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A Judge and Hebrew Scholar Concerning the Career of a 'Brilliant Jurist Moses Receiving The Commandments on Ml. Sinai The Mosaic Law 2100 B. C.—70 A. 1). Early Hebrew civilization was originally nomadic and pastoral, then agricultural, and only later commercial. Each stage being reflected m the laws. At the beginning it represented a much simpler and less advanced stage of civilization than that of its neighbors and older 'icmitic relatives, the Babylonians and Phoenician. Through twenty rnturies the home of the Israelites shifted from Arabia to Egypt to Palestine to Babylonia and back to Palestine. Thus much of Judea’s <n*s were selected from, and affected by, the laws of those countries m which the Israelites sojourned. About 1300 B. C., the Ten Com mandments “were revealed” to Moses, the greatest lawgiver of all t-mc. They constitute the most comprehensive short moral code ever formulated and although Jewish law had been developing for over 800 years prior, the Ten Commandments gave moral direction to its future growth. The system thus built up imparted a softer, warmer tint to the cold light of the law. J l ST as in ancient Greece and Rome and in countries of medieval Europe, the City of Charleston, South Carolina, is experiencing 1 revival in the sentences occasionally meted out m the city police court to persons who commit itenres against the local government. Convicts • 1rp given the choice of banishment for a definite Period or a jail sentence. Extraordinary, isn’t it ? l*ut not so far out of the ordinary when you con- 'ider the life and work of the man who holds this P<»'ver of banishment over the head of persons who apparently are contributing nothing to the welfare 't the city. Judge Joseph Fromberg is one of ’hovr remarkable persons who, through his bril- ;anr activities, is adding a great deal to the pres- : P ,p f Southern Jewry. To really understand the man sides of this interesting person it will be necessary to review his life. Ju Ige FVomberg was born in Augusta, Georgia. r ' av 27, 1890, the son of Hyman Marks and Mo; e Segal Fromberg, both of whom had emi- r*' i to the United States from Poland in 1886. met in New York and were married there '* r ■ \ eshivah Aitz Chaim in 1887. Soon there- rte they moved to Augusta. In 1893 the family r ^°' J to Sumter, South Carolina, where the elder , hromberg engaged in the mercantile business. p age of five young Joseph was sent by his ts to reside with his paternal grandfather in ^ °rk City, where he was placed in a Hebrew ‘ to receive instructions in Hebrew. Joseph ned in New York until the close of the s h-American War. He was then brought At Par Nr Sch tetr Spa By A. Ellison 3 back to Sumter by his father. There Joseph entered public school. Hr was not given an English education until he was well grounded in Hebrew. While he was in Sumter his father continued to give him in structions in Hebrew and Joseph received special instruction in Hebraic lore from Rabbi Jacob Klein, then the Rabbi of the Reform congregation in Sumter, South Carolina. At the age of twelve Joseph Fromberg t<x>k up the study of law in the firm of I>er & Moise, of Sumter. It was noticeable that whenever the Circuit Court was in ses sion young Fromberg spent all his leisure time observing court sessions. During the summer school vacations he took special instruction from private tutors, thus enabling him at the age of thirteen years to be admitted to the Sumter High School. In 1905 the Fromberg family moved to Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston Joseph Fromberg was taken into the law offices of the firm of Mordecai, Gadsden, Rutledge Si Hagood, an outstanding law firm of the State at that time. It was at this period of Joseph’s life that he took great interest in affairs of the Jewish community. Upon learning that Jewish youth of Charleston had no cultural as sociation or meeting place, he organized the Hebrew Athletic Club, which flourished for sev eral years. Joseph was also at that time a prom inent member of the Jewish Young Folks Literary Society of Charleston. In 1907 he became a clerk in the law offices of W. H. Parker, then a prom inent and scholastic lawyer in Charleston. In the autumn of 1908 Joseph entered the Law College of the University of South Carolina as a Junior. In February, 1910, a special act of the Legislature of South Carolina was enacted to enable Joseph Fromberg to be admitted to practice law in the courts of the State while under age. This was a very rare honor and distinction to be conferred on anyone. In June, 1910, after receiving his L.L.B. degree from the University of South Carolina, he was given his license to practice law by the Su preme Court of the State. While attending the University at Columbia, South Carolina, he took a continued lively and active interest in the affairs of the Jewish community of Columbia and in the early part of 1910 he was selected as the principal speaker at the dedication of the newly-erected synagogue of the Orthodox Congregation there. Immediately after being admitted to the bar he returned to Charleston and tcxik up the practice of his profession in that city. A few' months later Joseph established offices with Captain St. Julien Jervev, a former State prosecuting attorney. Early in 1911 he began his political career by engaging as a stump speaker in one of the mayoralty cam paigns in Charleston and he turned out to be come a very effective and eloquent speaker. There after he participated in one political battle after another. In 1912 he entered State politics and was then appointed by the Governor as a Com missioner for State and County elections in Char leston County. Also in that year when only 21 years of age he was appointed a Lieutenant- Colonel on the staff of the Governor of South Car olina. In 1914 he was elected to the State legis lature by a large popular vote to represent Charles ton County in the House of Representatives and in 1916 he was re-elected by a larger vote as a Representative and was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Railroads of the House, serving four years in that body with much distinction. During that period young Joseph and Davis D. Moise were the only two Jewdsh men in the State Legislature. Joseph F'romberg has also been ad mitted to practice in the courts of Georgia and in the United States Supreme Court. In 1919 Judge Fromberg was appointed by the Mayor of Charleston as a member of the Board of Registration for Municipal Elections and in 1923 was made Chairman of this Board. He is active in Jewish communal w'ork, both nationally and locally. For twenty years Joseph Fromberg has served most ardently in behalf of the B’nai B’rith. In 1916 he was elected president of the local lodge and in 1919 began attending conven tions of the District Grand Ixxlge. He w-as elected in 1929 at the convention held in Atlanta, Georgia, as president of the Grand I^odge and w r as re elected to that office the following year at the convention of the Grand Lodge in Baltimore. For several years he served eagerly and ardently as Chairman of the Charleston Zionist District and as Trustee of the Berith Shalom Congregation and directed numerous National Jewish campaigns in Charleston. From time to time Joseph Fromberg attended various National Jewish Conventions, such as the Seaboard (Please turn to page 16) th SOUTHERN ISRAELITE * [7]