Last week I posted on the claim from 1855
that "Masonry is a Jewish institution" by "the founder
of American Judaism", but I had to rely on a secondary source albeit a scholarly and
Jewish one. Now thanks to Henry, I have the original source. Henry's an
frequent commenter on my blog, and his knowledgeable insights are usually far
more informative than my posts that he's
commenting on. So a public thank you to Henry for his success in obtaining and
sending me the two 157-year-old newspaper pages below.
Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise
(1819 — 1900), 32nd Degree Freemason.
In August 1855, when Wise
wrote the articles below, he would have been 36 years old, and was both the
editor, founder and proprietor of the Cincinnati Jewish newspaper in which they
appear, The Israelite, since 1874, known as The American Israelite.
With with the full articles, we are able to learn in what context he made his
assertions (turns out he did it repeatedly) that Masonry was a Jewish
institution.
Wise had clearly been incensed by a letter which had been published in The Boston Morning Times from an anonymous Mason from Massachusetts, in which he had claimed:
"... here in
Massachusetts Masonry is a Christian, or rather Protestant institution ;
Christian, as it merely TOLERATES Jews ; Protestant, as it abhors
Catholics,"
Wise reprinted the letter from
the Massachusetts Mason in the August 3, 1855 edition of The Israelite,
and penned a response, in which he stated:
"We characterize the
above principles as anti Masonic, because we know that not only Catholics but
Israelites in this country and in Europe are prominent and bright Masons. We
know still more, viz. that Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history,
degrees, charges, passwords and explenations (sic) are Jewish from
the beginning to the end, with the exception of one by-degree and a
few words in the obligation, which true to their origin in the middle ages, are
Roman Catholic. (...) it is impossible to be well posted in Masonry
without having a Jewish teacher,"
A fortnight later, in the
August 17, 1855 edition of The Israelite, Wise published a letter
from "A Young Mason" from Boston, Massachusetts, responding to Wise's
original article. Once again, Wise followed it with a response. This time he
wrote:
"Masonry never was
especially Jewish, nor is it now especially Christian, it always sustained, and
according to its nature must sustain cosmopolitical character."
But that was in direct
response to an assertion by "A Young Mason", that a Rev. Brother
Randall (presumably, a Protestant clergyman and Mason in the Massachusetts),
insists that Masonry "was once mainly Jewish but now it is mainly
Christian."
A clearly enraged, and at
times sarcastic Rabbi Wise, went on to clarify his position that Masonry was a
Jewish institution. He also insisted that Jews gave the world Christianity
to gradually convert the heathens to the teachings of Israel's prophets. And
then mocks the Rev. Brother Randall, by stating that the Jews did not do
him personally a favour, although he is a privileged position, being a preacher
in a faith which the Jews created (as Henry pointed out: Jewish scholar Samuel
Oppenheim declined to quote these passages from Wise, even though he quotes
from this article in his 1910 book on Jews and Masonry):
"It is a great favour,
the Rev. R. believes that the Jews are admitted in the lodges etc. of which
they must be sensible and grateful. Why does he not consider it a favor, that
we have the privilege of living in our houses. Masonry was founded by Jews
as a cosmopolitical institution, hence it is a favor for the Jew to be
admitted in the lodges, viz. in our own house. How sapient!
We Jews have given birth to
the masonic fraternity as a cosmopolitical institution; but we consider it no favor
to admit you in the lodge, provided, however, you leave your secterianism
outside of the consecrated walls. We have given you Christianity to convert
the heathens gradually to the pure deism and ethics of Moses and the Prophets;
still, we consider it no special favor bestowed on you from our side, that you
have the privilege of being a preacher in one of the churches."
The Israelite, August 3, 1855 (enlarged
version)
The Israelite, August
17, 1855 (enlarged version)
No comments:
Post a Comment