Board of Delegates of American Israelites

Organized in 1859 with Jews from New York, N.Y., and twelve other cities to represent American Jews to the government in Washington, D.C., and defend Jewish rights; 1878 board gave up its separate existence to amalgamate with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; 1925 the board, as part of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations was finally dissolved.

Organized in 1859 with Jews from New York, N.Y., and twelve other cities to represent American Jews to the government in Washington, D.C., and defend Jewish rights; in 1878 the Board gave up its separate existence to amalgamate with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; in 1925 the Board, as part of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations was dissolved.

Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859-1878) Board of Delegates of Civil (and Religious) Rights (1878-1925)

The Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859-1878) was formed partly in response to the 1858 case of six-year old Italian Jew Edgar Mortara. During an illness, Mortara's Christian nursemaid baptized him and as the result of information provided by the nursemaid, the child was whisked from his family by papal authorities. Mortara's parents attempted to recover their son, but the papacy determined that he was no longer a Jew and could not be returned to the Jewish community. The young boy remained apart from his parents, eventually entering the priesthood. 1 Though British Jews had established the Committee of Deputies of British Jews in 1760 to safeguard the interests of Jews as a religious and political community, 2 the United States did not have such an organization. As a result of the Mortara case and other incidents, Jews from the United States and France founded separate organizations that worked in tandem with the Committee of Deputies to uphold the civil and communal rights of Jews throughout Europe, North America, North Africa, and the Middle East. These organizations were the Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859) and the Alliance Israélite Universelle.

The Alliance Israélite Universelle was formed in 1860 as a central clearinghouse of information and action based in Paris to keep track of the plight of Jews and promote their civil rights. In conjunction with the Anglo-Jewish Association in London (created by the Board of Deputies), a Central Committee composed of constituent members from various countries and committees was formed, including delegates from major European cities, Curacao, Turkey, the United States, and other locales. The Central Committee communicated the needs and appeals of Jews through local and territorial committees such as the Board of Delegates. As a dues and alms constituent of the Alliance Universelle, the goals and aims of the Board of Delegates converged greatly with those of the Alliance, the Anglo-Jewish Association, the Roumanian Committee, the Israelitisch Allianz zu Wien, and the Board of Deputies. All of these organizations strove to emancipate the Jewish population at home and abroad. 3

The Board of Delegates also served as a unifying and surveying vehicle for Jewish congregations in the States. To this end, constituent, dues-paying members regularly submitted questionnaires and surveys regarding the founding, facilities, and size of their congregations throughout the U.S. The Board of Delegates was the first successful American attempt at uniting the Jewish population in furthering the civil and political rights of the world's Jews. 4

Some of the first members of the Delegates included Henry Hart, owner of New York's Third Avenue Railroad Company, financier Isaac Seligman, and one of two elected vice-presidents included the prominent Rabbi Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia. Myer S. Isaacs, Secretary of the Board and son of prominent New York Rabbi Samuel M. Isaacs, was a driving force behind the formation of the Board. As valedictorian of the graduating class of the University of New York (later New York University), in 1859, Isaacs delivered a commencement speech alluding to the case of Edgar Mortara. The Isaacs family, particularly Myer and Samuel, spearheaded the establishment of many Jewish-oriented relief and betterment organizations and published the New York-based newspaper The Jewish Messenger. Myer served as Secretary of the Board of Delegates until 1876, whereupon he became President of the organization when it merged with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and later served as the first President of the Baron de Hirsch Fund. 5

According to the Constitution of the Board of Delegates, the organization had five primary objectives. The first consisted of obtaining and collecting statistical information regarding the Jews of the United States for reference purposes. The second objective was the appointment of a Committee of Arbitration for the purpose of settling disputes arising between Congregations, individuals, or public bodies belonging to the Delegates in lieu of resorting to the law. The object of the Arbitration Committee was "simply the preservation of peace, nothing further than the offering of advice is contemplated." The third objective was to promote religious education by encouraging local Congregational schools and to establish a High School for the training of men as ministers and teachers. To this end, Myer and several members of the Board of Delegates established the Education Alliance and Hebrew Technical Institute on the Lower East Side of New York and Maimonides College (1867-1873) in Philadelphia. 6 The fourth objective was '"to keep a watchful eye on occurrences at home and abroad, and see that the civil and religious rights of Israelites are not encroached on, and call attention of the proper authorities to the fact, should any such violation occur." The fifth objective was to establish and continue communication with other like-minded Jewish organizations throughout the world and especially to establish a "thorough union among all the Israelites of the United States." 7

The fourth and fifth objectives became the driving force behind the Board's actions, and they consistently strove to 'keep a watchful eye on occurrences at home and abroad.' In the U.S., the Board confronted issues of Jewish immigration and the granting of refugee status of Jewish immigrants. The Board of Delegates spoke out against General Ulysses S. Grant's 1862 Order No. 11 expelling Jews from his jurisdiction due to supposed looting as well as Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler's accusations of Jews as being looters and liars. Grant's order was immediately rescinded (a little prior to the Board's push for its dismissal) 8 and Butler issued a public apology for his comments.

It was partially through the efforts of the Delegates that the first Jewish Chaplain was appointed during the Civil War. In 1861, Congress ordered military regiments to appoint Chaplains who were specifically of the Christian faith. The Board of Delegates responded in protest along with New York District Attorney E. Delafield Smith, both giving letters of introduction to the Rev. Dr. Arnold Fischel, who had been acting as an unofficial military chaplain to Union soldiers in the field at the behest of the Board. It fell upon Fischel to procure a meeting with President Lincoln and persuade Lincoln to seek a reversal of the Congressional order. Rev. Dr. Fischel obtained such a meeting in December 1861, leading to the rescinding of the order and the appointment of the first official Jewish military chaplain, Rabbi Jacob Frankel of the Philadelphia Congregation Rodeph Shalom, on September 18, 1862.

Though the Board had some success in the States, due to conflicts between Jewish factions at home, the primary thrust of the Board's work became the civil rights and emancipation of Jews in such places as Morocco, Turkey, Romania, and Palestine. A particularly strong connection between the Board and the plight of Roumania Jews emerged through Myer Isaacs' friendship with the lawyer and journalist Benjamin Franklin Peixotto. Romania had revolted against the Ottomans in 1821 and the Russians in 1848, eventually obtaining independence under the Treaty of Paris in 1856. As part of the treaty, Jews were legally entitled to religious and civil liberties, but not political or citizenship rights.

In 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza became the first ruler of the united principalities of Romania. Cuza planned to grant political rights to both the Jewish and Armenian populations of Romania based on a fee. Some in the Jewish community believed that the Romanians would not keep their part of the bargain while others saw no need to obtain political and citizenship rights and the plan was rejected. Cuza's government was overthrown in 1866 and replaced by Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Prince Carol submitted a new Constitution, granting citizenship rights to all residents of Romania regardless of religion. This plan created tension in Bucharest and violence erupted between the Jewish and Christian communities, leaving many Jews dead and the city's large Temple destroyed. Prince Carol withdrew the planned Constitution and declared that only Christians could obtain citizenship. In 1867, Jews and other non-Christian residents were expelled from Romania. 9

In 1867, Adolph Crémieux of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and Sir Moses Montefiore of the Board of Deputies of British Jews traveled to Bucharest to demand the emancipation of Romanian Jews. Regardless of the exhortations of Crémieux, Montefiore, and the governments of Germany and Holland, the persecution of Jews in Romania did not desist. With the help of the Delegates, in particular Isaac Seligman's lobbying of government, Peixotto was appointed as the first permanent American Consul to the new country of Romania. During Peixotto's time in Bucharest (1870-1876), his attempt to emancipate the Jews of Romania had little or no affect. His well-publicized tenure, however, lessened anti-Semitic legislation and pogroms. 10

The Board of Delegates attempted to handle the tricky question of Jewish immigration to the United States, arguing at times for increased immigration and at other times for limited immigration of qualified persons only. In Oct. 1872, the Delegates became involved in its first international conference concerning the Jewish people. The Berlin Rumanian Committee arranged a large-scale meeting in Brussels to discuss the plight and possible immigration of Romanian Jews. The Board of Delegates sent two representatives to the Brussels meeting, Isaac Seligman and Benjamin Peixotto. 11 Peixotto strongly advocated for increased immigration of Romanian Jews, and it was rumored that he practically guaranteed immigration to the United States for all Jews in Romania. Peixotto was ridiculed in the European and American press, and admonished by the U.S. government. In a private letter from to Myer Isaacs, Peixotto writes: "In no time what I had never conceived to be a serious thing was so regarded by all the world and about my ears came noises enough to crush an ordinary being." 12

The Delegates also supported Jews in Ottoman Palestine. In conjunction with the Alliance, the Delegates contributed funds to establish the Mikve-Israel Agricultural School in Jaffa, provided funding to the Jewish Hospital in Jerusalem, and intervened on behalf of Jews to Turkish and American authorities. In Persia, the Delegates helped with famine conditions by donating money through Montefiore. In 1873, the Board provided statistical information to the Alliance for the Russian government on various aspects of Jewish life in America, particularly the integration of Jewish citizens. The report noted the population of Jews who fought during the Civil War, the various occupations that Jews practiced in the states, and gave an overview of famous Jewish-Americans. 13

In New York City, the Board of Delegates tackled two issues specifically dealing with the city. In 1866, the Board spoke out against the changing of Jew's Hospital to Mt. Sinai. The hospital had treated non-Jews during the Civil War and by reverting to a 'Jews only' policy would lose state funding. Financially in peril, the hospital decided to change its name and keep its services opened to the wider New York community. The Board felt that the city needed to keep a hospital specifically for Jews, but were unsuccessful in their bid; Jew's Hospital was official changed to Mt. Sinai Hospital. In 1872, the Board protested a City College of New York policy of scheduling examinations on the Shabbat. Writing to the President of the college, the Board was told that it was impossible to schedule examinations according to the rules of every religion represented at the college. The Board contacted Sam A. Lewis, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, who brought the matter before the Trustees of City College, and the policy was rescinded.

Toward 1876, the activity of the Delegates waned, though the Board continued to keep track of events in Romania, Jerusalem, and Turkey. Monies were still collected from the constituent Congregations and alms sent abroad, but 1877 brought the first inklings of the Board's impending merger into the Seminary Association of America, which would later become the reform organization, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC). In 1878, the Board name was changed to the Board of Delegates on Civil and Religious Rights (though usually being called Board of Delegates on Civil Rights) and worked with the UAHC to further the aims of emancipation and civil rights of Jews in the United States and abroad. The Board of Delegates ultimately disbanded under the UAHC in 1925.

The Board of Delegates fought many uphill battles, both on the homefront and in foreign affairs. Due to conflicts between varying Jewish bodies in the United States, the Board could not accomplish many of its goals, particularly in establishing Jewish educational facilities. In foreign affairs, the Board rarely initiated plans of its own, except in the case of calling for an 1878 international conference at Paris. The Board generally worked through the Board of British Deputies and the Alliance Israélite Universelle, with the Board's activity revolving around appealing to the U.S. government, collecting donations and sending funds to American counsels or foreign agencies. They rarely solved problems, but their activity aided in crucial situations. According to a 1932 thesis by Allan Tarshish, the Board was characterized by "caution, and a little timidity, and expressed itself primarily through temporary means. Though it often did make plans for permanent aid and a definite program, these were all blocked either by the apathy of American Jews or the inability of the Board to arouse them in these instances." 14

References

Bigart, Jacques. "Alliance Israélite Universelle." Jewish Encyclopedia Online . Accessed April 25, 2003. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1264=A

Deutsch, Gotthard. "Mortara Case." Jewish Encyclopedia Online . Accessed April 25, 2003. http://www. jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=809=M

Jacobs, Joseph. "London Committee of Deputies of British Jews." Jewish Encyclopedia Online. Accessed April 25, 2003. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=534=L

"Peixotto, U.S."; "Rumania." Encyclopaedia Judaica . Jerusalem: MacMillan Co., 1971, v. 13. "Rumania." Jewish Enclyclopedia. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1905, v. x.

Tarshish, Allan. Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859-1878) . Rabbinical Thesis, 1932.