BS: The Rabbi Who Seceded From the South

Subject: BS: The Rabbi Who Seceded From the South
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Apr 11 - 07:41 PM

The Rabbi Who Seceded From the South
April 15, 2011
by Patrick Young, Esq.

Bertram Korn, rabbi and scholar of 19th century American Jewish history, observed a half century ago that most American rabbis during the months leading up to the Civil War were notably quiet on the issue of slavery.

... European Liberals had advocated a secular state in which Jews would be treated the same as other citizens. However, when Prussia and Austria crushed the liberal movement, it dashed the hopes of many Central European Jews for full citizenship.

Worried about their future in the German-speaking lands, many Jews began to look to America as a new home. ... Jewish communal leaders, worried about provoking an anti-Semitic reaction against their exposed congregations, tried to keep a low political profile in an America increasingly prone to explode in political violence. They were religious refugees in a place that offered them shelter and they did not want to relive the strife of Europe.

An exception to this rule was Rabbi David Einhorn of Baltimore....



Read more here: The Rabbi Who Seceded From the South, the story of a courageous act that still resonates, today.

~Susan