Letter from Josephus Justus Belinfante to Isaac Leeser;May 17, 1857

Title: Letter from Josephus Justus Belinfante to Isaac Leeser;May 17, 1857
Author: Josephus Justus Belinfante
Contributor: Isaac Leeser
Date Created: 17 May 1857
Location(s): The Hague; Philadelphia
Format: Letter. 4 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).
Type: Letter
Language(s): English
Has Format: https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p39k46d01/manifest.json
Link to Colenda: https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p39k46d01
Physical Characteristics: Unlined Paper; Manuscript
Is Part Of: The Dropsie College Isaac Leeser Collection at the Penn Libraries
content: To
the Reverend I. Leeser
at
Philadelphia

to the Reverend
Dr. I. Leeser.
at Philadelphia.
Hague, the 17 Mai 57.
Dear Sir,
I have to repent? my sincere thanks for receiving now regularly the Occident that valuable paper furnishes me every time great satisfaction. I have send you last you some ? from Europe, however I have not found them noticed or ?. Did you receive them?
I heare with pleasure good tiding from my freind d'Arcona and his family. God has given them now prosperity and happiness after a great deal of suffering here. May that prosperous state continue.
Did you read in the number of 15 Oct. last of the Revue des Deme Mandes? a very clever article on Jewish affairs by a Frenchman, M. Erqinros?? There are some misgivings in that paper, however generally speaken the spirit is as generous as the facts true. Perhaps you may give us some extracts of that publication, the more as therein is spoken about the American Jews allso.
I did converse last week with an Israelite of reputation, the celebrated Benjamin II, a Jewish traveller who has made exploration five years long in the far East, in Egypt, and on the Barbarian shores, to elucidate the situation of Jewish communities, Jewish history & He has published a work in French, ? Années de Voyage en Orient, wherein he consigned the first results of his remarquable voyage. He intended now to go to the Indian Archipelago, then to ? Indian and, if possible, crossing Cabaal and Afghanistan to return by these remoted Oriental countries. Our government has given him already the necessary permission to set out for Batavia. If he has completed his Oriental explorations, he may perhaps visit your country and America in general. If you, Sir, did not read still his voyage, I will

to the utmost to procure it you.
As for other publications about Jewish affairs in Holland, I have to ? first the Jaarboekje, or Ter. Annual for Israelites 1857, being the 7th year. It had again some valuable papers, and poetry of note. M. Mulder has contributed a very clever biographical sketch of Johan Reuchlin, the human and learned protestor of the Jews in Germany in the 15th and 16th ages; Mr. Bortel, Historical and letter, miscellaneous. Further deserves notice a biography of Benjamin Haas, a Jewish (student at the Leyden university, who died last year); the great particularity in his life was, he being unhappily struck with blindness, he continued his classical carreer and by the aid of friends and otherwise he was amazed the first students of the university his dead was very severely lamented by his parents, his friends and professors. M. de Sola, at London has contributed here some hebraical poetry, that has been translated in Dutch verse. The young Sr.? poetreiss?, ? Estella Vertzueld, has adorned this annual with a very beautiful production, het Gebed (the Prayer), a production of a high minded high inspirated and deep feeling young maid. Delaville, docent at the ? seminarium at Amsterdam, has published afterwards last days a beautiful hebraic translation of it.
M. Lutomirsky, a great hebraissant allso at Rotterdam, has published a Dutch and the br. Prayerbook and has dedicated it to Miss Estella Hertzued; who the a younger sister of that poetress; Maria, is also a ? in prose, of great promise.

From a parliamentary paper we extract the following exact statistics concerning the Jewish population in the American possessions of the Netherlands (on 31 Dec. 1855).

Suriname
1412
St. Eustache
3

Curaçao
747
St. Martin
1

Bun-Aire
1
Saba
11

Aruba
1
Total
2,165.

The Portugese Jews community in Suriname counts 675 members; the German Jews 737.
The Government has approved the election of the rabbinical aspirant M. Lewenstein, who will be chief rabbin for the two communities at Suriname.
I believe these particulars will interest you, and I hope being able to forward to you, sir very soon, other particulars. If you publish them, you will give you the trouble to make the necessary corrections, the English not being my mother tongue.
I take the liberty in one of my preceding letters to ask you some particulars about M. de Silva Solis, who dead some years ago; he was, I believe, a far relation of mine. If possible, write me something about him and my family at Jamaica; it is but family interest that induces me to give you that trouble.
Dispose with all liberty on me, here, and agree, sir, the assurance of my deeprooted feelings on your part; so believe me, your humble and most obedient servant,
J.J. Belinfante
Identifier: LSDCBx2FF4_38
Date: 1857-05-17

Part of Letter from Josephus Justus Belinfante to Isaac Leeser;May 17, 1857

Josephus Justus Belinfante, “Letter from Josephus Justus Belinfante to Isaac Leeser;May 17, 1857”, 1857-05-17, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/66370