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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Fr iday, June 17, 1960 —
Stiles and Carigal, Rabbi and
College President, Who Struck
Up an Interesting Friendship
"Who finds a faithful friend
finds a treasure," wrote the
post-biblical sage Ben Sira (Ec-
clesiasticus), whose words
found an echo in Colonial
America.
The incubus of medieval big-
otry which had impeded friend-
ly relations between Jew and
Gentile in the Old World had
happily failed to take root in
the New. Consequently, a warm
jewis h-Gentile friendship is
documented in the files of the
American Jewish Archives, the
historical research center at
Hebrew Union College - Jewish
Institute of Religion in Cincin-
nati. It was the friendship that
sprang up in Rhode Island on
the eve of the Revolution be-
tween a Protestant minister and
a rabbi.
During the early 1770's, Ezra
Stiles, later to become president
of Yale College, was a Congre-
gationalist minister in Newport.
Sympathetic to Jews and Juda-
ism, Stiles was a frequent visi-
tor to the town's elegant little
synagogue. An avid student of
the Bible, Stiles was always
anxious to improve his knowl-
edge of Hebrew, and when he
was informed—shortly before
Purim in the year 1773—of the
arrival in Newport of "a He-
brew Rabbi from . . . the Holy
Land," he determined to make
the newcomer's acquaintance.
Stiles attended the synagogue
on the eve of Purim and found
there "a large man, neat and
well dressed in the Turkish
habit."
The man, who was standing
by the lectern, seemed about
45 years old, "wore a high fur
cap, had a long beard," and
struck his fascinated observer
as "an ingenious and sensible
man." After the services, Stiles
engaged him in conversation
about Hebrew and Arabic. "We
conversed much freely," he
noted in his diary and added
—not being, for all his pro-
Jewish sympathies, above con-
descension—"he is learned and
truly modest, far more so than
I ever saw a Jew."
The itinerant rabbi, Stiles
soon learned, was Haim Isaac
Carigal, who had been born at
Hebron, Palestine, and had
travelled extensively in the
Near East, Europe, and the
West Indies. In the months
that followed, Stiles often
noted the rabbi's modest bear-
ing. Observing Carigal in the
synagogue during Passover,
Stiles wrote that he had "be-
haved meodestly and rever-
ently." When Carigal
preached in the synagogue on
Shavuot (Pentecost), Stiles
recorded his "dignity and au-
thority • . mixt with mod-
esty."
Stiles' contacts with Rabbi
Carigal were by no means con-
fined to the synagogue, The two
spent long hours together dur-
ing the rabbi's Newport sojurn;
they discussd the Bible and-the-
ology and exchanged long let-
ters in Hebrew. On Sunday,
June 27, 1773, Carigal repaid
his friend's courtesy by visiting
his church to hear him preach.
By that time, their friendship
had ripened enough for Carigal
to assure Stiles:
"Your love has made such an
indelible impression upon the
inmost thoughts and "affections
of my heart that volumes of
books are not sufficient to write
the thousandth part of the
eternal love wherewith I love
thee." When Stiles—forgetting
for the moment his companion's
oriental upbringing—asked him
how he "could use so strong an
expression of friendship," Cari-
gal replied—as the Newporter
noted in his diary—that "he
wished well to others besides
his own nation, he loved all
mankind, and turned me to
Levit. XIX, 18,—thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself."
The rabbi left Newport for
Surinam in July, 1773, after
visiting the Stiles family to take
his leave of them, "which he did
very affectionately." But the
friendship did not depart with
him. Arriving in Surinam that
September, Carigal wrote his
Newport friend to thank him
"for the many favors you have
confered on me." He assured
Stiles that he would offer "fer-
vent prayers to the Allmighty
to grant you his blessing that
you may enjoy your life with
health and prosperity for many
years." And when Carigal
moved on in 1774 to take a rab-
binical position in Barbados, he
sent word to Stiles that he
would "be always glad to hear
from you, and I shall do myself
the pleasure to write to you as
often as possible."
Both friends apparently de-
rived a great deal of intellec-
tual as well as emotional sat-
isfaction from the relation-
ship. Stiles had composed an
essay on the Messiah and the
Messianic Kingdom and soli-
c i t e d Carigal's comments:
"So far as is respects a suffer.
ing Messiah you will differ
from me in sentiments—but
as to the future glory of the
Messiah's kingdom I presume
we shall be so happy as to
agree. It will be agreeable to
me if you will please to com-
municate your remarks upon
it to me with all the freedom
and the most liberal senti-
ments of a gentleman of let-
ters. There is an openness
and candour in the disquisi-
tions and communications of
the learned not to be found
among others." Stiles added:
"We remember with pleasure
the many agreeable hours we
spent with you here."
The two friends continued to
write each other in what must
have been a rather vigorous
correspondence. On one occa-
sion, Stiles noted in his diary
that he had written Carigal "a
Hebrew letter of 24 pages." An-
other entry mentions a Hebrew
letter of 29 pages.
Even Carigal's death at Bar-
bados in 1777 did not end the
friendship. Stiles, already presi-
dent of Yale College, remained
loyal to his friend's memory; in
the spring of 1781, he informed
the Newport Jewish merchant,
Aaron Lopez, that "the affec-
tionate respect I bear to the
memory of . .. the Rabbi Cari-
gal, has made me to wish that
his picture might be deposited
in the library of this college."
Carigal's portrait, urged Stiles,
"would be honorable to your
nation (the Jews) as well as or-
namental to the university."
Lopez agreed, and in due course
Carigal's portrait, completed by
Samuel King, the teacher of
Gilbert Stuart, was deposited in
the Yale Library as a testimon-
ial of the warm friendship that
had sprung up between a New
England Congregationalist min-
ister and a visiting Palestinian
rabbi on the eve of the Revolu-
tion.
Copies of the extant corres-
pondence between the two
friends as well as other Stiles
and Carigal documents are to
be found at the American Jew-
ish Archives on the Cincinnati
campus of the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Re-
ligion. Dr. Jacob R. Marcus is
the director of the Archives.
French Mark Centenary
ALGIERS, (JTA)—The cen-
tenary of Alliance Israelite
Universelle was celebrated here
at a meeting attended by lead-
ing Christian and Jewish clergy-
men and senior officers of the
French Army. Louis Kahn, di-
rector general of the French
Shipyards here, presided at the
meeting.
Philadelphian Aids Desert Project at Hebrew University
An arid zone experimental
farm — the gift of Graham
French, Philadelphia philanthro-
pist—will be established by the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
in the Negev, Israel's desert re-
gion, it was announced by the
American Friends of the He-
brew University.
The purpose of the research
project is to devise methods of
growing crops successfully in
desert areas
with minimum
irrigation. It
will be named
the Graham
French Arid
Zone Experi-
mental Farm.
The cost of
the undertak-
ing for a mini-
mum of three
years will be
$102,000.
Reflecting,
t h e Philadel-
phia attorney's
deep concern
with the global
problem of in-
G. French
creasing food
yield to sustain the earth's
growing population, the Israel
project is one of several he is
personally underwriting "in an
effort to put President Eisen-
hower's 'person-to-person' pro-
gram of foreign aid into action."
Once described as a "one-man
foreign aid program," French
said that he selected the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem for the
food experiment "because of its
unique qualifications in the field
of desert agriculture. The work
of its Faculty of Agriculture
has been a paramount factor in
Israel's effort to reclaim its
land, and has provided inspira-
tion to other nations. It is there-
fore understandable that many
63rd Annual Convention
of ZOA Aug. 25 to 28
Dedicated to the theme "Zion-
ism for America and Israel" the
63rd annual convention of the
Zionist Organization of America
will convene in four-day ses-
sions, Aug. 25-28, at Hotel Stat-
ler-Hilton, New York, with an
expected attendance of 1200 del-
egates and alternates represent-
ing over 600 ZOA Regions and
Districts throughout the coun-
try..
governments and international
agencies have sought out faculty
members of the Hebrew Uni-
versity to serve as consultants
and advisers on world food
problems.
"If successful, this project
will give us a most dramatic
Senate Unit States
Arabs, Israel Must
Yield on Refugees
WASHINGTON, (JTA)—The
United States Senate Foreign
Relations Committee staff, in
a study report on the Middle
East, called the Arab refugee
situation the major obstacle to
peace in the area and urged
Israel and the Arab states to
make concessions for its solu-
tion. The study was announced
by Chairman J. W. Fulbright,
Arkansas Democrat, who re-
cently returned from a visit to
Israel, Jordan and the United
Arab Republic.
Asserting that Soviet in-
fluence in the Middle East has
been declining steadily, the
staff experts said they believed
some steps toward an Arab-
Israel settlement might now
be possible.
In the proposed exchange of
concessions, the report said,
Israel would have to make the
greatest diplomatic concession
by acceptance of the principle
of repatriation or compensation
to the Arab refugees.,The Arab
countries would have to make
the "greatest practical" conces-
sion by acceptance of the prin-
ciple that all Arab refugees
who would choose not to return
to Israel—which the study said
would be "all but a small pro-
portion"—could be integrated
into the societies of the Arab
countries.
The study noted that "as the
Israelis themselves so often
suggest, the Moslem refugees
would be disinclined to return
to a land transformed by the
predominance of its Jewish cul-
ture and Jewish Government."
In publishing the study re-
port, Sen. Fulbright said it did
not ' necessarily reflect the
views of any members of the
Senate committee. He said it
was the last of 15 studies on
foreign policy prepared as back-
ground for committee members.
example of how man can alter
his environment to meet the
basic needs of humanity," he
stated.
French's contribution to the
Hebrew University was hailed
as "a unique blending of vision
and generosity which opens up
new horizons of hope for man-
kind" in a statement by Philip
M. Klutznick, president of the
American Friends of the He-
brew University.
The 69-year-old philanthropist
is the grandson of Clayton
French, one of the founders of
the flourishing Philadelphia
drug concern, Smith Kline and
French.
Because he found legal train-
ing necessary, he entered Phila-
delphia's Temple Law School-
30 years after college gradua-
tion—and received a law degree
in 1941.
After admission to the Penn-
sylvania Bar, he opened private
law practice and has worked at
it continuously since then.
Attorney J. Kadans
Runs for Congress
Detroit attorney Joseph
Kadans has filed petitions with
the Oakland County Clerk for
a place on the ballot in the
Aug. 2 Democratic Congres-
sional primary.
Kadans, his wife Rose and
son Barry live at 20492 Chey-
enne. A member of the Inter-
national Law Committee of the
Michigan Bar Association, he
is executive director of the
Institute of Advanced Law
Study.
He has written several law
textbooks, taught at the Eastern
College of Commerce and Law
in Baltimore, Md., and served
in four departments of the Fed-
eral Government. Among his
other civic and religious ac-
tivities, Kadans is on the board
of directors of Cong. Shomrey
Emunah.
His stand on important na-
tional issues includes a demand
that the Suez Canal be opened
to Israeli shipping, that the
U.S. should cease loans to the
United Arab Republic
"or
other nations who disregard
international law" and that the
old city of Jerusalem be opened
to American Jews in accordance
with the Jordan-Israel General
Armistice Agreement.
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