Of the American Jewish Year Book . The col lection and publication Of the interesting data and material con tained in these volumes is to be highly commended ; b esides being l of great practical use and intrins ic worth , they wil doubtless be of

inestimable value to the future student Of American Jewish h istory . t and — As ime goes by , your vigorous growing Society potential in — popularizing Jewish literature will surely ﬁnd still other meth ods of bringing to the attention of the larger public the information which the members of the Historical Society are Slowly gathering and putting before students in the necessarily limited editions of

own u . their publications , now numbering over twenty vol mes May the cordial relations existing between these two organiza a tions continue , ripening into still greater intim cy, in united effort

14 8 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

x x upon a roll of a book ( Jer. x vi ) . Th e relationship which existed between the religious teacher and the scribe Of Old is suggestive of th e happy partnership between the Central Con ference Of AmericanRabbis and The Jewish Pub lication Society s in n Of of America , who e joint labors the tra slation the Bible , easily the most important literary activity Of our p eople in recent

a l n . ye rs , promise peace and stabi ity to America Israel The Conference is proud to share with the Publication Society the high privilege and respons ibility Of a task that will redound to ’ God s glory and the advancement Of Judaism in English - speaking l ands . The Conference names with grateful recognition Of their service the men who represent it on the Board Of Editors of the B ible an Tr slation , Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, its Honorary President,

Rabbi Samuel Schulman , its President, and Rabbi David Philipson ,

- Presidcnt an ex . The Co nference points with pride to ﬁve of its members who Of serve on the Publication Committee the Publication Society,

a . o s Rabbi Henry Berkowitz , Rabbi Max Heller, R bbi J Le n Magne ,

Rabbi David Philipson , and Rabbi Samuel Schulman. The Conference records its honor roll of departed and living members whose writings have been published by the Jewish Publi a c tion Society , Rabbi Henry Zirndorf, Rabbi Liebman Adler, Rabbi

. a Kaufmann Kohler, Rabbi David Philipson , Rabbi Abram S Isa cs , and Rabbi Abraham B . Rhine .

a Of The Conference is also privileged to n me one its members ,

Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf, as the one who conceived the idea and labored in behalf of the founding of The Jewish Publication Society

of America . The Conference is pleased that its members have been instru l n mental in securing substantial contributions to the Bib e Fu d , and it looks forward to increasing them materially . The Conference hopes that the close afﬁliation which has hitherto z marked the activities of the two organi ations will be maintained , both continuing to cheris h the identical purpose of seeking to THE TWENTY -FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

our impart to our people loyalty to past , a sense of security under ’ s and God s guidance in the pre ent , hopefulness for the future , when all our people shall learn eagerly to seek our Go d and delight to know His ways .

THE COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN

From the Council of Jewish Women the following lette r was received

TH E COUN CIL OF JE WISH WOMEN

E OF TH E X E UT E E E TA Y 44 E T T OFFIC E C IV S CR R , 8 C N RAL PA RK WE S

TH E Y OF NE l T W 7 191 3. CI YORK , Apri ,

dwi nW l resid entJ wi sh ubli ati n i t A Mr. E e S e o meri a o f, P , P c o oc y f c , Phi ad l hi aP l e a. p ,

MY E MR WOe — I n D AR . the name of the Council of Jewish Women I desire to congratulate you on the record The Jewish Publi

Of has - ﬁ ve cation Society America made in the last twenty years , Of l contributing, as it has , to the need the American Jew, en ight enin g him on matters Jewish , giving him many books which make

the average reader acquainted with what he is , and why the Jew is

where he is tod ay . The Council Of Jewish Women feels particularly grateful to the ’ i s Publ cation Society, which issued the papers of the Jewish Women Of w as Congress and the Proceedings the First Triennial , which 6 held in New York in 1 89 . This measure Of helpfulness gave a dignity to what was the ﬁrst delegate body Of Jewish women ever Of gathered together, and helped us on that course achievement

which we believe has added to the record of the Jew in America . Once more congratulating you and offering you such service as

the Council may be able to give in your work, if it is called upon , I am

Very truly yours ,

D E ME . SA I A RICAN , Executive Secretary 1 50 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

THE DR OPS IE COLLEGE FOR HEB RE W AND COGNATE LE ARNING

H DEL H P P A . P ILA IA ,

ak enbur l a . H c a . Represented by Willi m B g, of Philade phi , Pa

. and I am here , Mr President , to present to you the members of S a the DrO sie the ociety, on beh lf of Board of Governors of p College

for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, their hearty congratulations s e upon this auspicious event , and to extend their be t wish s for the continued prosperity Of this very valuable part of our Jewish educational institutions ; we are safe in saying that the Jews of l l this country wil never fa ter in giving it liberal support . It is with pardonable pride that the Jews of Philadelphia can take a retrospective view of what has been done for Judaism in Of their city, and more especially the important part they have

- ﬁ v taken in Jewish education during the past seventy e years . Up to 1 828 our few congregations held strictly religious services

according to their established rituals . Sermons in English were was unknown , and it not until after that time , when the Reverend Isaac Leeser became the minister Of the Portugues e Congregation

a e . Mikveh Isr el , that preaching b came a part of the regular service Schools for religious instruction of the Jewish youth of our city and followed , and sermons were added to the Sabbath holiday services . l a As time rol ed on , the Jewish population gradu lly increased ; o al to literary and kindred s cieties were established , and especi ly be s noted was the formation of Publication Societies , which doubtle s - a e c i have had a far re ching inﬂu n e in religious train ng, imparting by their numerous books a varied and valuable knowledge of Jew l ish iterature . l l Th Know edge is a progressive element in ife . e diffusionof literature Of the kind circulated by a society like this modiﬁes l l arge y the method of imparting instruction . s o We a sume that The Jewish Publication S ciety Of America, has its whose Silver Anniversary we are now celebrating, since foundation proven to be a material factor i n the important work of promoting religious instruction and distributing into thousand s

1 52 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

looking to the establishment of such asociety w as made until 1 8 88 n o m was , whe The Jewish Publication S ciety of A erica organ iz ed ; the history O f its wonderful growth and its successful aecom~ p li shments have been so fully set forth that nothing I can add

would interest you . N O can the tw o 1 845 one doubt that publication societies , of and 1 872 n a , had good results in many directio s , but it may s fely be said that the large number Of books published by our Society and their h igh character have had a wide inﬂuence in spreading the

desire for enlarged education upon Jewish subjects . One of its

greatest undertakings is that now in progress , the B ible revision

by a number Of eminent rabbis and laymen of this country . This stupendous work was ﬁrst undertaken by the Reverend Isaac ’ Leeser , who , after many years labor, published his translation in 1 8 53 has o , which up to this time been rec gnized in this country as

w ish- h the only Je English version o f the Holy Book . W en this corps r v its i of edito s complete their re ision , publication w ll be the bril l a in i nt, shining mark the history of this Publication Society.

EASTERN COUN CIL OF REFORM RABBI S

Represented by the Reverend Doctor Maurice H . Harris , of New York City

The Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis expresses to The Jewish Publication Society of America its congratulations upon the work ’ that has been achieved through twenty- ﬁ ve years service rendered by this organization . None better than an association of rabbis can realize what an institution such as this means for the perpetua

O f . The tion the Jewish cause Jew, not being able to present his c lesson orrectly through any State institutions, or religiously in an a rtistic way , can best express himself through the Book , and it is through the Book that the Publication Society has enabled us to o ur teach lesson effectively and to carry o ur message . We are the O f ak People the Book . It is only through literature that we can m e and as ourselves understood , so it would seem to me that so long ’ i s there will exist a Jewish Publication Soc ety, Israel epithet will o remain People Of the Bo k . TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

HEBREW UNION COLLEGE

T CINCINNA I , OHIO

s Represented by the Reverend Doctor David Philip on ,

Of Cincinnati , Ohio

ni wi From the Hebrew U on College, the follo ng telegram was received

I T 4 1 913 . C NCINNA I, OHIO, April ,

li ati nS i eto A meri ca hi lad el hiaPa. Jewi sh Pub c o oc y f , P p , On behalf of the Hebrew Union College I beg to extend congratu

- lations and good wishes on this twenty ﬁ fth anniversary . I trust s your inﬂuence will greatly increa e .

W HE I N S H EI MER . ED ARD L.

THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION

Represented by Henry Hurwitz , Boston , Mass .

You have just been addressed by reverend and learned institu NOW tions . I bring you greetings from a stripling scarcely four

Old : . months a robustious stripling, withal The Intercollegiate Menorah Association w as organized last January to promote the study Of Jewish history and culture in American colleges and so universities . The As ciation is composed of over a score Of Menorah Societies connected with as many colleges and universities throughout the country . In the pursuit of the Menorah Object , we are endeavoring to promote a real interest in Jewish literature , and so far forth our aim is hand in glove with that of the Jewish

. s Publication Society Moreover, we hare with the Publication

- s Society the spirit of catholicity and non parti anship in Judaism. A Menorah Society takes no particular attitude towards Jewish problems , though it is hoped that Menorah members will be o o s stimulated , for themselves , to pursue p sitive p licie in Jewish r life . We hope to develop readers for your Society , and a membe Of your Publication Committee has ﬂatteringly suggested that we might also develop authors . Thus , the Publication Society and the 1 54 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

t and Menorah Association can be of great service to each o her, we trust that the affection between them wi ll be something more than platonic .

UNION OF ORTHO DOX JE WISH CONGREGATIONS OF UNI TED STATE S AN D CANADA

From the Union of O rthodox Jewish Congregations Of e an i e ! United Stat s and C ada, the follow ng lett r was received

UNION OF ORTH ODox JE WI SH CON CRECATI ON S OF UNITE D STATE S AND CANADA

OFFICE : 99 CE NTRAL PARK WE ST

N EW 4 1 913 . YORK , April ,

wi n l residentJ h b i ti on et ri Mr. E d W ewis u i me a S o A ca. , P P l c o f , oc y f MY E R s — I n D A the name of the above , I wish to congratulate you on twenty-ﬁ ve years Of work that has a far deeper meaning e the than app ars on the surface . For Jewish Publication Society has Of t not only published many a volume real wor h , and is engaged Of Of l in a work intense importance , the new translation the Bib e ; it has brought together men and women Of all shades of Jewish

Opinion , and has been a force for union , which should not be overlooked on an occas ion like this .

I believe I have been a member from the beginning. I am not NO one n sure but that I was at the ﬁrst meetings . more tha I

d and - s wishes you continue success ever increa ing growth , further Of - to unite not only the Jews America, but the English Speaking

- and English reading Jews throughout the world . a I am, de r Sir, ai s Very f thfully your ,

E E ENDE . H . P R IRA M S , President

i t In addition, the following so cieties and ns itutions were represented by delegates

TH E AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

s s l E s . Of Represented by Loui Mar hal , q , New York City

1 56 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

THE BAN! UET 6 1 913 SUNDAY, APRIL ,

TOASTMASTE R : TH E HONORAB LE MAYE R SULZB ERGE R About three hundred and ﬁfty ladies and gentlemen too k part in the banquet which concluded the exercises in celebra tion Of the twenty- ﬁfth anniversary Of the foundi ng Of The

Jewi sh Publication Society of America .

The Reverend Jacob Kohn, of New York City, pronounced e the bl ssing over the bread .

ul Of The Toastmaster, the Honorable M ayer S zberger, P the a. d Philadelphia, , in introducing the ﬁrst Spe aker, ma e following address

Ladi es and Gentlemen: We are about to close the season Of Of i festivity th s Jewish Publication So ciety of America, and e Of it would b out order if something were not said at a dinn er . Those Of you who have had the good fortune to attend the tr the meetings have, I ust, learned Objects of the Society and Y the methods it has pursued in attaining them . ou all know

that the primary Object was to publish books, so that the Jewish people of the Uni ted States should not stand solitary and al i one, among all the sections inhabiting th s great land ,

without an established Church , without an established Church

l u . organization, without even a iterat re to unite them It was thus universally felt that this Society was formed without a divisions and on the l rgest and most liberal plane . It recog THE TWE NTY ~ FI FTH ANN IVERSARY

e niz d all Shades Of Judaism . It did not enter closely into the

Opinions of private individuals . It was imbued with the r and thought that eve y individual is a world in himself, that o n national , religious, political, or any other form of rec g ized and conformity is merely an approximation to one Opinion, is i all never one opin on . Avoiding narrowness, we have suc ceeded e a an in a measure, in perhaps a greater degr e th n y other organization that was ever started among the Jews Of the United States, in welding into one bo dy men whose views i were strictly trad tional and orthodox, on the one hand, and an al l men who were scarcely conscious of having y views at , t and on the o her hand, yet all, whether consciously or sub

in r consciously, recognized that some way, somehow, they we e related to each other by a common tradition and by some uh r e o and t fo mulat d Opini n, thus the Jewish Publication Socie y has the began and advanced, looking both to the right and to re re left, ignoring no one, recognizing that the religion it p Of sents is a world religion, and that the accident birth or residence plays no part in destroying the unity Of the Jewi sh

TO- r people . night we have here in this hall men f om both m m Continents . There sit side by side people who ca e fro as as far east the city of Warsaw, as far south as the city of o ar as far e Wilmingt n ( North C olina, not Delaware) , and w st no e in and as I do not k w wh re, but all harmony of spirit recognizing the common brotherhood . That this Object is and own laudable ought to be sustained, you have by your a verdict established . That it c nnot remain prosperous unless

ou as it advances, y all know the commo n experience of man H h i ac e w o . kind . stands st ll falls b kward

t o We have under aken now, beside the ordinary work f the Of Society , the great enterp rise making the inherited literature 1 1 1 58 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA of our people the common property of the Jews of the United e r s f Stat s by projecting, ﬁrst, a Jewish revised t an lation O the c e Of o e n Bible and, se ond, a seri s c mmentari s or expla ations, to which tend make it accessible to the co mmon mas s . At

first blush it would seem that a book so well - known as the Bible would merely have to be picked up and read to be under ou e O f stood, but when y rememb r that it reflects the life a e o tw o s peopl whose nationality died s me thou and years ago , m who who have had no land, no organized govern ent, and had inherited instituti ons for that long pe riod which even at m Of Old the ti e of the dispersion were thousands years , you will at once see that a mere supe rficial perusal will give mere l t are superficia knowledge . That these en erprises great and r can wo thy to be pe rformed, I think be easily demonstrated by a as e Of I . one who is m t r the subject, as am not I t ke the f O Do c . liberty calling on my friend, ctor Sche hter

Of Y o as Doctor Schechter, New ork City, sp ke in part fol lows '

Mr To s tater Mr Pre i e tLadi and entl men am s . s d n es G e . , ,

cr Of i The se ets this d nner were not communicated to me, but I have some notion that it was Doctor Kohler who was designated to speak to you on the Bible work . He is the Oldest Of Of s Of member the Bo ard Bible Editors, and by rea on his e the o Of s niority, as well as the fact that he is translat r the

the c e Psalms published by So iety, it should have b en his privilege to address you on the subject . I wish he might have

ou been here to do so , or that someone else might address y on

S O a . s the Bible . much has alre dy been said about it Tho e ’ of you who heard Doctor Adler s admirable paper this after — noon will know the ways Of the Bible Board how we set about

1 60 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

I c ul i Bible, declined, be ause I felt I co d do th s only in con e junction with abody of scholars . But I express d the hope that the idea of a commentary to the Bible might soon be a o n t ken up . We may assert without undue arr ga ce that our

l be a be w translation wi l above the aver ge , and will a Je ish t di ranslation, instinct with Jewish tra tion and Jewish senti Of ment . Nevertheless, we are not thereby relieved of the duty issuing a Bible commentary . — In my country I once heard a Rabbi ask the question I do — not know whether jokingly or seriously why the trees Of s Of o the fore t should rejoice especially at the coming the L rd , the as the Psalm describes it, to accompaniment of the roaring sea n . Of His a swer was that at the coming Messiah and God , the Jews expect the resurrection to take place, and then all o and l c the c mmentaries will be burnt, this wou d rejoi e the

- trees . When twenty two German and half a dozen English s h Universities have i sued each a commentary on Isaia , each ff i di ering from eve ry other, magine what a delight it will be to have Isaiah rise from the dead and tell us what he actually l meant by this or that passage . That wi l put an end to guess m work . Or fancy what will happen when A os is again u w among s. Some German professor who has ritten a big “ o will hi m A l I b ok on him pay a visit, and mos wil say, hear that I have become fashionable in thi s world during my s a ab ence . People probably think that I was a cheap agit tor ; was that I was out for the recall . It a good thing I was not e ul around, els they wo d have put me at the head of some I I committee . never said or meant anything of the sort . preached law and order and admonished Israel to follow order t . e and law, otherwise there would be catas rophes You hav !

. a misunderstood me . I am sorry to be fashionable Or Mic h MARTHA WO LFENS TEIN

1 62 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

l about the Bible ; and now we are in the We lhausenepoch . Heaven only knows what next ! a A Jewish comment ry is absolutely necessary . Our people l w f shou d know the Bible from the Je ish point O view. Some “ b the ody once said, Do not think that you understand ! prophet when you understand the prophecy . I am inclined to think that to understand our prophets one ought to know

Jewish literature . When a Jew reads the passage, Comfort ye ! e ai u God eX eriences no difﬁ comfort yen, my p ople , s th yo r , he p a . culty in u derst nding it Indeed, not even Cheney tampered t e ll with his passage . It is one of the few that have be n a owed ft w . be e to stand But, a er all, one must a Jew and have a J

a O ish soul to underst nd the passage fully . And S it requires a s a Jewish soul, de cent from Jewish ancestors, to underst nd what Jeremiah suffered when Israel was punished, to under stand what the Psalmist thought about sin, what he thought e his c God about repentanc , longing and his atta hment to , o and what he felt when he entered into c mmunion with God . hi i s For t s one has to read the Jewish M dra him, Jewish w a devotional literature . It is thus that a Je ish comment ry th not on e Bible will have to be written . It is a question of what is called scholarship and Of the learned men who write m I books for two and a half people in the co munity . t is e the a question that touches everybody . We have befo r us a l problem Of educating the young . It is pecu iar phenomenon ’ that we are always wanting to educate other people s children wn t a while we neglect our o . We have es ablished syn gogue — u extens ion apraiseworthy piece of work . But there o ght h ﬁrst to be a centre from whic to extend . And how can Judaism be made intensive if there are no Jewish Bible com ? mentaries ? If sentiment is bo rrowed from others Thi s is THE TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

f why I plead for Jewish commentaries . All e forts through m synagogue extension, Chautauqua classes, or Tal ud Torahs will be futile so long as the very life Of Judaism is not written DO a for Jews and by Jews . not deceive yourselves bout the

- magnitude of the undertaking . If it were begun to morrow, the youngest among you would be gray before the series is

ﬁnished .

You see that I do not plead my personal cause . When you realize that the Cambridge Press, backed by English millions, has not yet ﬁnished the series Of handbooks or short oommen

- ﬁve taries begun twenty years ago , you can imagine how long a i s . it will t ke us . It the work of a generation We have some can the men who help us produce what we want, and work and do will train the man, the man will the work, provided ’ now you begin . Begin , and with God s help by your golden O jubilee you may have reached the Bo ok f Proverbs, or, if you are very industrious, you may have gone a little further. But

e i . a beginning must be made . Ther are d fﬁculties But the r work may not be deferred . A ve y pious Jew was in the God Of s habit of praying to to hasten the advent the Me siah , lest there be no Jews to be redeemed . If you delay much m longer, there will be no one to write the com entaries, none

. us e c for whom to write them Let b gin, and let us a hieve the f end against the time O our golden jubilee .

The Toastmaster introduced Mr . Louis Marshall, the Presi Oi e dent the American J wish Committee, who responded to e — the toast, The Mat rialization of the Ideal How the Aspira e ‘ tions of the Society Are to be Translat d into Deeds .

Ladi es and Gentlemen: Accordi ng to the elaborate and profuse menu of oratory by which this part of our feast is to 1 64 TH E JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERI CA

ul e i be reg ated, and m ntal and physical ind gestion promoted, the dish which I have been directed to serve bears the impos l — ing tit e, The Materialization of the Ideal How the Aspira tions of the Society Are to be Translated into Deeds . Were it not that by doing so, the continuity of the thread of thought whi ch is to hold together this sympo sium on the Future of c wi c e the So iety might be severed, th the awful onsequenc Of ec u o that we might then grope in a labyrinth intell t al glo m, I would translate my aspirations into the simple but natural deed Of permitting you to pass to the next co urse without i charging my conscience with another cr me .

Y s e ou, M r . To a tmast r, might, however, have been more dis criminating than to have imposed upon me the ungrateful a t sk of materializing the ideal . Here we have for half a Old century striven to create the cult Of Idealism . Our friend Utilitarianism has been supplanted by our more modern a e acquaint nc s, Altruism and General Uplift (how I love those We have spared no effortto erect shrines to it ; to stimul ate it ; to coin a new vocabulary with which to do ’ s f honor to it, at ﬁve o clock tea , industrial justice unctions,

Zueblin r and Of c lectu es, meetings for the promotion eugeni s as and mothercraft . And now I am led to the Slaughter the f Ar apostle O rank materialism . e you not aware that I have e been dissect d and classiﬁed , not only as an idealist, but as a Of sentimentalist as well , that I have been accused dabbling

r - a in poet y, and of being an eighteenth century reaction ry in my views on government ? Yet you coolly demand of me the inconsistency Of being an idealist in theory and a materialist in practice . Surely, on an evening such as this, which is e i devoted to ﬂatt ry and compl ments, this is far from compli mentary in its implications .

1 6 6 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

e Of the glories Of Judaism . Your great ideal has be n to

- o contribute to the self respect and dignity of our pe ple, to

Of hi and instil a sense pride in our story, in our literature, in Our spiritual life ; to rescue from Oblivion all that has ’ u the to made the Jew an intellect al power in world s history, Of the Of c fan the ﬁres enthusiasm in scions an aged ra e, and to renew within them the Spirit of perpetual youth . In large measure this ideal h as breathed the breath Of life into es r was dry bon , and where a quarter of a centu y ago there

i - but a handful wh ch gathered about your standard, to day your followers may be counted by the thousands . Others have commented on the work which you have done, and upon that which you have yet to do . Let me but touch again upon one o s Of subject which has recently ar u ed my interest, that the

n - ~ Bible tra slation, which is soon to be given to English spe ak c e ing Jews by your Society, under the auspi es of that s lf sacrifi cing band Of scholars which has for years devoted itself an to this important task . It is a great undertaking . It is e u ideal worthy of unstint d praise . If materialized as it sho ld i and must be , it w ll become one of the most potent influences e in our religious life . How c an this aspiration be translat d o int action ? The question is momentous . The answer is i s mple . You have justly gained the confidence of the Jewish

. Y e r a e people our de ds are w it large . Your assur nces ar l ac d now genera ly cepte . Whatever animosities there may have

ar e . existed in the past, they now forgotten All that you e the ne d do, in my judgment, is to take the congregations o f an o to as l d int your conﬁdence, enlist them your aids and coadjutors ; to make them your colporteurs ; to demand of

e a them, fo r you now hav the right to make dem nds, that they contribute the means for publishing and circul ating this great TH E TWENTY- FIFTH ANN IVER SARY a work by underwriting the undert king, receiving as a con sideration (fo r the materialist must always think of the con sideration) such a number Of Bibles for distribution among their members and in their Sunday - schools as will bear a proper relation to the sum total Of their underwriting. I have recently received a letter from an unknown correspond ent in the West who voices what I believe to be the spontaneous Of thought our coreligionists throughout the land, that they

v yearn for such an opportunity as this is, to ser e the cause of

Judaism, to help you in your endeavors, and at the same n time to benefit themselves . I k ow of many congregations l who , upon the mere suggestion, wi l cheerfully and liberally aid W e in this work . hen that shall have be n done, you need Old Of not sigh for new worlds to conquer . This earth ours a has changed since Alexander thus w sted his ambitious breath, be and drank himself to death . As your several ideals o come ripe for translation int deeds, the process will grow o e corresp ndingly easy . Cherish your ideals, therefor , do not b o a ec me frightened by their m gnitude . The materialist will s always, sometimes soon, ometimes late, be found to help you to translate them into deeds, and we fondly hope that it may be long before the men who have made The Jewish Publica Of l tion Society America what it is, sha l themselves be trans d late to their reward . S O I e e to e much wrot on tthe subj ct assigned me in a lett r received from your wor hy President . When I came here, I was informed Of what might make it seem unnecessary to a i have read wh t I wrote in ant cipation . I did so nevertheless , i for it appears that I was someth ng of a prophet, though I have not studied prophecy . I wrote that the materialist would be found to help this great cause, and he has material 1 68 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA ized am n , and I commissioned to make an an ouncement with r e e rega d to this very important subj ct . The Society is engag d Of an Of in the work publishing English translation the Bible, besides other impo rtant work requiring adequate endowment Of e is i tr has at the hands the J w h people of th s coun y . One been found who is ready to translate his ideals into deeds ; he is ready to gi ve to the Jewish Publication Society the full O fifty thousand dollars requi red fo r the Bible work . N con dition f l re s O moment are attached to the gift. It is on y quired that a plan shall be evolved by a Committee , the mem nk bers of which are present this evening, and I thi they will be difli cult not men to deal with, so that we are now able to c s make the announ ement, as an a sured fact, that the money for the publication of the Bible will be forthcoming . The e i i e us m lett r promis ng the g ft com s to from the Orient, fro Al hiif o . S c . giers, and the donor is our friend Mr . Jac b H This is not the only announcement I have the honor to

make . I have also been authorized to make the state ment Of hi n u that for the general work t s orga ization, which is j st as es as important the fund for the Bible T ranslation, pledg m e to the a ount of have been rec ived . I am not going a d ll the . I e to to rea pledges Shall read only one, in ord r a Th make you im hi gh . e ﬁrm of Wolf Brothers Of Philadel n phia have contributed ﬁve thousa d dollars to this fund .

can s I have said all I upo n this subject . I have hown you i N a way in wh ch you can translate ideals into deeds . ow let the deeds follow !

The Toastmaster then called upon Professor Israel Fried e s la nder to respond to the toa t, The Jewish Publication Society

and Its Relation to College and University Men .

1 70 TH E JEWISH PUB LICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

m e ewrie o Now, a ong th se various J s a mighty process is g in a ee ing on, the process of giv g and t king, such as has b n ih going on since our people went into exile . The spiritual ﬂuences of Russia are moulding modern Jewish life in Ger i i many . The Hilfsverein of Germany is back ng Jew sh life m O a. f in Russi The sa e is true England, and I need not speak Of the ever - increasing exchange of gifts and ideas be tw es o een Pal tine and the Diasp ra . But the same process of giving and taking is going on be e tw en the Jews Of America and the other Jewries Of the world . It is not accidental that some of the gentlemen who grace our a Of i n t ble honor, while int mately con ected with the Publica

are a c d wi tion Society, prominently sso iate th the American i Jewish Committee . It is certa nly not accidental that our oas m e who mi daan beloved T t ast r, ght be called both the yy (for daan Of n wr yy is judge ) and the doyen America Je y, is not only rt w the head and the hea of the Je ish Publication Society, from

da was Of its inception down to this y, but , at the same time , one the principal founders and up till recently the President Of wi i the American Je sh Committee . Th s great organization

the demonstrates fact that the Jewry of America, young as it uf a . s is, is alre dy the giver It extends ﬁnancial help to our ferin all g brethren over the world, and in a noble and courageous ﬁght it stood up for the political rights of our people, which were those of humanity .

be s Yet, at the same time , it must confes ed that in the domai n Of spirit American Israel is still essentially the taker .

- ﬁ ve w During the twenty years of its existence , The Je ish Publication Society Of Americahas in the mai n drawn upon r e can the spiritual resou ces of other lands . Ther be no doubt,

- ﬁ ve r however, that in the next twenty years American Jew y THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANN IVERSARY

l o Of i s ill wil bec me the leader the Jewish D a po ra, and it w have to give spiritually no less than materially . To use a simile which you may ﬁnd illuminating in the literal sense Of a the word, if in the l st quarter of a century the light that n Of ema ated from American Jewry was like that the moon, b e soft, beautiful, but orrowed, in the next quart r of a century the light radiating from it will have to resemble that O f the di a e to . sun, s n ng forth life and warmth all round it Where, be however, will the source of energy found whence this powerful light shall proceed ? I t believe that I can best predict the future by referring you o e a Of . 1 90 6 a simpl f ct the past It was in June, , that a few Jewish stridents at Harvard University came together and

c organized the Harvard Menorah Society, whi h accepted as ! was i n! and its motto Let there be light, as its symbol the

Menorah , the traditional candlestick which diffused a per etua p l light in the ancient sanctuary Of Israel . This light has and Of n Of been constantly growing, in the month Ja uary this year the various Menorah S ocieties which have in the mean i at t me been founded met Chicago, and formed the Inter collegiate Meno rah Association for the study and promotion

Of u and . e Jewish cult re Jewish ideals This Association, whos we Of President, Mr. Henry Hurwitz, have the privilege hav

- - ing with us to night, is now composed of twenty three indi ’ t o all the vidual s udents s cieties, which are scattered over i N country, from Ma ne to Texas and from ew York to Cali

r s s one fo ni . It counts, at pre ent, about thousand members, but there is little doubt in my mind that in a very sho rt time it will embrace the better part— both quantitatively and quali i — tatvel Of . y our Jewish college youth This college youth will ,

c be r Of l i in my ﬁrm convi tion . the bea er that spiritua l ght 1 72 TH E JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA which shall ultimately radiate from the Jews of America to the Jews in other lands . It goes without saying that these a noble endeavors must be encour ged and assisted . Even the

inthe ntu l wi holy candlestick sa c ary had to be ﬁ led th oil , with ! " i or ll ntme the pure Oil of Olives . Thus the Menorah ani zation s of o g needs a o rt Standard Oil C mpany, which shall e w h ae a ﬁnanc it, and furnish it it the m t ri l means for its ur s tu . o spiri al aims But, given this support, young student , i Of c the Jew sh leaders the future , are sure to rea h their noble goal . You may be wondering about the co nnection of the Menorah organization with the Publication Society . The reason will become patent to you when I tell you that the Menorah students represent the most curious element in the constitu

c ency of the Society . While it has oc asionally been said that has e the Publication Society subscrib rs who are not readers, these students are just the reverse : they are not anxious to be subscribers and put up the annual subscription fee of x a three dollars, but they are mighty an ious to become re ders an d make good use Of our publications. I hope I do not be tray conﬁdences when I state that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has already applied to our Society in the di recti on

c s le iti indi ated, and that there is rea on to expect that their g a mate wishes will ﬁnd favorable hearing . Let us hope that the Menorah Of our Jewi sh college youth will carry the light of Jewish culture and Jewish ideals to the Jews o f America, and through them to the Jews of the

. a world Mr . M rshall has just spoken of the Materialization e e of the Ideal, the mat rial expr ssion of the ideal brotherhood

ae Of . of Isr l, as characteristic of the past phase our Society May the next phase be marked by the Idealization Of the

CHARTER AND B Y - LAWS CHARTER

The terms of the charter are as follows The name Of the co rp oration is TH E JEWI S H PUB LI CATI ON C ET or CA SO I Y AMERI . The sai d Corporation is formed for the support of a benevo ca a ak n m the lent edu tion l undert i g, na ely, for publication and s iv dissemination of literary, scientific, and religiou works , g ing instructi on in the principles Of the Jewish religion and in s r Jewi h histo y and lite rature . The business Of sai d corporation is to be transac ted in the n city ad county of Philadelphia . r a The corp oration is totexist pe petu lly . i n a as ere e . There s o c pit l o ck, and th are no shar s of stock The c to r orporation is be managed by a Board of T ustees, ofli cers consisting of fifteen members, and by the following

P e- resident, Vic President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and such i other ofﬁcers as may from time to t me be necessary . CHARTER AND B Y -LAWS

B Y -LAWS

ARTI CLE I

Membership — E CT ON I . e A al S I The Society shall be compos d of ntnu Members, Special Members, Library Members, Pa rons, h t and . s te Friends, Life Members Any per on of Jewish fai h may become a Member by paying annuall y the sum of three dollars or a Special Member by the annual payment of ﬁve dollars or a Library Member by the annual pay ment of ten dollars or a Patron by the annual pay ment of twenty dollars or a Friend by the annual payment Of ﬁfty dollars or a Life Member by one payment of one hundred dollars — eco a b S E C. II . Any Jewish Society may b me Member y the annual payment Of ten dollars —An ma e e c e b S E C. III . y pe rson y b com a Subs rib r y the annual payment of three dollars which entitles him or her to all the publications of the Society to which members are entitled .

ARTI CLE I I

Meetings

E CT ON I — e i Of c s S I . The annual m et ng this So iety hall be held in the month of May, the day of such meeting to be

ﬁxed by the Directors at their meeting in the previous March . — S E C. II . Special meetings may be held at any time at the l the Of ca l of President, or by a vote a majority of the Board f b Of O Directo rs , or at the written request of ﬁfty mem ers the

Society . 1 76 THE JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ARTI CLE I I I

Ofﬁcers and their Duties

EC — s TI ON I . S There hall be ﬁfteen Directors, to be elected by the Society by ballot .

r n At the fi st meeti g all of the said fifteen shall be elected , a five of them to serve for one ye r, five for two years, and five e e for three y ars, and at every subsequent annual m eting five shall be elected for three years .

E I — th c S C. . e I Out of said ﬁfteen, the So iety shall annu

a - ally elect President, Vice President, and S econd Vice

s t fﬁ . Pre ident, who shall hold heir O ces for one year

E — l S C. III . The Society shall a so elect ﬁfteen Honorary

- s ma for r s Vice Pre idents, in the same nner and the same te m of Office as the Directors are chosen . — S E C. . o Of l IV The B ard Directors sha l elect a Treasurer, a Secretary, and such other Ofﬁcers as they may from time to time ﬁnd necessary or expedient for the transaction of the ’ Society s business . S E C — V . Of . The Board Directors shall appoint its own mm e di m co itte s, inclu ng a Publication Committee, which co miti ce may consist in whole or in part Of members of the o B ard . u l The P b ication Committee shall serve for one year .

ARTI CLE IV

! uorum

E TI ON — S C I . Forty members of the Society shal l constitute a e quorum for the transaction of busin ss .

1 78 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ARTI CLE I x

Finances — E CT ON I . c S I Moneys re eived for life memberships, and donations and bequests for such purpose , together with such other moneys as the Board of Directors may deem proper, s tu an shall con ti te a perm ent fund, but the interest of such fund may be used for the purposes of the Society .

ARTI CLE x

Amendments

Th ese B y- Laws may be altered or amended by a vote Of two- thirds of those entitled to vote at any meeting of the ’ Society ; provided that thirty days notice be given of i e Board D r ctors, by publication, to the members of the

Society . LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

1 888 - 191 3

B E . Y ELLI N I A RAHAMS , ISRA L S ee also , DAV D . Th O 1 1 2 e 9 . Book f Delight and Other Papers .

C i 1 8 99 . hapters on Jewish L terature .

1 896 . Jewish Life in the Middle Ages . E Y ADL R, C RUS a 56 60 56 6 1 Americ n Jewish Year Book, 5 6 6 2 56 6 3 56 64 56 6 5 56 6 6

i h ne 1 904 . The Voice of America on K s i ﬁ .

1 9 05 . Jews in Many Lands .

Sabbath Hours . Translated from the German by Wilhelmina

l 1 893 . Jastrow ( Wa lerstein ) . L E AGUI AR , GRAC . 1 9 2 T 0 . The Vale O f Cedars and Other ales . ‘ - HA H A A M s . A D ( p eud . of Asher Ginzberg ) n Selected Essays . Tra slated from the Hebrew by Leon i 1 91 2 S mon . . B ENTWI CH , NORMAN . -Judaeu 1 91 0 Philo s of Alexandria . . E CANFI LD , W . W . o 1 912 The Sign above the D or . . E B E COH N , ISA L E .

1 905 . Legends and Tales .

1 895 . Readings and Recitations .

PE . . COO R , S W

1 8 90 . Think and Thank . DARMES TE I ER E E , ARS N . T T The almud . ranslated from the French by Henrietta 1 89 Szold . 7 . 18 0 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

M e . DAVIS ( SALA AN ) , NINA. Editor and translator from the H brew

1 1 . Songs of Exile . By Hebrew Poets . 90 T E T . DAVI , MICHA L 1 9 Within the Pale . 03 . DE MB I T W z E . , L IS N n 1 898 Jewish Services in Sy agogue and Home . . E UT E M E D SCH , ANU L. T 1 895 The almud . . D UB N ow . , S . M T n Jewish History . ra slated from the German of Israel Fried

. 1 903 laender by Henrietta Szold .

E E . FRANK , H L NA . Editor and translator from the Yiddish See also E E E B P R Z , ISAAC LO . 1 1 2 9 . Yiddish Tales .

FRANK , ULRICH ( pseud . of Ulla Wolff ) .

l azm - Th i T Simon E iche k t e Patr arch . ranslated from the Ger

o 1 907 . man by Adele Sz ld ( Seltzer ) . FRIEDE NWALD E B E T , H R R n 56 69 5 670 5671 America Jewish Year Book , 5 6 72 56 73

GI N ZB ERC O I , L U S .

Th e 4 . T the e L gends of the Jews . vols ranslated from Ger

man Manuscript by Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin . 1 90 9 1 91 0 1 91 1 1 913 , , , . TH T O . G LDSMI , MIL ON 1 8 91 Rabbi and Priest . . O UE G RDON , SAM L.

1 900 . Sons of the Covenant . 1 902 Strangers at the Gate . .

GRAETz E . , H INRICH T His tory of the Jews . 6 vols . ranslated from the German i by Bella Lo ewy ; biography of author by Ph lipp Bloch , translated from the German by Henrietta Szold ; index

1 8 91 1 893 1 894 1 894 1 895 1 898 . by Henrietta Szold . , , , , ,

REE T E U . G NS ON , J LIUS H 1 90 6 The M essiah Idea in Jewish History . .

LI OWI ZI E Y . I , H NR 1 89 In the Pale . 7.

18 2 THE JEWI SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

PEREz E B , ISAAC LO .

Stories and Pictures . Translated from the Yiddish by Helena

1906 . Frank . P PHILI SON , DAVID. 4 1 8 9 . Old European Jewries .

E B RHIN , A RAHAM B . 1 91 Leon Gordon . 0 . Y T E RUSKA , ES H R J . 1 Hearth and Home Essays . 1 90 . H E TE SC CH R, SOLOMON . i 1 9 8 6 . Stud es in Judaism. First Series .

. 1908 . Studies in Judaism Second Series . B E SCHNA L, LOUIS . ’ T Voegele s Marriage and Other ales . Translated from the

e . 18 92 G rman .

S LOU S CH z . , NAHUM T The Renascence o f Hebrew Literature . ranslated from the

. 1 909 French by Henrietta Szold .

- C E Y SOLIS OH N , EMIL .

- David the Giant Killer and Other Tales O f Grandma Lo pez .

1 908 .

E I ETT DY . SZOLD , H NR A See also MAGNUS , LA 5 6 6 5 56 6 6 5 6 6 7 American Jewish Year Book , 56 68

E TE T WOLF NS IN , MAR HA . 1 901 Idyls Of the Gass . . 1 90 A Renegade and Other Tales . 5 .

Y ELLI N D R E A B . , DAVI , and IS A L RAHAMS 0 1 9 3 . Maimonides .

ZA NGW I LL E . , ISRA L 2 2 . 1 89 . Children of the Ghetto . vols 1 8 . Dreamers of the Ghetto . 98

1 9 . They That Walk in Darkness . 8 9

R E Y . ZI NDORF, H NR T n Some Jewish Women . ra slated from the German by Syl 1 8 92 van Drey . . LI S T OF PUBLICATIONS

’

1 893 1 894 . Papers of the Jewish Women s Congress , . Pap ers Presented at the Fi fth Annual Session of the Summer

s C 1 902 . Assembly O f the Jewi h hautauqua Society . Proceedings of th e First Convention of the National Council of

1 8 97. Jewish Women . T h s . 1 903 . e P alms . A New Translation

T HE JEWISH PUB LICATION S OCIETY O F A M ERICA 6 08 CHES TNUT S T REET E P H . P ILAD L HIA , PA