Americo 'elvish periodical Carter

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CLIPTON AVINUS • CINCINNATI 20, OHIO

PAGE ELEVEN

ifIBI)Entorr,infisii(eiRoxicit ,

stripes with a scourge. Then he
which the rabbis had in the course "to be an ape among apes." Ile was obliged to sit on the ground,
after which the ban of excommu-
A Happy New Year.
nication was removed. Not yet
having satisfied the authorities, he
haul to stretch himself out on the
threshold of the synagogue that
those present might step over
preservation. Had he known this, excommunication was removed. him."
A proud and indomitable spirit
Though of Jewish Descent, he might still have opposed rabbin- This happened in 1631.
Though outwardly obedient, like Acosta's might submit out-
He Was Reared as a Cath- cal Judaism, but he would not
wardly to such indignities, but it
religious
the-
11
regarded it as the invention Acosta now held
olic and Later Became a have
could not brook them tamely or
sit
of priests bent on enslaving the ore. Ile became what today would
long. The public disgrace he bad
Convert to Judaism—But, People. But he did not know this; b.• called an ethical culturist.
Illltrfolti-;
endured
shook his whole being.
the Harsh Orthodoxy of ' hence the bitterness and ferocity
Unfortunatley tor himself, Thinking that he was surrounded
the Rabbis of the Time of his onslaughts on Judaism of Acosta could not be a perfect hyp- by enemies, and feeling too weak
ocrite; though he had promised to for fresh conflict, he decided to
Was Repugnant to Him, his day.
The Jews of Amsterdam, who observe to the letter the religious) put an end to his life, but at the
and His Reckless Tongue
Lafayette 1087
had suffered so much for their usages of Judaism, he proceeded st o ne time to take revenge on his
1969 West Fort Street
Was Ilis Undoing.
faith, were not disposed to sit to break them immediately after chief persecutor, his brother (or
calmly and see one of their mem- his formal submission to the Jew- cousin). Before doing this, how-
Uriel Acosta, the Portuguese bers openly assail and ridicule Ju- ish authorities. Ile was detected ever, he penned his autobiography,
Jew of the seventeenth century, daism. The rabbis threatened by one of his relatives, and they which, written at white heat, con-
fell a martyr to the fanaticism of Acosta with excommunication. all, especially the nephew who had tains a vitrolic attack on Judaism,
Iris people. For t he tragedy of This only served to inflame the brought about Acosta's reconcilia- indeed on all Jews. In his fury,
Uriel Acosta was largely that of fiery and tempestuous Mariano, tion with the community, were so he goes so far as to declare that
the disillusioned dreamer, that a who was ill-content to have pur- embittered that they persecuted the state ought not to grant the
great gulf yawns between fact and chased new fetters by the sacri• him even more relentlessly than Jews freedom of conscience—a
A Happy and Prosperous New Year from
fancy, between dream and reality. flees he had made. lie continued strangers.
strange position to take for one
But were this the only tragic as- to disregard the Jewish religious
.1t first the rabbis and leaders who was his whole life the victim
pect of Uriel Acosta's life, his laws and WilA eventually axiom• of A insterulani Jewry took no cog- of intolerance, and an ironic com-
story would not be sad; for, niunicated. This meant not only
of the matter. Finally he ment on human inconsistency.
where is the man who does not that he was cast out of the con- committed an act which exposed Having finished his impassioned
sooner or later become disillu- munity, but that no one, not even his true
t iments, brought down testament, which he named "Ex-
sioned? What makes Uriel Acosta's his mother and brothers, haul any upon his head the thunderbolts of emplar Illimanite Vitae" (An Ex-
"Home of High Scores."
rase so disheartening is the con- dealings with, or spoke to him; the rabbis and ultimately resulted ample of Human Life), he lauded
vincing evidence it offers of the that no one even dared mention
22
BOWLING
ALLEYS-14 BILLIARD TABLES
two pistols and sat down at the
his once
death
by his
hand.
He window to wait for the aforesaid
virtual inability of human beings his name; that children ran after in was
more
put own
under
the ban,
LUNCHEONETTE—SODAS--CIGARS
to learn to tolerate differences of him, calling him vile names and
, :sji
i,(h state he remained for relative to pass by. As soon as he
i1 ,1 ‘.% ;,h years.
opinion and belief. For, remember, pelting him with stones, whenever„,,,,3
4120 WOODWARD AT WILLIS
espied the latter. he fired at him,
7i• he was persecuted by his fellow he ventured out.
For Uriel Acosta had now but missed. Thereupon he quickly
IRVIN DIES
■ %C.
Jews. Now, if there is one people
.1011 NNY BAUER
Thus Uriel Acosta stood alone reached middle-age, and exhausted locked the door of his house and
on earth that has suffered from in the midst of a great city. Sep• by years of conflict and excitemtint killed himself with the other pis-
I
bigotry, it is the Jews; and if ever arated from his family, friends, lunged for repose. Accordingly he tol (April, 16.111).
Jews had reason to know the in- and people, and cut off from the once more sued for peace with the
"Ilis Jewish contemporaries,"
humanity of religious persecution, Christian inhabitants of Amster- community, and agreed to every- writes Graetz, "persisted in stub- .. ..... ........ ........ ....... ............ •
6209 SIXTEENTH STREET
it was Uriel Acosta's Jewish neigh- dam by his ignorance of the Dutch thing demanded for his humilia- born silence about him, as if they
Holiday Greetings.
bars in Amsterdam, for most of language, he was thrown upon him- tion. His public penance was to he wished his memory to fall into
Walnut 3493
,"41. them were either refugees or the st•If. He plunged more and more severe and exemplary.
oblivion." Today we remember
children of refugees from the into subtle speculations on religion
"As soon as Acosta had con- them, if at all, on account of Uriel
Spanish and Portuguese Inquisi- and ultimately drifted away not seated to his humiliation, he was Acosta, and of that other and
tion. But did these Spanish and only front the Judaism of the rob- led into one of the synagogues, grt•ater heretic, Spinoza, whom
Portuguese Jews learn to be tol- bis but even from that of the Bible which was full of men and women. they likewise sought to crush,
erant? Alas, no! It is this which itself. It is not know how it leaked There was to be a sort of auto-da- though in his case happily without
• t t
-t
lends a tragic significance to the out that the excommunicated here- le and the greatest possible pub- sut•cess.
story of Uriel Acosta it might not tic was writing a book that would licity was given to his penance ...
---
otherwise possess.
assail rabbinical Judaism.
He had to ascend a stage and read
CULTURE
Authorized II. S. A uctioneer.
Uriel Acosta—or, to give him
Greetings of the Season.
out his confession of sins; that Ile
The
publication
of
Acosta's
his original name, Gabriel da Costa
Cadillac 3404
242 West Jefferson Avenue
had desecrated the Sabbath, vio-
book,
which
appeared
in
1624
cre-
why
so
many
people
—was born at Oporto, Portugal,
One
lated the dietary laws, denied arti-
Detroit, Michigan
in 1590. He was descended from ated a public scandal and com- cles of faith, and advised persons read so many of the new hooks is
a family of Marranos—that is, ps•Iled the Jewish community to not to adopt Judaism. Ile solemnly that they know little about the old
la MBIOILIa llarL 1■1■167 1M 1111. 16 1•1 ■■ .‘ 111‘ 31 ■ 1161M M IIIMIL
Jews who had been driven to em take notice of it. The official heads declared that he resolved to he no ones. Culture Can't be 0( pevted to
race Christianity by the Inquisi • of the community complained to longer guilty of such offenses, butt follow the tracks of ignorance.- -
lion--but, unlike most Marranos • the magistrates that by denying to live as a true Jew. On a whis- The Supplt m olt,
---
the da Costa. seem to have be- the immorality of the soul, Acosta per from the first rabbi, probably
The arguments of a king are ad-
come sincere Christians. His fa- had attacked not only the teach- Saul Mortiera, he went to a corner
ther, who belonged to the upper ings of Judaism, but also those of of the synagogue, stripped as far dressed not to the understanding
classes, was a strict Catholic. Christianity. Thereupon Acosta as the girdle, and received 39 but to the obligation of his vassals,
Young Gabriel was instructed by was arrested and kept in prison for
his father in the Catholic faith and several days; then he was fined
the accomplishments of a cavalier; 300 gulden (about $120), and his
HARDWARE, HOUSE FURNISHINGS
was, like him, a good horseman; book was condemned to be pub-
Phone
Empire
2257
555 Farnsworth
and in general received a good ed- licly burned. In justice to the lead-
ers
of
Amsterdam
Jewry,
it
must
ucation. He adopted the only ca-
We Extend to All Our Jewish Friends a
reer open at time to young Portu- be said that they were forced to
'FINNING, ROOFING AND FURNACE
guese of the upper middle class, take this action, otherwise the
Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
nantely the law, a study of which whole Jewish community might
REPAIRING
have
suffered
for
harboring
in
its
might pave the way to the second
midst an enemy of established re-
rank,
the
ecclesiastical,
and
lead
Ail
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Holiday Greetings.
'to a certain equality with the no- ligion. For even Holland, then the
AUTO ACCESSORIES
bility, who constituted the first freest state in the world, consid-
rank. At the age of 25 he accepted ered it right to keep watch over
EMPIRE 1303
8219 WOODWARD AVE.
a semi-ecclesiastical position as and limit the views and beliefs of
treasurer of an abbey and seemed its citizens; its only distinction be-
in a fair way to fame and fortune. ing that it did not burn heretics at
But though outwardly comfort- the stake.
Uriel Acosta remained in this
able, all was not well within. The
young man, in spite of punctilious state of excommunication for 15
years
(1618-1633), shunned and
observance of the ritual of Cathol-
The Season's Greetings.
icism, begun to be troubled with avoided like a leper. Finally, his
isolation
began to pall on him.
religious doubts. Mechanical wor-
Acosta,
as
the
Jewish
historian
ship and continual confessions to
the priests, which the Jesuits Grade. points out, "was not a
preached as the only way to salva- strong.-minded man, a thinker of
tion, satisfield him less and less. the first order, who could live hap-
Melrose 2292-0568
687 Illinois Street
The inure deeply he studied the pily in his world of ideas as in
Electric and Acetylene Welding. Frames
, ' teachings of the Jesuits the more boundless space, unconcerned
his doubts grew and multiplied. To about the outer world, and glad of
\ WoOFENDEN, Prop.
and Axles Welded and Straightened.
end his doubts, he went back to his solitary freedom,” he hungered
e, sit ra ira K
the oldest records of the holy for human fellowship and inter-
mortions imesessistei teissoss omin einsinig itha in o r s o im a nss
course.
Ilence
he
yielded
ultimate-
Cherry 3664
Old Testament—
309 Orleans Street
:n hope that they might solve the ly to the urgent appeals of his
The Season's Greetings.
problems which the doctrines of family to become reconciled with
the Roman Catholic church daily the Jewish community. He was
ARLINGTON 3565
229 CORTLAND
presented to him. The broad hu- willing, as he wrote afterwards,
manitarianism of the Prophets
brought repose to Gabriel's mind,
Besides, the doctrines of Judaism
appeared all the more authentic
and trustworthy as they Were rec-
Prop.
BOB BRADEN.
ognized by the New Testament
and the church, while those of
1 II NM NEW 1•EAR 10 EVERYBODY
Catholicism were rejected by the
Jews; in the one case there was
unanimity, in the other, difference
Expert Service. Moderate Prices.
of opinion.
"f".-
Gabriel da Costa now resolved
Garfield 2868
/
10330 GRAND RIVER
to forsake Catholicism and return
to the Jewish fold. Being of an
ssuesdisassiagshowsugsmatussittlessmagessosortruo i..0,
impulsive passionate nature, he it t f!.•
proceeded to carry out his resolii-
• tion at once. With great caution
—fur even they might betray him
to the Inquisition- -he revealed his
intention to his mother and broth- S t s .
ers—his father was already dead
—and found them favorably in-
clined to this step, though to take , 4.•
it meant to leave their home and
country, give up a respected place 7t5,-
in society, and flight to the only
•
free country at that time, Holland., , ,
And there was always the danger
of detection by the Inquisition,
which would have spelled certain U.
death, fur all of then,. Neverthe-
less, the du Costa family decided ;;4
to run the risk. Eluding the agents1
OF DETROIT STOCK EXCHANGE
of the Inquisition, they succeeded .c-1'
in disposing of their property and r';.
Lafayette 0873
escaping to Amsterdam, where
639 PENOBSCOT BUILDING
284 Summit Street
they arrived in 1617 or 1618. They ,t.;
I formally embraced Judaism; Ga-
Randolph 3770
briel and his brothers underwent
1 the rite of circumcision, and he ,s;
changed his first name to Uriel,
meaning the Flame of God.
if
Season's Greetings.
Full of enthusiasm for Judaism
--an enthusiasm that had fed his ,7
dreams and fan c ies o f the un- yeol'AVRIWA44:44Z,.. 1 .WIW':4';;i',',IW-il!ST,;:-Y",f4444•Utsa,41 :11, 146;f.,,, , t
•
known faith and history of his pea-
ple--it was inevitable that Acosta
should suffer severe disappoint- N. .•
41~7
4 111110MM.
memo through the realities he en - ,,c47.7e.
countered. He had built religious 4N ---
-0
We Move Anything." •
castles in the air and was annoyed
We Wish All Our Jewish Friends a Happy
Local or Long Distance
to find them non-existent in real
Light or Heavy Hauling.
t
life. The days of Moses and Isaiah
Day or Night out.
New Year.
no longer existed; instead of their
Furniture, Piano and Safe Moving Our Specialty
broad principles and declarations
he found in the Judaism of Am-
Canadian License.
sterdam a rigid, cumbersome, and
3456 MACK AVENUE
prosaic accumulation of ritual nod
observance which regulated man's I
Phone,
Lenox
2994
Residence
M IL BROWN, Pnnifsetor.
Edgewood 0963
49
conduct from the moment he woke 1:.
;..
up in the morning until he fell
Antoine
St. Phone Cherry 3485
2020
St.
asleep at night. This was very dif- I "sr.'2
(crept from the liberal religion his
fancy had conjured up in his na-
tive country. Ile was deeply
A Happy New Year.
Lighting Installations
wounded, embittered and Irritated.
As he had made great sacrifices fur l . . •
his convictions,Ile thought he
. •
i
a right to express his opinion free-I
De! reit I'll -1 u
939 East Moittcalm St. Phone Clifford, 8658
ly and to 1)044 out the gap be.
tseetin Biblical aid rabbinical Ju•
U.
daisro. •Not. did be stop at mire
words bat regulated his conduct 2;',
accordingly, openly disregarding'
Motor, Bought, Sold. Rented and Repairod
g.. g Fixpert Auto Repairirg
Washing. Polishing,Simoilnidi
am
age - old religious practice., and de.
Highest prices paid for old buildings, used building material
fying the rabbis whom, in the Ian•, 4'1
CADILLAC 1833-34
1446 GRATIOT AVENUE
and
'liaise of the New Testament
and salvage of all kinds.
the church, he called "Pharisees."
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Night and Sunday call Lincoln 4253-W--Hickory 1038-M
Of coarse, had Uriel Aeolus been .4
Street
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Office and Yard, 19409 John R.
better acquainted with the history $1
We Call For Your Car and Deliver.
of his people and of Judaism, he 77,
Longfellow 4189
would have known that the innum- „.Z
or treble laws and regulations with

if centuries hedged in Jewish life professed Judaism with his lips at
The Tragic Life
was simply "fences" intended to the very time when he had com-
keep the Jews from being absorbed pletely fallen away from it. Ac-
And Death Of by the nations in whose midst they cordingly,
at the intervention of a
ived; in other words, that these nephew of his, he offered his for-
precepts had been nail submission to the heads of the
Uriel Acosta' countless
prompted by the instinct of self- Jewish community, and the ban of

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I I I I I I1111

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