Letter from “One of Them” to R.I. · Isaac Leeser Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Letter from “One of Them” to R.I.

Author

“One of Them”

Contributor

R.I.

Location(s)

Philadelphia

Format

Letter. 4 page(s) on 6 sheet(s).

Type

Letter

Language(s)

English

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3js9hv16/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3js9hv16

Physical Characteristics

Unlined Paper

Manuscript

Is Part Of

http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125097480

content

1
To the Editor R I of the Asmonean.
Sir
an article which appeared in the Asmonean of the 13th ins. under the head of “The Occident and the Asmonean” challenges the animadonsion? not only of the friends of the Revd Gentleman therein assailed, but also of all friends of truth justice & the conventional decorum of society, all of which in this article are violated.
This Sir, is a strong, and may seem to you a harsh, & rude assertion; but I assure you, that it is not made in a wanton spirit of unkindly insult, nor with a view to provoke in your bosom any angry or unpleasant feeling, but is dictated solely by a sense of justice, to the object of your unmerited abuse, and to that religious community of which you assure to be a guide of shining light, whose dignity & respectability you have outraged by the contemptuous & scornful language you have held towards a man, who has ? entitled himself to the highest position in its regard, and whom is his delighted to honour with its esteem & reverence;
I feel assured this if you, will review the article in a calmer frame of mind than that ? which it was penned, you will yourself feel ashamed of the grossness of tone, and unworthy jealousy, with which you there endeavor to cast obloquy upon a man, whom your peevish susceptibilities have conjured into an enemy, and your jealous fancies converted into a rival;
What think you of the first sentence? “We (RI.) Do not usually bandy” “words with a man of whom we have ceased to think except with commiseration”

2
abstract yourself (if self love will allow) for a moment, from your own individuality, be for an instant not (R I) but one of the mass herd. of the nameless—now consider who it is, who this ceased to be aught but the object of commiseration to R I. Why truly it is he, who selected by one of the most ancient & respectable of the American congregations as their religious guide & instructor, at an age, when others have scarcely ceased from the frivolities of boyhood, gave instant proofs of piety & ability, which not only seemed for him the esteem of his flock but earned him an honored & venerated name throughout America & Europe; It is he, who when others were droning through their hebdomadal? duties, in the lifeless and monotonous forms of the synagogue, had the energy, zeal, and talent to take the lead of all others in America, in the introduction of sermons as a regular portion of the service, for the purpose of imparting to his flock religious instruction, and of infusing a living and breathing spirit of piety into the religious torpor that prevaded, and his merits are not less in this, that his sermons thus preached, were published at great cost & pecuniary risk by his own unaided exertions, and diffused to stimulate the slumbering piety of distant congregations, furnished an example, slowly followed at first, and at long & wide intervals, until (to use the expressions of those who on a late festival occasion, commemmorated in your pages, alluded to the practice, tho oblivious of his claims of precedence.) it has become a “sine que non” of synagogue requirement.
It is he whose midnight labors, illuminated by the pious zeal which urged him on the path of usefulness, in disregard of personal pain or privation, prepared for his coreligionists, suitable and correct translations, of the forms of prayer used by both minhags for the service throughout the year, freed from the grammatical inaccuracies and

3
Barbarous and inelegant phraseology which disfigured those previously in use. Furthermore sir it is he whose capacious intellect and untiring enterprize, conceived the idea of establishing a periodical devoted to Jewish advancement social & religious; & unaided, achieved it. It certainly does not argue favorably for the Jewish zeal, religious sincerity, or intellectual qualifications of the man one, who can boast “that he has had no opportunity properly to appreciate” such a man; but let us as gently as we may, examine the pretensions of R. I. who “has ceased to think of such a man with any other feeling than commiseration,” RI has but recently assumed a prominent position, as the Editor of a religious print, ostensibly devoted to the diffusion of religious truth & knowledge; and under the banner of the maccabees, stands forth, the champion of Jewish fame & Jewish right. It would be hardly fair, from the short experience the public have had of the ability with which he sustains the character, to pass a definite opinion of his merits; I confess that viewing his literary efforts as likely, if not of themselves, yet by stimulating them, to promote Jewish progress, in faith & knowledge; I have been disposed to approve them; and have been willing to admire and cheer the Banner of the Maccabees as it flaunted its folds in the air, altho' I could not believe the staff upborne? by a Sampson. But it is quite fair to impugn, the acrimony, the insolence, the jealousy (all evil passions) which the editor of a professedly religious paper exhibits in an attack against the personal character & public utility of any individual; how much more, when against one whose fame & honor should be cherished by every Jew, and by those of America, regarded as a subject of national pride!
R. I “derides arrogance, chastens insolence and rebuts falsehood” did it not occur to him when framing his attack, that

? in his bosom? and that likely an unskilful engineer he might be crushed by the recoil of his own gun? let him read the passage and ask himself, if he ever penned any thing more arrogant, insolent & false—and when he shall have than this contemptuous derogation & denunciation of the merit of a rival Editor, whose position is as eminent, as his own, has hitherto been obscure,—
I do not desire to pursue the subject further, and in taking leave of Mr. I. I again repeat, that it is no unkind or hostile feeling that I have written. If from the nature of the subject and if necessitate ?, I have been forced to use harsh & ungentle expressions it has bee my feelings have been those of the surgeon, who cuts but to cure, and whose heart feels pain, while his patient bleeds.
I am sir with the best wishes for Jewish progress
One of them.

Identifier

LSTCAT_item90