Letter from G. D. (Gotthardt Dellman) Bernheim to Isaac Leeser · Isaac Leeser Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Letter from G. D. (Gotthardt Dellman) Bernheim to Isaac Leeser

Author

G. D. (Gotthardt Dellman) Bernheim

Contributor

Isaac Leeser

Location(s)

Philadelphia

Format

Letter. 4 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).

Letter

Type

Letter

Language(s)

English

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p37659x8t/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p37659x8t

Physical Characteristics

Unlined Paper

Manuscript

Is Part Of

http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124516100

content

For the Occident.
Rev. Mr. Leeser; I read in the October number of the Occident an account given by yourself & Mr. E. Marcussohn in which he makes statements, which utterly & entirely deny the fact, that he had left the Jewish faith & united himself with, or at least had been amongst Christians, also denying some statements made as to his conversion in the August number of the Jewish Chronicle, declaring Rev. Mr. Bonhomme, and several other ministers in Montgomery as those that had spread base falsehoods concerning him.
Now if Mr Marcussohn's account be true, & such really is the case, he has suffered severely & suffered inno-cently, and nothing rejoices me more than that such foul deeds were so openly and deservedly exposed to be detested by every virtuous man. However, there are some things that I cannot fully understand, as they are “too high and too deep” for me, and therefore I wish Mr. Marcussohn, who certainly is an erudite and an honourable man, to explain them for me; we ministers, down South here, are such common & plain folks, that we cannot fully comprehend the conduct of Mr. E. Marcussohn, I would wish him then to explain unto me the following circumstances: -
1stly. If Mr. M. had never left the Jewish faith why should he tell me & others, that he had publicly re-nounced that faith before the congregation which he served as Chazan or Shochet in the city of Montgomery Ala. 2Ndly. Why should he try to prove his sincerity

in having done so, as he stated, by telling me that in so doing he lost an excellent annual salary, part of which had already been earned by several months service ren-dered the Jewish congregation in Montgomery, & for which he did not receive a cent on account of his having left the Jewish faith. 3dly Why should he come to me in the character of a converted Israelite, staying in my house for two weeks, instead of shunning me as a Christian minister, and go amongst his Jewish brethren.
4thly Why also should he have necessity to shave him-self in our house, since as a sincere Jew, and withal a Jewish Rabbi or Chazan, it was not lawful for him to do so; en passant; will you just be so kind Mr. Leeser; & ask him to show you the nice set of shaving appara-tus I presented unto him. 5thly Why should he want of me a commission to labour as a missionary to the Jews, and went with that intention to Columbia, S.C.
6thly Why did he ask me, and also make me promise to come to Columbia in a week after he left Charleston, & be present to witness initiation into the Christian church by baptism, which I also would have done, had not our family been taken sick with the Yellow fever about that time, having also been afflicted with the loss of a dear mother with that disease. Will you also please ask him to let you see the letter of introduction to the Revd E. B. Hart of Columbia, which I gave him.
7thly It was also his misfortune that he should have re-ceived some money from me, for which I hold his receipt, & which, so he says in his last letter to me from Philada.

dated the 12 of Septr 1852, he will refund, besides that which the Christian friends in Montgomery have given him, when I know, that, had he never given up his Jewish faith the truly benevolent Israelites in Charleston, who never yet have refused a worthy applicant for aid, and who lately were so kind to the poor Jews during the past prevailing epidemic, would certainly have assisted him in his distress; thus saving him the trouble of going amongst Christians for pecuniary assistance. 8thly Why also, if Mr. M. had never left that faith, did he beg me in his last letter, not to write anything concerning him. Ah! I am fearful that he knew I might mention some few circumstances, which in a slight degree would contradict a few statements made by him in the Occident, and thus the faith, as to the truth of his statements, which his Jewish brethren would have, might slightly be impaired. 9thly You state, Mr. Leeser; that Mr. Marcussohn remarked that his sole reason for going North was to contradict the statements made in the Jewish Chronicle as to his conversion. Now I would readily believe this, for Mr. M. is certainly an honourable man, if it were provable that an upright man would travel over 1000 miles for this sole purpose, spending nearly $100.00 expenses collecting money for this sole reason among Christians by false statements, taking a circuituous route; when all might be accomplished by simply publish-ing a letter in the Occident, which he might have sent you.
10thly If that were his sole reason for going North, then he must have had a vision in Montgomery, that those statements would be published in the Jewish Chronicle about conver-sion, for his first saw them at my house, when he had

already performed nearly one half of his journey to the North.
Now I might go on still further in giving you more facts, either of which, as either of the others which I have given, would confirm the statements made in the Jewish Chronicle, viz; that Mr. E. Marcussohn did renounce the Jewish faith; but these are sufficient to convince any candid mind; however of the circumstances connected with his conversion, I know nothing, as I do not reside in Montgomery, and was not present at that time, I only give, an inquiring public what I do know & no more.
It may also be alleged, that as Mr. M was not baptized he did not renounce his faith in Judaism, but that does not follow at all, Baptism can only be considered as con-firming his former acts & conduct publicly declared by him-self baptism alone will make no man a Christian; one thing, however, is certain, that Mr. M. did renounce the Jewish faith, but had not formally accepted of the Christian faith; God alone must judge his motives for acting so strangely. Upon the whole Mr. Leeser, I come to this conclusion, that if all Jews, especially converted Jews, were like Mr. E. Marcussohn, I would truly believe with you, that there would be very little hope of doing any good, in our way of thinking, among the children of Israel, therefore it follows, that we need not regret that he has turned back to the Jews again.
Yours sincerely
G. S. Bernheim
son of a converted Israelite
who died in the Christian faith
N. B. If what I have now written is not sufficient for Mr. Marcussohn, & he wishes to continue the controversy, I will in my next give to the public some things which he might not relish so well.

Identifier

LSDCBx3FF14_4