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but the property in slaves is placed under the same protection as any other species of lawful property when it is said ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male slave, or his female slave.’ “That the Ten Commandments are the Word of God, and as such, of the very highest authority, is acknowledged by Christians as well as Jews. I would therefore ask the reverend gentleman of Brooklyn and his compeers, how dare you, in the face of the sanc tion and protection afforded to slave property in the Ten Com mandments — how dare you de nounce slaveholding as a sin? When you remember that Abra ham, Isaac, Jacob, Job — the men with whom the Almighty con versed, with whose names he em phatically connects his own most Holy name . . . that all these men were slave-holders, does it not strike you that you are guilty of something very little short of blas phemy? And if you answer me, ‘Oh, in their time slaveholding was lawful, but now it has become a sin’ I will in turn ask you, “When and by what authority do you draw the line? Tell us the precise time when slaveholding ceased to be permitted and became sinful?’ ” He stressed the inherent human ity in the Jewish Law that regard ed the slave, not a chattel as in the South, but a person; that the Mosaic dispensation protected his body, his rights and even his dig nity. Consequently the rabbi placed Judaism in diametric opposition to the aim and ideology of the Aboli tionists. The sermon created a sensation. Copied by many newspapers, it was reprinted in pamphlets and widely distributed. The Southern slave owners were elated. Testi mony out of the Bible, supported by scholarly interpretations of Jewish lore received acclamations from Fundamentalists and slavery sympathizers in the North. But liberals were shocked, angered and ready to accept the anti-Jewish canards circulated among the masses for centuries. Bitterness came from the infuriated Aboli tionists, among whom could be found Judeophobes of the classic type, who referred to the “race that stoned the prophets and cruci fied the Redeemer of the World.” In the main, rabbis and laymen tended to consider Raphall’s ser mon just another partisan pamph let in the bitter political contro versy. But the more acute minded saw Judaism besmirched. Attacks from enemies were too familiar to cause surprise. Yet for a prominent rabbi to condone slavery as divine.- ly ordained (though he did not ac tually say so) seemed blind and callous. The liberals contended that even if laws drafted 3,000 years ago did not forbid human bondage, yet enlightened religion must pro gress beyond the penumbra of a semi-barbarous age. Jews, of all people, should particularly feel compassion for the unfortunate and downtrodden. The rabbi of Har Sinai in Balti more entered the lists against Rap- hall. With fiery sermons and vi- trolie articles in German, David Einhorn exhausted logic, theology, and invective against his reaction ary colleague. “If a Christian,” he declared, “would make the charge that Judaism was pro-slavery, Jews of every shade would ‘call the wrath of heaven and earth upon such falsehood’.” Raphall was concerned with the letter and bypassed the spirit of the Torah which proclaimed “break down the bonds of oppression, let the op pressed go free and tear every yoke” . . . “Is it anything else but . . . rebellion against God to en slave human beings created in His image, and to degrade them to a state of beasts having no will of their own? Is it anything else but an act of ruthless and wicked vio lence to reduce defenseless human beings to a condition of merchan dises, and relentlessly to tear them away from the hearts of husbands, wives, parents and children?” ■ For his courageous stand on the slavery issue, American Jewry must ever be grateful. The comba tive oppositionist could not con tain his feelings on human bond age in a free land. His bitter in vectives, though voice in German, became known to the Southern sympathizers in pro-slavery Balti more, which had jailed the aboli tionist William Lloyd Garrison and mobbed a German editor for ex pressing anti-slavery views. Pub lic feeling boiled over in a riot on April 19, 1861. The military and the police warned Einhorn that his name appeared on the mob’s list. Friends pleaded that he display the Dixie Flag. He refused. He finally consented to remove his family from the danger spot. He abandoned home and belongings and secretly brought his wife and children to Philadelphia. Martial law forbade his return. When mat ters calmed down, he prepared to take up where he left off. But the trustees denied him the freedom to discuss dangerous questions. He resigned and accepted a pulpit in Philadelphia. cleaners CE. 3-1025 3213 MAPLE DR., N.E. ATLANTA 5, GA. ROY O. ROBISON Owner-Manager Healthful, versatile, economical, Ravo-Cold Kist pure peanut oil ie a non-hydrogenated, poly unsaturated pure vegetable oil refined by Gold Kist’ exclusive process. a product of GOLD KIST PEANUT GROWERS a division of Cotton Producers Association The Southern Israelite 9