USA > South Carolina > Charleston County > Charleston > The Jews of South Carolina; a survey of the records at present existing in Charleston > Part 3
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RULE XV.
The Institution of Kaaren Kavematt is hereby ac. knowledge and made sacred, agreeable to the written contracts heretofore existing between the same and this Congregation. for the benefit of said Institution.
Offerings shall be permitted in the Synagogue, and the Gaboy thereof shall be entitled to a seat in the Banea. The Parnassim and Gaboy shall not be eligible to the situation of Gaboy of Kaaren Kayematt.
I RULE XTI.
The powers vested in the Trustees. as recorded on the 1Lth December. 1701. are hereby acknowledged and
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inalle sacred: and if any vacancy shall occur. either by death. resignation or otherwise. the same shall be Blod up after three weeks notice, but .no one shall be eligible to the office of Trustee, unless he is a Yachid of this Congregation, and a resident of this city.
RULE XVII.
Any person. who from poverty or other misfortune, -hall make ir appear to the Privato Adjunta, flint he is notreply incapable without manifest injury to him- self or family) to settle and pay off his arrears before Rossanne: they shall be authorized to take his note for the amount due. thereupon he shall be permitted to subscribe for the next year, and retain his seat, and the honors of the Congregation; and, as soon as vaid Pri- vate Adjunta. er their successore shall be satisfied. that the condition of such person or persons i- altered. 30 as to enable him or them to par and wattle auch arrears. it shall be their duty to call for the whole or part of such arrears: and if after one month's notice. he or they shall refuse to settle. the Hlaboy is hereby authorized and empowered to put the same in suit. and the delin- quents shall remain deprived of all their right4. honors, and privileges, until such arrears are paid or sariatel: but in no case whatsoever, unless a person pleads nov- erty to the Adjunta, shall notes or bonds be taken for any arrears due the Congregation.
RULE XVIII
Any person having a marriage in his family. a Son Migran, or making years for his parents. a birth, or his wife going out of her lying-in. or other occasions of ing and sorrow, such person or persons, on making the same known in proper time. either in writing or personally to the Parnass Presidenta. shall be entitled to demand, and shall receive all the customary honors and rights in the Synagogue, provided on no such occasion, shall the Parnass Presidenta be bound to permit an escoba. or call the person to the Sephar. on the day of Ros- sanna. Kipur. or Hossainna Raba. unless he thinks proper to do so: and if the Parnass Presidenta. after due and reasonable notice, shall neglect or deprive any
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person or persons of their rights and honors granted to them under this law. he shall be amenable for the ame, on complaint to the Private Adjunta, and be liable to a fine not less than five, and not exceeding twenty dol- lars.
RULE XIX.
All Mishberachs shall be permitted in the Hebrew or Spanish language. optional to the party so offering. and all the Mizvots be given out in the Hebrew and no other langage; and all natives in the Synagogue shall be proclaimed in English: and such part of the *Han- noten Tashua as was usually -aid in English. be con- tinned in the same manner.
RULE XX.
On every Kipur night perpetually. the first escoba shall be made for the Rural Moses Cohen, decreased. be- cause he was appointed and confirmed de Bever. ml Doctor of this Congregation. from its nest establish- ment, and as such it is conceived every mark of respect is the to his memory. That the second cela be made for Rabbi Move- Flerzar. because he was a learned man in the laws of Cod, and until his death had caught the youth of this Congregation, and manifested nremitted zeal to promote religion in this country. That the third escoba be made for Mr. Philip Hart: and the fourth for Mr. Gushon Cohen: the with for Mr. Israel expli: the sixth for the Reverend AAbraham Azuby, who died the Hazan of this congregation. highly re-prete and lamented for the purity of his life. and strict attention to his clerical duties: that the seventh be made the Mr. Abraham Alexander, sen. deceased, who volumered his services to perform divine services and that the eighth be made for the Reverend Emanuel Naue- Carvalho. deceased, who had been an acknowledged Hazan of this Congregation for several years, and died much respected and lamented by a large circle of friends and congrega- tors, among whom he resided. And further. that any person desirous of having an escoba for any of his rela - tives or friends. shall pay for every list not exceeding six names, thirteen dollars; and for every one exceeding six. two dollars additional. for the benefit of the Zedaki. which list and money must be presented to the Hazan
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at least three days previous to Kipur; and that no per- son be permitted to alter to the foregoing escobas loss than one delor and the name of the person to intending i offer alike to be furnished to the Hazan at least three days previous Do Niver; and moreover, any Hazan if this Congregation doing while in office. shall be mutitled co an escoba perpetually.
RULE XXI.
Any person mot ling under the disabilities of this constitution, who had made, or hereafter shall make a gift of device to this copyrogation. the Hebra or th Kanten Kavemart, and present valued by the Private Adjunta at sixty dollars, Sinh beregtitled to a Public "lichberach during life, and after his decrase an parola on every Kipur night perpetually, but after the first Kipur no escola shall be mole for any person leaving Lequest, until the legacy he paid into the hands of the Calor
RULE AXIL
The Anniversary of the Conservation of the Studyoque shall be commemorated perpetually by this Congrega- tin. on the Sabbath previous to Rosanna. when there will be made a public escoba for Mevers. Israel Joseph und Philip Hart. as the principal benefactors in promot- ing the building of the Synagogue. also a public escoba. ter Mr. Cushion Cohen. for his umerutred zeal and exer- tions in superintending the building until its comple- time and also, for Mr. Leob Cohen, who was essentially servircalde, in like manner: and that a Public Misberach during life. and after death an escola be made for DFr. Lyon Mores for making a donation of a set of bass chandeliers in behalf of himself and family, and that one General Mi-hberach be made for all persons. who contributed towards this piou- undertaking.
RCLE XXIII.
This Congregation will not encourage or interfere with making proselyte- under any pretence whatever. nor shall any such be admitted under the jurisdiction of this Congregation, until be. she. or they produce legal and satisfactory credentials, from some other Congregation,
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where a regular Chief, or Rabbi and Hebrew .Consistory is established; and, provided, he, she, or they, are not people of colour.
RULE XXIV.
Any person or persons being married contrary to the Mosaical Law. or renonneing his or their religion. shall themselves and their issue. never be recomized mem- beis of this Congregation; and should such person or persons die, they shall not be buried within the walls of the Beth-Hiam. unless he, she: or they shall have reformed, at least one year previous In his or their death. and undergone such penance as is prescribed by the laws of our Holy religion.
Nor shall any person. desirous of construmating i marriage with any female who has lived a- a prostitute. or kept a disorderly house. he permitted such marriage under the sanction of this Congregation, but houkl such person or persons to marry without its jurishe- tion, and after having lived some years, a moral and decont life. he or they, shall be entitled to the wine right of becoming Yachidim as all stranger- arriving in this city.
RULE XXV.
Any person or persons publicly violating the sabbath. or other sacred dass, shall be deprived of every privileg" of synagogue and the services of its officers. HP (I they shall also be subieet to such fine and penalties as the Painassim and Adjunta may drem tit. nor shall be or they be re-admitted to the privileges atoresaid, until he or they shall have paid the fine and ulated the punishment to be inflicted under this Inw.
RULE XXTI.
All strangers, after residing in this city the time affixed by law. and all persons residing out of its limits. should they require the honors and privileges of this Congregation, such as the consummation of marriage. or other joyful occasions, or burial for any corpse, nor belonging to this Congregation, they shall not be granted such request. unless the applicants pay into the bands of the Gaboy. a sum not less than fiteen. and not ex- ceeding two hundred dollars of which the Paroassim
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and Private Adjunta shall be sole judges, and their Aversion shall be binding. without any appeal what-
RULE XXVIL
All bonds and specialties belonging to this Congre- ration, or the Kaaren Karematt. shall be deposited with the Parnass Prezidenta, who shall deliver the same to his successor in office, with a regular statement thereof. within one month from the expiration of his term of office: and in case of wilful neglect or refusal, the Pri- vate Adjunta shall, previous to the next return day. commence a prosecution against him. and it after the determination of court, the property a fraudulently withheld from this Congregation. ale ulu not be restored. he shall forever be deprived of all rights, honors and privileges of this Congregation. even burial within the walls of the Beth-Hiam, until such bonds or specialries are restored, and the Congregation indemnified for all damage they have sustained.
The Gabox shall render his vearly transactions to the Private Adjunta, within one month after his term of offire has expired: and in case of wilful neglect or re- fusal. or evading payment of any balance that may re- main in his hands, due the Congregation trovi his office, the same procedure on the part of the Private Adjunta. shall be observed, and he shall ineur the penal parts of the foregoing section in their full effect.
And should any member of the Congregation deface. destroy. embezzle. or make away with any books. papers, specialties. monies, or other valuables belonging to this Congregation, he shall be liable to all forfeitures and prosecutions. as provided against the executive officer.
And where, hitherto, there has been considerable ney- lect in a proper preservation of the papers and records of this Congregation, it shall henceforth be the duty of the Secretary, to take special care of any papers apper- taining thereto, and to hand the same over to his su- cessor in office; , and upon failure thereof, he shall be called before the Private Adjunta, and fined at their discretion.
RULE XXVIII,
The Secretary shall keep a register of all marriages. births, and beriths and deaths that may happen in the
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Congregation, and a book of record for the purpose of ex- tering up such marriages, births. beriths and drata -: : Eu also all legacies bequeathed to this Congregation.
He shall attend trungogue regularly to take account of offerings and charge the same. He shall colleer all accounts dute the Congregation, and pay the same over to the Gabor monthly, his books being at all times open to the inspection of the Private Adjunta: but in no other instance shall be be bound to give them out of his possession. He shall render personal security in one or more persons, as the Private Adjunta shall direct.
RULE XXIX.
The Hazan, for performing a marriage ceremony. shall receive not less than ten dollars to be paid him previ- gis to such marriage, and the Shaman, three dollars. she shall. if called upon, deliver the invitation card. and attend with the canopy; and no portal is part.I. to perform these duties, but the officers alice nay unless legally authorized by the Parnassim andl Admet and. in such case the Hazan and Shama>> shall B .: deprived of their lawful fors. Any person mentesen this law, shall be fined dity dollars, ont of which the officer- shall receive their compensation. "and the bal- ance be carried to the fund- of the Congregation. And the person so offending shall be deprived of all his rights and privileges, until said fine is paid.
RULE XXX.
The Ilatan Vora and Hatan Berashith, shall he elociel by the General Adjunta from among the Yachidim ar the general election. They shall have no extraordinary claims to the honors of the Synagogue, but on their respective days. After an election of three sets of Hatanim. should they refuse to serve. the vacancy che !! be filled up by the Parnassim and Private Adjunta, who shall ballot from among themselves, and to whomsoever the lot may fall. he, or they. shall be compelled to serve: hut. any person. being once fined for non-acceptance. shall not be liable to be drawn, when the case shall devolvo on the Adjunta. And no person shall he com- pelled to serve in any of the above offices. more than ona in every five years.
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RULE XXXL.
it shall be the dety of the Parnass of the Beth Him In take charge of the same, together with the bearse. and have them kept in good order. He shall be tur- nished with a book, wherein the Carroars shall properly be lail ent. and he shall at all times attend, and joint out the place of burial. He shall be under the vontrol of the Private Adjunta, and his books shall at all times be open for their inspection. And any reasonable or necessary expense incurred by said officer, shall be de- frayed by the Congregation.
PRESSES OF THE DAGGETT PRINTING COMPANY, Charleston, S. C. 1904.
A CENTURY OF JUDAISM IN
SOUTH CAROLINA
1800-1900.
€
BY
Dr. BARNETT A. ELZAS,
Rabbi of K. K. Beth Elohim.
Barnett A. Elzas.
A Century of Judaism ... in ...
South Carolina
1800-1900.
I appreciate the courtesy of The News And Courier in asking me to contribute to Its centennial edition this unwritten chap- ter of history. I will do my best with it, though the request is one that is not easily complied with. I come at once to my theme without further introduction.
Looking back a hundred years we find only a few, small, scattered communities of Jews in the United States. The total Jewish population did not exceed. if indeed it re- presented a total of 2,500 souls. There was the Congregation Shearith Israel, of New York, the oldest of them all. Then there was the Congregation Yeshuat Israel of Newport, R. I, or what was left of it-for most of the Jewish population had departed with the decadence of its commerce after the Revolution. There was the small Mick- veh Israel Congregation, of Savannah, and the congregation that bore the same name at Philadelphia. There was the Beth Sha- lome Congregation of Richmond, Va. And. finally, there was the largest community of all-K. K. Beth Elohim of Charleston, S. C. The fortunate accident of the recovery of the early recorde of this last congregation enables me to write this wondrously inter- esting chapter which, without these rec- ords, would be utterly impossible of accom- plishment.
There is no occasion for me to refer here to the men who composed this community. I have already published this portion of the story in detall in the columns of this pa- per. (See my Pamphlet Reprints: "A His- tory of Congregation Beth Elohim of Charleston, S. C., 190)-1810." Charleston, S. C., November, 1902.) The personnel of the community, however, is well worthy ot study, as having an important bearing up- on the subsequent development of Judaism In the United States, for Charleston was the scene of the first great Intellectual movement among the Jews of America and subsequently, too, was the ploneer in the evolution of that significant product-a fac- tor that only within recent years has been recognized as a factor to be reckoned with at all-I mean American Judaism. Suffice it, to say, then, that at the beginning of the nineteenth century the Jewish community of Charleston was the most cultured. as well as the largest community of Jews in America.
To understand the historical development of Judaism in South Carolina we must re- member that Beth Elohim of Charleston was practically an offshoot of the old Span- Ish and Portuguese Jewish community of London. True, in 1800, the Portuguese Jews In Charleston were already in a minority, but Bevis Marks had left its imprint on the synagogue so Indelibly that for nearly half a century thereafter the ritual followed was that of the Portuguese communities "as practiced in London and Amsterdam."
Let us now try to get a glimpse of the Charleston community ecclesiastically in the year 1800. I can give no better picture of it than that furnished by an English writer of the parent community, in a series of articles which he contributed to the Lon- don Jewish Chronicle of December 28, 1900, and January 4, 1901, entitled, "A Hundred years Ago." Here is what he has to tell of It:
The Jews were, of course, strictly ortho- dox. "Members of congregations were ruled with a rod of iron. * * * The most venial of- fence was punished with a. fine, failure to pay which, might be visited with severer
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penalties still. Members were frequently called before the Kahal (congregation) and
for it. * * * In Bevis Marks the government made to explain their conduct or apologize
camo: (by-laws) had the effect of driving how the tyrannous character of their As- man congregation and it is an oft-told tale was far more autocratic than in the Ger-
fold of the community. Among the Portu- Isaac D'Israell and many another from the attending a Minyan (assembly for prayer) guese the penalty for establishing or even
within the city of London and Its suburbs, except during the week of mourning was excommunication. Anyone even knowing of
hamad (board of elders) of it, was Hable such a meeting and not informing the Ma-
to the same penalty. And as late as the year Ists a gentleman was visited with the utmost rigors of the law because he ven- tured to have a Minyan at his house on the first night of Pentecost, followed by prayers in the early morning. He and his fellow
worshippers "were deprived of their seats in synagogue, their names were erased from the list of Tehidim, (voting members) they were relegated to certain places at the back of the reading desk, disqualified from being called up to the law, declared ineligible for two years for any pious duties, and finally fines of £40 and $20 respectively were in- Aicted upon them." * * * It was a punisha- ble offence to offend the president, to stir up public opinion against the action of the eiders or the Mahamad, to strike a person either in the synagogue or the court yard,
to strike or insult anyone in the burial ground or its precincts. * * * Such offences were variously punished by fine or depri- vation of rights. * * Anyone openly
desecrating the Sabbath ceased to be a Yahld. A person who married out of the faith was excluded from being a Yahid and from all the offices and honors of the syna- gogue. * * * Then there was a whole system of fines in vogue, for refusing to accept of- fice, for refusing to be called up, for not at- tending synagoguewhen due to be called up, for not attending congregational or com- mittee meetings, for not being present to
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answer to che's name when it was called, or leaving before the meeting was over without the president's permission." "The wonder is." says the editorial writer in the paper above quoted, (Jewish Chronicle, Jan- uary 4 1901.) "that people could be found willing to submit to such extraordinary penalties. The synagogue must have had an immense hold upon people in those days to exact so entire a submission It could only have wielded such a power so long as It remained the centre of the social life of the community. A defiance of its ruling would have Involved a social ostracism, the fear of which must have exercised as strong a deterrent as the religious penalties that would have been incurred by con- tumacy.' 'Nor is it difficult to under- stard,' he goes on to explain, "why, in early times, the synagogue should have de. wired to maintain so strict a rule. Sorge such imperium in imperio was necessary in the interests of the Jewish community. The synagogue authorities felt themselves in a measure responsible to the political powers for the good behavior of their coreligionists. The position of English Jews was not yet consolidated. The footing on which they had been admitted into this country was stili somewhat insecure. they enjoyed but scant liberties. A single false step might retard their emancipation. or endanger the liber- ties already won." "With the growth of a new order of things." he concludes, "thia regime has passed entirely away."
I have presented the story of the Spanish and Portuguese community in London in considerable detail and I have done so for very good reasons. In the first place, if for "London' we substitute "Charleston," we shall have an absolutely accurate picture of the Jewish community in that city in the year 1800 and for twenty-four years thereaf- ter. And in the next place, we have in this narrative a key to the origin of the great in- tellectual movement, which was born in Charleston in the year 13:4. to which I have already referred, and of which I must now write at some little length.
South Carolina was not England. In 1800
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Jews In England were excluded from all civil, municipal and political offices. No Jew could become a freeman of the city of London, Jews were thus precluded from opening retail shops and even from plying handicrafts within the precincts of the City proper. In South Carolina from the day of ite settlement, the Jew has never labored under the slightest civil or religious disa- bility whatsoever. In this respect South Carolina was unique among the British col- onies. It took the Jews of England over one hundred and fifty years to win by steady fighting, step by step, the civil and religious equality that were guaranteed to the dret Jew who set foot on South Caro- ilna goil. Im it to be wondered at that the Jew in an atmosphere of perfect civil and religious freedom should dovelop far more rapidly and in a different way from that in which he developed in the stifling atmos- phere at home?
The Jews of South Carolina at the begin- ning of the nineteenth century present, in- deed, a curious picture. The Jew is by na- cure essentially conservative. Left to him- self he modifies his ideas and his practices very slowly. Wherever he goes he carries the traditions of his old home with him and clings to these traditions as tender mem- ories of bygone days. He had come origi- nally to South Carolina, a child of the old Spanish and Portuguese community In London. It must have seemed strange to him who was accustomed to speak "with bated breath and whispered humbleness," to find a land where bis brethren in faith labored under no disabilities and where they even occupied positions of the highest trust. Yet here he was, living the old life under new skies, where circumstances were so different and where his whole environ- ment was changed. What was a natural life to him in England became an artificial life in South Carolina and it was only a question of time when he was compelled to adapt himself to hla environment or to pay the penalty which isolation Invariably en- taila.
The personnel of the Jewish community
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In Charleston comes Into evidence here and enables us to understand the subsequent course of events. In the early years of the nineteenth century Beth Elohim numbered amongst Its members the most intellectual men amongst the Jews of America; many, too, whose fathers had lived here before them, and who by their industry and by their Integrity had made the name Jew re- spected. The Jew was a man hery. The synagogue did not, as in England, have to feel itself responsible to the political powers for the good behavior of its members. The
position of the Jew was assured and that position had been strengthened by the con- duct of the Jew himself. The regime of Bevis Marks, which had been in vogue In South Carolina for at least seventy years, was now an anomaly. The Jews of South Carolina had outgrown that reginie and when this fact once became patent there were not wanting men with courage enough to take the first great step in the direction of progress.
And now, before speaking of the reform movement of 1824. I would protest against the prevailing conception that this move- ment came into existence in consequence of "early tendencies towards laxness and ir- religion" and "to stem the tide of already existing disloyalty and Irrellgion, which were enormous in volume before the reform movement took hold." I confess that I once held this view myself, but further in- vestigation has convinced me that this view is erroneous. I have failed to find a scintil- la of evidence for it.
I was fortunate enough last year to re- cover a copy of the constitution of Beth Elohim of 1820. I believe it is unique and I Intend to publish it shortly. This furnishes a good idea of the community religiously, as regards its internal economy, just before the time when reform was born. Read along with it the anniversary address of Isaac Harby before the Reformed Society of Israelites, (Harby's "Select Writings," pp 37-87) and the article in the North American Review of July, 1826, (pp 67-79,) and the picture is complete.
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